playing videos remotely

[yawnmoth]

I have a spare laptop that has an S-Video cable going to my TV. I've
extending the Desktop to the TV and would like to be able to be able to
initiate the playback of videos on the TV remotely. Unfortunately, I'm
having some problems.

I tried doing this via Remote Desktop Connection, but whenever I log in
to do anything, via Remote Desktop, I'm automatically logged out on the
laptop and both the laptops LCD monitor and the TV "go dark". So
Remote Desktop Connection doesn't seem to be a viable solution.

I tried writting a script that'd initiate playback, but this isn't a
perfect solution. If I log into the computer via Remote Desktop, I
lose access to my laptop's LCD / TV. When I close Remote Desktop
Connection, I cease to have any valid display available for the video
to be played in. So that's kinda a problem.

Also, the display ceases to be extended when I close the lid on my
laptop (effectively turning off the laptops LCD). Specifically, the TV
becomes the primary display. When I reopen the laptop's lid, the
extended desktop configuration I previously had is gone. This isn't
something I particurarly like.

So, anyway, any ideas?

 

[David Candy]

Use Netmeeting (Type conf in Start Run). Instead of Remote Desktop use Application Sharing. AppSharing is like Remote Assistance. RA allow both users to be logged in to the one desktop. Netmeeting is superior to RA as RA was designed for complete morons and is very hard to use.