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Remoting from pc to mac
- Thread starter peterh2o
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I don't know if this will answer your question or not, but...
XP Pro's Remote Desktop (Connection) does not handle VNC connections -- it only establishes a connection using the RDP (MS-centric) protocol. Seeing as how Apple's Remote Desktop server app utilizes VNC, as well as there being free VNC implementations available for Mac OS X (aka OSXVnc), you're going to need a VNC program on your PC.
Essentially you run the VNC server on your Macintosh -- if you have Apple's remote desktop, I've had issues connecting standard VNC clients to it -- and then use a VNC client on your PC. For a PC VNC client, I use UltraVNC. Assuming you have all the proper ports (usually 5900 to 5910) forwarded in your home firewall, you can point your UltraVNC session to your Macintosh's IP address and you should be able to connect.
If your workplace employs a firewall that blocks outgoing connections, you may have to implement tunneling, which is something I'll let you look into and research on your own time. I'd recommend this method anyway, though, as it's a more secure way of VNCing.
Of course, you can also try the Timbuktu Pro over Skype method. Problem with this is that you have to pay for Timbuktu Pro, and it requires two application installs rather than the one VNC client.
XP Pro's Remote Desktop (Connection) does not handle VNC connections -- it only establishes a connection using the RDP (MS-centric) protocol. Seeing as how Apple's Remote Desktop server app utilizes VNC, as well as there being free VNC implementations available for Mac OS X (aka OSXVnc), you're going to need a VNC program on your PC.
Essentially you run the VNC server on your Macintosh -- if you have Apple's remote desktop, I've had issues connecting standard VNC clients to it -- and then use a VNC client on your PC. For a PC VNC client, I use UltraVNC. Assuming you have all the proper ports (usually 5900 to 5910) forwarded in your home firewall, you can point your UltraVNC session to your Macintosh's IP address and you should be able to connect.
If your workplace employs a firewall that blocks outgoing connections, you may have to implement tunneling, which is something I'll let you look into and research on your own time. I'd recommend this method anyway, though, as it's a more secure way of VNCing.
Of course, you can also try the Timbuktu Pro over Skype method. Problem with this is that you have to pay for Timbuktu Pro, and it requires two application installs rather than the one VNC client.
F
freakonguitar
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to do what lixivial is describing won't be quite as simple as it sounds. Trust me. It took me a while to figure it out when i set it up. You use the programs that lixivial said, but there are lots of things to try to learn. You also will need to make a hole in your firewall on your home router to make it so you can access your macbook via vnc. if you just want file access you could try ftp. Get a ftp viewer for you pc and then make a hole in your router firewall for port 21 and run the built in (under sharing prefs.) ftp access!
freakonguitar said:
Yeah, I guess. For the most part, aside from messing with OS X's built in VNC implemenation (I've had some trouble connecting to it using UltraVNC), it is pretty straight forward. On the MacBook he'd run OSXVnc (setting a password) and on the XP client he'd run UltraVNC.
The only difference -- as a matter of simplicity -- between VNCing and FTPing is that Windows has a built-in FTP client, so theoretically it is simpler and more feasible (I don't know his work environment; he may be locked out from installing applications on his work machine). There's also a matter of his corporate firewall, which may block many outgoing ports.
If he ran OSXVnc (or the Remote Desktop System Preference) out of the box, the ports that would need to be opened, as I mentioned, would be 5900 to 5910 (and, really, he could get away with simply opening port 5900 as long as no other users would be connecting and/or he disabled screen sharing). And also he'd have to open the firewall in OSX, but there is a handy check box for "Apple Remote Desktop" there which will do that for him.
It's not all that more complex than opening port 21 for FTP access, other than the fact that the FTP client is built into Windows. Indeed I agree, though, FTP access is a reasonable solution if all that is necessary is file transfer. But just as SSH tunneling for VNC is preferred, so too is SFTP preferred over FTP.