I need to be able to access my home computer when I travel? Can I do this
from a friend's computer, which is in a different city, same province.??

If your computer uses the Windows XP Professional operating system,
you can set up Remote Desktop, a program that lets you control your
computer from somewhere else. But even if you have the necessary
software, I don't think you'll be able to set it up with what's
obviously a minimal understanding of computers.

By the way, what in the world does this question have to do with
Microsoft Word documents, the topic of this newsgroup??

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

On Wed, 1 Nov 2006 17:39:02 -0800, Fern Ruth <Fern
(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I need to be able to access my home computer when I travel? Can I do this
>from a friend's computer, which is in a different city, same province.??

Thank you, Jay for your information. I have Window XP Home Edition. I am a
retired Executive Secretary who took computer courses when DOS was used to
manage Computers and learned Word Perfect. I don't pretend to be an expert.
I have a very ill relative and need to be with her many miles from home.
Hence my question. I don't only use the internet and email I use MS Word for
many of my tasks. Feel free to try and explain this if you wish. I always
think it's better to be polite and help if one can.
Thank you. Regards,
Fern Ruth

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

> If your computer uses the Windows XP Professional operating system,
> you can set up Remote Desktop, a program that lets you control your
> computer from somewhere else. But even if you have the necessary
> software, I don't think you'll be able to set it up with what's
> obviously a minimal understanding of computers.
>
> By the way, what in the world does this question have to do with
> Microsoft Word documents, the topic of this newsgroup??
>
> --
> Regards,
> Jay Freedman
> Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
> newsgroup so all may benefit.
>
> On Wed, 1 Nov 2006 17:39:02 -0800, Fern Ruth <Fern
> (E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >I need to be able to access my home computer when I travel? Can I do this
> >from a friend's computer, which is in a different city, same province.??
>

Fern Ruth wrote:
> I have a very ill relative and need to be with her many miles from home.
> Hence my question.

Take with you the files you need (on a USB memory stick, for instance)
and work at your relative's computer offline. I really am no expert when
it comes to connectivity (those experts are sitting in different groups
:-)), but if your home computer has no fixed IP address, I don't think
anyone will be able to connect to it under normal circumstances.


> I don't only use the internet and email I use MS Word for
> many of my tasks. Feel free to try and explain this if you wish. I always
> think it's better to be polite and help if one can.

If you think Jay's email was impolite, you have read a different message
than I. Fact is, the "forum" you posted is dedicated to Microsoft Word.
Your problem (description) is not. [Actually, maybe 95% of all messages
in here are not exactly on-topic for "document management", and most
regulars are less than happy with the way Microsoft makes the groups
accessible, but we've learnt to live with that eventually :-)].

If you read in here a bit, you'll find all sorts of posts, from very
polity to plain rude. Jay's was certainly on the former side IMHO.

Greetinx
Robert

I'm sorry my previous reply seemed curt. I'll try to help, although I still
think you'll get better advice in a Windows- or networking-related newsgroup
than in this one.

Windows XP Home doesn't have the necessary software to support Remote
Desktop; that's exclusively in Windows XP Pro. (For some more description,
see http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...p_home_pro.asp, especially
the first item under "Pro features that aren't in Home Edition").

There is an alternative, called VNC (for "Virtual Network Computing"). There
are many different versions of VNC, most of them available for free. The
most commonly used one is RealVNC, which you can download from
http://www.realvnc.com/. (A Google search for "vnc" will turn up many more.)
There are two separate pieces of software: a "server" that you run on your
computer, and a "viewer" or "client" that you run on your relative's
computer. The viewer sends your keyboard and mouse commands to the server,
and the server does the work and returns the screen image to the viewer.

There are many problems you may find while trying to get this working. The
biggest ones concern getting the two computers connected to each other
through the Internet. Does your computer have an always-on connection (cable
or DSL), or is it dial-up? I don't know of any way to start a dial-up
session from somewhere else, so that would be a show-stopper.

If you do have an always-on connection, you need to find out what numerical
address ("IP address") is assigned to you by your ISP. Unless you pay extra
for an assigned IP address, this number may change from time to time, but it
might stay constant long enough to be useful. If you have a router/firewall
between your modem and your computer, that adds another complication. All of
this is described in the documentation that you can also download from the
RealVNC site.

Another concern is security. When VNC is working properly, you can control
your home PC from far away -- but so can anyone who can guess your password.
This, too, is covered in the VNC documentation.

If you still want to use this, I'd recommend setting up the VNC server on
your computer and the viewer on some local friend's computer, to make sure
you can get the whole thing working before you leave home. Once you're far
away, you won't be able to change any settings on the server or straighten
out problems with your ISP.

Overall, I'll agree with Bob Franz's suggestion that you just copy all your
important documents onto a memory stick or CD and carry them with you on
your trip, assuming your relative has a version of Office that's fairly
recent. When you're rushed and under pressure is no time to be fiddling with
something as complicated and flaky as remote control software.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

Fern Ruth wrote:
> Thank you, Jay for your information. I have Window XP Home Edition.
> I am a retired Executive Secretary who took computer courses when DOS
> was used to manage Computers and learned Word Perfect. I don't
> pretend to be an expert. I have a very ill relative and need to be
> with her many miles from home. Hence my question. I don't only use
> the internet and email I use MS Word for many of my tasks. Feel free
> to try and explain this if you wish. I always think it's better to
> be polite and help if one can.
> Thank you. Regards,
> Fern Ruth
>
> "Jay Freedman" wrote:
>
>> If your computer uses the Windows XP Professional operating system,
>> you can set up Remote Desktop, a program that lets you control your
>> computer from somewhere else. But even if you have the necessary
>> software, I don't think you'll be able to set it up with what's
>> obviously a minimal understanding of computers.
>>
>> By the way, what in the world does this question have to do with
>> Microsoft Word documents, the topic of this newsgroup??
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Jay Freedman
>> Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
>> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
>> newsgroup so all may benefit.
>>
>> On Wed, 1 Nov 2006 17:39:02 -0800, Fern Ruth <Fern
>> (E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>> I need to be able to access my home computer when I travel? Can I
>>> do this from a friend's computer, which is in a different city,
>>> same province.??

Hi Robert & Jay

Thank you both very much for your help. I do have high speed permanent
connection, but this just sounds much to complicated to do. Agree with you -
when I'm under the stress of a relative facing death, is NOT the time to be
trying a complicated computer hook up.

Thanks again. This is the first time I've used this service.

Regards,
Fern Ruth

"Fern Ruth" wrote:

> I need to be able to access my home computer when I travel? Can I do this
> from a friend's computer, which is in a different city, same province.??