First of all, a disclaimer. If you are setting up a remote access system, you should have a monitor that you can put to use in an emergency. If you lose connectivity for whatever reason, a monitor is nice to have. That being said, the purpose of this exercise was to create a system that could run quietly in the background, out of sight and out of mind. Getting rid of the wires is a crucial part of the equation. Also note that this method of remote access will only work with XP Professional. Other versions of XP do not have this functionality.

This article looks at how to gain remote access to a system on your own network. To take it to the next stage, and access your system from anywhere requires a number of additional steps that we will describe at a later date.

Assumed knowledge: You will need to know how to check the IP address of the system that you wish to access. Please see XP Ninja: Changing and Checking Your Network IP for instructions on how to do this. You are also assumed to have a password set for your user account. If you are not sure how to set up a password, then please see XP Ninja: Changing and Checking Your Network IP

Find out how to gain remote access to your system after the jump.
Setting up your host computer
First, you need to set up the computer that you want to access. In the Control panel in Classic view, select System. Next, click on the Remote tab and check the box Allow users to connect remotely to this computer.

If you are using Windows Firewall then you will need to make an exception for Remote desktop. To do this, open your Control panel and then open the Security center. Open Windows Firewall and make sure that the Don’t allow exceptions box is unchecked. Click the Exceptions tab and check Remote desktop. Other firewalls will obviously be handled differently, and you may have to see your manual regarding configuration for remote access.

Write down the IP address of the host computer. Once this is done, you should no longer need a monitor, keyboard or mouse for your host system.

Connecting to host computer
Once you have set up your host computer, the fun can begin. You can now access it remotely from within your network. Your remote computer can have any version of Windows after Windows 95.

Click on the Start button and then click the All Programs followed by Accessories and finally Communications; click Remote Desktop Connection. Here you will be asked to enter your computer name. If your computer is in a virtual private network, then you can enter the computer name, if not then enter the network IP of the host computer and click Connect.

Your remote computer will try to establish a connection with the host computer. If it can find the host computer, you will then be asked to enter a user name and password. Note that you will not be able to connect if a password has not been set.

When you connect remotely, you will be logged in from your remote computer and logged off on your host computer. In this state, your host computer will still continue doing what it is supposed to be doing, but you will not be able to access it directly. Likewise, if you log into the host system, you will be logged off from your remote system. [Microsoft]

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