Now, go to your client computer and fire up Remote Desktop Connection – in Windows 7, this can be found in the Start menu by using the Search box or by navigating to All Programs >> Accessories.
Remote Desktop Connection
To connect to your host, you’ll have to know its computer name or IP address, and the name and password of the account on the remote computer you’ll be logging into. (For those of you wondering what the “Tiberius” thing is about, all the computers on my home network are named for Roman emperors, and yes, I realize how nerdy that is.)
Click Connect, login, and you’re there! Of course, you have access to some other options – click the Options dropdown menu.
The General tab will let you save credentials and connection settings for later use.
The Display tab will let you change the size of the Remote Desktop window – you can have it take up the whole screen, or launch in a smaller window.
The Local Resources tab lets you decide whether the remote computer’s sound plays through its speakers or yours and if printers installed on your local computer will be usable by the remote computer.
The Programs tab will allow you to run a program on the remote computer when you login.
The Experience tab will let you adjust the data that is transferred in the remote connection. Viewing the remote computer’s desktop wallpaper and other things might make things look better, but will require more bandwidth.
The Advanced tab has some additional security settings, and will also allow you to configure a Remote Desktop gateway server – see more information about this here.
And that’s it in a nutshell! I think you’ll find that Remote Desktop is a convenient way to administer your computers, even if you can’t get at the computer. Tune in later this week for our coverage of Remote Assistance, which uses RDP technology to help you help others with their computers.
