Home & office network

[Guest]

I have a small office network at my place of work that is running on Windows
XP pro. I also have a home network running Windows XP pro. Both networks have
high speed internet access. I want to be able to work on files from home that
are on the server at work. Could someone please direct me in the right
direction as to where to start? I've searched the net but am pretty green
about this so I was hoping someone with more experience could give me a hand
with some weblinks or something.

Thank you in advance,
Amber

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

An easy way to do this is with XP Pro's Remote Desktop feature:

1. On the server, right click My Computer and select Properties. Click the
Remote tab and check the box for Allow users to connect to this computer
remotely. This permits the Administrator account and other members of the
Administrators group to connect remotely - you can add other users if you
wish.

2. On a home network machine, click
Start/Programs/Accessories/Communications/Remote Desktop Connection. When
the RDP window opens, type in the public IP address of your office Internet
connection. Log in as Administrator or another member of the Administrators
group on the server - ie you must use an administrator's user name and
password which exists on the server.

3. If you have a router at your office, you will have to map port 3389 to
the internal IP address of your server. You will have to consult your
router manual to see how to do this, but the procedure is common and simple.

4. If you are running a software firewall on the server, you will need to
open port 3389. Again you will have to consult product documentation to see
how to do this. If you are running the Windows XP SP2 firewall, you simply
check Remote Desktop on the Exceptions tab.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP