remote desktop control from XP Pro to Vista (64-bit)

[Guest]

I am trying to connect from an XP Pro desktop (at home) to a Vista (64-bit)
workstation (office). In the office, I can connect to the Vista workstation
from another XP Pro machine. At home, I have a home network and I have
enabled port forwarding on 3389. I get the error message "This computer
can't connect to the remote computer."

 

[Ken Schaefer]

Hi,

When you say you have enabled "port forwarding", did you do that at home? or
at the office? (you need to do it at the office)

Otherwise, it should just be a matter of name/IP resolution.

Cheers
Ken

 

[Mr. Arnold]

I am trying to connect from an XP Pro desktop (at home) to a Vista (64-bit)
workstation (office). In the office, I can connect to the Vista
workstation
from another XP Pro machine. At home, I have a home network and I have
enabled port forwarding on 3389. I get the error message "This computer
can't connect to the remote computer."

It's the firewall at the office that needs port 3389 forwarded to your LAN
IP/machine on the company's LAN and not port forwarding of the port on your
end at the router or whatever you're using as the gateway device, since it's
your machine that's initiating the contact.

If the FW and security admin has any sense, and most do, they are not going
to allow you to do this, since your home network and the machines on your
LAN would be a security risk to the company's network.

I suggest you close port 3389, because your machine is the client and the
machine at work in the host that needs port 3389 forwarded.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the prompt answers.

I closed the port at the home network and I will try to open it at the
office. One question though: I can connect to my Windows XP Pro desktop in
the office from home (XP Pro to XP Pro) without any port forwarding. Is it
different for Vista?

Thanks, IHH

 

[Mr. Arnold]

Thanks for the prompt answers.

I closed the port at the home network and I will try to open it at the
office. One question though: I can connect to my Windows XP Pro desktop
in
the office from home (XP Pro to XP Pro) without any port forwarding. Is
it
different for Vista?

First, you need to understand what port forwarding is for a NAT router,
firewall appliance or an Internet software firewall solution on a gateway
computer and I am not talking about some personal FW either.

http://www.homenethelp.com/web/explain/port-forwarding-dmz.asp

Your company's LAN network is setting behind a firewall solution, so nothing
needs to be forwarded to the LAN from the Internet.

Unless there is a personal FW active on the machines on the LAN, the
machines can communicate with each other on the LAN on any port, because no
traffic on ports on the machine are being blocked, no firewall.

If a PFW is active on a machine and a inbound port like 3389 needs to be
open for RDS to work at the host computer that is listening on port 3389,
then a rule must be set to allow the inbound traffic on the port.

No port on 3389 needs to be opened for the client machine with a personal
FW, because the client machine is the one that's initiating traffic on port
3389 with the host machine

Any traffic on inbound ports coming back from the host, the PFW on the
client is going to open the ports to the traffic.

Where the client machine has imitated the contact with a
host/server/application on a host machine with a FW in play and the
host/server sends traffic back to the client, that's called a solicitation
for traffic by the client. All solicited traffic will be let through the FW
and all unsolicited inbound traffic is blocked by the client's FW.

In the case of a host/server application running on a machine with a PFW in
play, the host is not the machine that's initiating contact with the client,
therefore, any inbound traffic coming to the host is going to be blocked by
the PFW.

The inbound traffic will be blocked by the PFW at the host machine, unless a
FW rule is set to open a port or ports on the FW to unsolicited inbound
traffic.

Solicited inbound traffic is let through and unsolicited inbound traffic is
blocked, unless a rule has been set on the FW to allow unsolicited inbound
traffic through the FW.

That's how a PFW, NAT router, firewall appliance or software FW running on a
computer works.

I think you can understand why those machine on your company LAN are
communicating with each other, which will be the same for a Vista machine.

Vista is just another NT based O/S, like Win NT'x, Win 2k, Win XP and Win
2k3 are NT based O/S(s). It's not that gid of a deal.

 

[Alan Bunting]

There is a particular option in the Remote Desktop settings on the host
computer that might need to be fixed. Open [ Control Panel > System > Remote
settings ] and look for the Remote Desktop box. Make sure that, on the host
computer, the radio button is filled next to "Allow connections from
computers running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure)". I think XP
uses a different version of RDC software than Vista, which might be the
problem. If that's not it, then I don't know what else to suggest. Good
luck!