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Caezar

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I want to remotely control my mom's iMac to help her install new programs, clean the desktop, etc.

Because I don't have a clue about VNC, I have been studying The Macrumors guide "Remotely Controlling another Mac".

Before I start with the set-up can anyone confirm that the solution detailed in the guide works over the internet and not only within a LAN?

Thanks!
 
I want to remotely control my mom's iMac to help her install new programs, clean the desktop, etc.

Because I don't have a clue about VNC, I have been studying The Macrumors guide "Remotely Controlling another Mac".

Before I start with the set-up can anyone confirm that the solution detailed in the guide works over the internet and not only within a LAN?

Thanks!

Provided you know the target IP address, and you configure any devices in the way, such as a router, you can connect to any computer from anywhere in the world.
 
I've heard a lot about logmein.com but I've never used it. So I'll give you a quick rundown of using VNC.

Download ChickenVNC for your Mac.
Turn on Remote Desktop on her iMac (System Prefs>Sharing). Turn on all privileges in the Sharing prefs too.
Get her world IP (www.whatismyip.com). If she is using a router this part will require more instructions.
Open ChickenVNC on your computer and put in her world IP and any password that was given in the Sharing Prefs.

Hit connect! This should be basically all you need to do, if your Mom has a router then you'll need to do some port forwarding for port 5900, but I can tell you how to do that too if needed.
 
If, by chance, your mom has a Linksys broadband router, it may have builtin Dyndns.com (free subdomain service) support. Mine does so that's how I connect to it. Alternatively you could set her up with a bookmark to something like http://myipaddress.com to get her ip address and then use vnc.
 
I want to remotely control my mom's iMac to help her install new programs, clean the desktop, etc.

Because I don't have a clue about VNC, I have been studying The Macrumors guide "Remotely Controlling another Mac".

Before I start with the set-up can anyone confirm that the solution detailed in the guide works over the internet and not only within a LAN?

Thanks!

Or wait for Leopard, as I am so that I can control/clean up my parents iMac. Leopard is supposed to have it built in, formerly as a iChat feature, now elsewhere in Leopard
 
Or wait for Leopard, as I am so that I can control/clean up my parents iMac. Leopard is supposed to have it built in, formerly as a iChat feature, now elsewhere in Leopard

Tiger has a built-in VNC server already so no third party apps are needed necessarily. My own experience shows that TightVNC Viewer on windows allows me to connect to my MBP in full color mode but if I try to lower it then I have problems connecting so OSXVNC may be a better server route in cases like that.
 
is there a program to let you run your apps anywhere. for instance, i want to run my itunes when im at my schools labs

I don't understand what you mean. Run your apps from what computer? Connect to your data you mean? You can use VNC to control your computer from anywhere, but you really need to elaborate on your question.
 
well i would like to run itunes from my mac on my schools computers (windows) remotely as i dont always have my ipod on me. being able to transfer files between my mac and the lab computers would also be nice

much like a citrix thing that i use to connect to the engineering labs from home but vice versa
 
well i would like to run itunes from my mac on my schools computers (windows) remotely as i dont always have my ipod on me. being able to transfer files between my mac and the lab computers would also be nice

much like a citrix thing that i use to connect to the engineering labs from home but vice versa

No you can't do that.
 
I've found that the biggest problem for me is setting up port forwarding on my dad's machine. I couldn't find port forwarding instructions online anywhere for his model and when he called verizon tech support, they said that they flatly refuse to provide port forwarding instructions to any customer, for security reasons. Schmucks.
 
Well iTunes can do that. But you have to be on the 'same' wireless connection. And the dorms and your lab will not be.

really? i was under the impression that programs like orb and telekinesis would allow the ipt to have access to media on computer if they had wireless. not have to be on same network though. is that right? and if so, there should be a way to stream my media to another computer, not just my ipt
 
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