Remote DesktopQuestions

[JT]

I am trying to setup Remote Desktop Web Connection for both XP Home version
and XP Media Center. Does anybody know if this is possible, or do I have to
upgrade to XP Pro to get this to work?
I tried to open Internet Services Manager, and discovered It wasn't part of
Administrative Tools on my XP Media Center edition. Is there any way I can
get AdminTools (i.e. Admin Pack, etc.) for XP in order to do this?

Also how secure is the Remote Desktop Web Connection (compared to a VPN
connection)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

That's Wierd. Media Center is based off Windows XP Professional.... I'm not
sure why that is doing that.

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Do you mean Internet Information Services (IIS)? IIS is used by the Remote
Desktop Web Connection. Note that IIS and Remote Desktop (host mode) only
are included in XP Pro and I guess MCE.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/c08621675.mspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/284931/en-us

If you want to remotely access/control a XP Home machine I suggest you look
at UltraVNC with its encryption plug-in and XP video drivers (for the
host/server machine).

http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[JT]

Ok, I did get everything set up for both client server connection; I am
trying to connect from IE browser on a Win2k machine. I have allowed
anonymous access on my IIS tsweb folder on my XP MCE and selected 'when
connecting to this resource-a directory on my computer C:\WINDOWS\web\tsweb
option'.

Now I open up a browser on my 'remote' machine (Win2K) and type in
http://pcname/tsweb but it won't connect. Do I also need to do anything on
the router allow port forwarding through a certain port?

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Yes, both TCP Port 80 (IIS) and TCP Port 3389 (RDP) are required...

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[JT]

I enabled 3389 on the router using the IP of the host XP machine. Do I have
to do the same for port 80 on the router? I thought that was activated by
default (http). I enabled the rd connection on the windows firewall.

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Both TCP Port 80 (IIS) and TCP Port 3389 (RDP) must be forwarded/opened
incoming on any firewall/router the PC that is running IIS is behind and for
the PC you want to remotely access/control...

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[JT]

Both 80 and 3389 are enabled on router for the IP of the host XP machine. No
difference. Do I need to Restart IIS?

 

[Peter]

Ok, I did get everything set up for both client server connection; I am

trying to connect from IE browser on a Win2k machine. I have allowed
anonymous access on my IIS tsweb folder on my XP MCE and selected 'when
connecting to this resource-a directory on my computer
C:\WINDOWS\web\tsweb option'.

Now I open up a browser on my 'remote' machine (Win2K) and type in
http://pcname/tsweb but it won't connect. Do I also need to do anything on
the router allow port forwarding through a certain port?

To start with, can you successfully :
ping pcname
?

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

No...

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[JT]

Any suggestions?

No...

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[JT]

To start with, can you successfully :
ping pcname
?

Yes, pinged everything successfully.

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Does your ISP block TCP Port 80? Some do because running a web server
violates the residential account terms of service.

Can you connect over your local LAN from another local PC using the private
LAN IP of the IIS PC?

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[JT]

Quick question:
The Remote Desktop feature is only available in Windows XP Professional.
It's not included with Windows XP Home Edition. Can you just install the
remote desktop client seperately on XP Home Edition and use it that way?

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

The Remote Desktop client software is pre-installed on XP Home. Use it to
access/control a XP Pro desktop or a Windows 2003/2000 server running
Terminal Server. Go to "Start -> All Programs -> Applications ->
Communications" and click on the "Remote Desktop Connection" icon.

If you mean that you want to remotely access/control a XP Home machine then
you need to use a third-party application like UltraVNC. You can not use
Remote Desktop to access/control an XP Home machine. Get the UltraVNC
server, client, encryption plug-in (very important) and the XP video driver
(for the UltraVNC server machine only) from...

http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[JT]

From Microsoft Website:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...21-D48D-426E-96C2-08AA2BD23A49&displaylang=en

Note The Remote Desktop Connection software is pre-installed with Windows
XP. To run it, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click
Communications, and then click Remote Desktop Connection. This software
package can also be found on the Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home
Edition product CDs and can be installed on any supported Windows platform.
To install from the CD, insert the disc into the target machine's CD-ROM
drive, select Perform Additional Tasks, and then click Install Remote
Desktop Connection.

Why is this included with Windows XP Home Edition product CDs, yet does not
run on XP Home Edition? Doesn't make any sense.

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

That is the Remote Desktop "client" software only. You can use the CD to
install the client on other Windows OS platforms (ie. Windows Me or 9X for
example) that don't have the client pre-installed like XP Pro and XP Home
do...

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[Guest]

I'm a little confused what you are doing as it seems like you are doing two
different things.. Remote Desktop Connections and either using IIS for a
webpage or using it for IIS file shareing.

when you enable IIS you should be able to, by default, connect to a
underconstruction page by entering the http://computername. IIS will service
all undefined ip address hitting port 80.

If you are getting a 404 page not found error then IIS cannot find the
file/page you are asking for in the home directory. (EG
http://computername/sitename/filename.htm)

If you have already created a website in a new diretory in IIS Manager
(administrative tools) then make sure the path is correct. (IE
c:\mywebsite\defaultpage.htm) Also make sure if any virtual directory paths
are ok.

You can also see in IIS Manager if your website is actually running,
remember two site will not run with the same name, only one will start. use a
header names.
The other nodes on the IIS Manager will allow to start or stop things like
WEBDav used for internet file sharing.

If you have done all that (dont mean to insult your intelligence) but I
think you have to access web directories by using the file/open in internet
explorer. assuming all authentication/permission are ok you should be able to
browse web folders.
Remeber with the firewall if you are using File Transfer Protocols you need
to open port 21... Sorry if i confuse you more or if i am confus about the
question but i hope something helps.. goodluck, took me alittle while to get
to grips with IIS

 

[JT]

Before I go any further, I would like to know how secure the remote desktop
web connection is. Is it as secure as a VPN connection? Also, I want to know
if a VPN can be setup b/w two XP Pro's, or do you have to have a server host
for VPN?

Thanks,
JT

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

You can setup a VPN between two XP boxes... See these pages for help with
the built-in PPTP VPN server/client...

http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn_server.htm
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn.htm

Personally I use OpenVPN running on an XP Pro box versus PPTP VPN simply
because I have problems getting GRE Protocol 47 traffic through my router.
Open VPN is quite easy to setup and use. See my page for OpenVPN help/hints.
You can also run RDP through a Secure Shell (SSH) tunnel as another
alternative...

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.org/LAN/The_Illustrated_Network.html

Here is the MS write-up concerning RDP security...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...termserv/termserv/remote_desktop_protocol.asp

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...