How to Enable Remote Desktop in Windows Vista

This article shows you how to enable Remote Desktop in Windows Vista.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 5-15 minutes
• Vista (No Home Versions) Visit this link if you have Home...http://www.ghacks.net/2007/02/12/add-remote-desktop-access-to-windows-vista-home-editions/

1. In order to turn on remote desktop in Windows Vista, you will first want to enable its feature. This feature is missing in Home versions. First, Right Click on My Computer, and go to Properties. You will then go to the Remote Settings link and click on the Remote Tab. Then select either the second or third radio button depending on your needs. If all your computers are running Vista, click Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication. If you have some earlier versions of Windows that you want to use to connect to this computer, click Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop.
   The 'less secure' one is generally more backward compatible and should suffice.

2. You will then select which users are able to connect to your pc via Remote Desktop Connection. Administrators are allowed to remote in by default, you must click Select Users for any additional users you would like to add. Once you have added your users, you can click Apply/OK.

3. You will next need to make sure any firewall you are running on your Windows Vista computer is either turned off, or configured to allow port 3389 for Remote Desktop Connections. This allows for communication to the Remote Desktop Service running on your computer which facilitates incoming connections and controls the remote session.

4. You will then need to obtain your public IP address to use in the Remote Desktop Connection Client that you use to connect to your computer remotely. To do this, simply go to this website and take a note of your IP address: www. whatsmyipaddress.com

5. You now have remote desktop enabled, with the specified users added, your firewall is configured and you have your current IP address for connecting remotely. If you have a router installed, please see the Tips section of this article. Otherwise, you should be able to use the Remote Desktop client to connect to your home computer via your public IP address.
   If you have a Dynamic IP address, please see Tips Section of this article.

Tips & Warnings

• Router Installed- You will need to port forward tcp port 3380 from your outside interface to the IP address of your computer. You will want to statically assign an IP address to your computer so it will never change.
• Dynamic IP- If your public IP address is dynamic, it changes every so often. Unless you check for your IP, you may not be able to connect in future attempts. There are services however that use DNS names to map to whatever your public IP is at the time, so you will always be able to connect to your computer. For more info visit www.no-ip.com