Remote administration

I need to find a product that lets me do remote administration/control of
both Windows XP AND Windows 98 computers.
I found Symantec's pcAnyWhere. Is it good? Do you know others?

Thanks

You have some good *FREE* choices...

If the XP box is running XP Pro then Remote Desktop works well for this...

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.or...eshooting.html

If the XP box is running XP Home then look at using UltraVNC with its
encryption plug-in. UltraVNC will also run on a Win 98 box...

http://www.uvnc.com/

Use a *STRONG* password...

--

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...

"Kirsten" <noreply@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:eUV3tX8DGHA.3984@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>I need to find a product that lets me do remote administration/control of
> both Windows XP AND Windows 98 computers.
> I found Symantec's pcAnyWhere. Is it good? Do you know others?
>
> Thanks
>
>

I use Timbuktu Pro:
http://www.netopia.com/software/products/tb2

I use it to maintain a public computer lab and staff computers in my
department. The public lab uses limited accounts. Our IT dept has a
license so I'm sorta partial to using it.

I like Timbuktu Pro for the following reasons:

- Comes in Mac and Win versions so I could control Mac's (though I
don't do this right now).
- Unlike RDP, I can log in as a limited user. This allows me to
remotely test/troubleshoot the limited user account.

I don't like Timbuktu Pro because if I want to transfer a file I have to
start a separate "Exchange" session. Windows file indexing service (a
resource hog) has to be on to get an accurate listing of files.

Lance
*****

Kirsten thought carefully and wrote on 1/2/2006 9:55 AM:
> I need to find a product that lets me do remote administration/control of
> both Windows XP AND Windows 98 computers.
> I found Symantec's pcAnyWhere. Is it good? Do you know others?
>
> Thanks
>
>

I always log onto remote PCs with RDP as a limited user. The limited user
simply has to be added to the Remote Desktop Users Group on the particular
XP Pro box. Once I logon I run admin tasks using "Run as..." if 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...

"Lance" <lltbhill@link_earth.net> wrote in message
news:uNN8OT%23DGHA.3468@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>
> - Unlike RDP, I can log in as a limited user. This allows me to remotely
> test/troubleshoot the limited user accoun

Thanks! Good tip. I've tried it on one machine and it appears to work OK.

If you and the OP don't mind another question, I also use Timbuktu for
remote user support. When I connect with Timbuktu, both of use can use
the mouse and keyboard. The remote user can show me the exact steps they
use if they have a problem and I can show them where they may have gone
wrong. This is really an invaluable feature.

The times I've used RDP, the remote screen displays "This computer is
locked and can only be unlocked by the administrator or <user>" (or
something like that). Is there a way to make it like Timbuktu?

Lance
*****

Sooner Al [MVP] thought carefully and wrote on 1/2/2006 2:01 PM:
> I always log onto remote PCs with RDP as a limited user. The limited user
> simply has to be added to the Remote Desktop Users Group on the particular
> XP Pro box. Once I logon I run admin tasks using "Run as..." if required...
>

No, that is a limitation of Remote Desktop when you connect to a XP Pro
desktop...That is by design...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/280828/en-us

If your in a Windows 2003 Server environment there is a shadow function that
may or may not work for you...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279656

Note, that I am not a server type person so I can't say how well that works
or doesn't work...As always, YMMV...

An alternative is Remote Assistance which allows you, the Expert, to both
view and take control of the Novice desktop while the Novice watches. If
your in a domain or trusted domain environment you can also "Offer" remote
assistance. Go to "Help and Support" and search on "remote assistance" for
more help...

--

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...

"Lance" <lltbhill@link_earth.net> wrote in message
news:u%23CBTs$DGHA.472@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Thanks! Good tip. I've tried it on one machine and it appears to work OK.
>
> If you and the OP don't mind another question, I also use Timbuktu for
> remote user support. When I connect with Timbuktu, both of use can use the
> mouse and keyboard. The remote user can show me the exact steps they use
> if they have a problem and I can show them where they may have gone wrong.
> This is really an invaluable feature.
>
> The times I've used RDP, the remote screen displays "This computer is
> locked and can only be unlocked by the administrator or <user>" (or
> something like that). Is there a way to make it like Timbuktu?
>
> Lance
> *****
>
> Sooner Al [MVP] thought carefully and wrote on 1/2/2006 2:01 PM:
>> I always log onto remote PCs with RDP as a limited user. The limited user
>> simply has to be added to the Remote Desktop Users Group on the
>> particular XP Pro box. Once I logon I run admin tasks using "Run as..."
>> if required...
>>

Thanks for the input. MS did a really nice job on RDP and for some tasks
(like file transfers) I prefer it over Timbuktu.

I found Remote Assistance tough to walk a user through the steps
required to set up a connection - necessary I suppose due to security
considerations.

Lance
*****

Sooner Al [MVP] thought carefully and wrote on 1/3/2006 3:18 AM:
> No, that is a limitation of Remote Desktop when you connect to a XP Pro
> desktop...That is by design...
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/280828/en-us
>
> If your in a Windows 2003 Server environment there is a shadow function that
> may or may not work for you...
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279656
>
> Note, that I am not a server type person so I can't say how well that works
> or doesn't work...As always, YMMV...
>
> An alternative is Remote Assistance which allows you, the Expert, to both
> view and take control of the Novice desktop while the Novice watches. If
> your in a domain or trusted domain environment you can also "Offer" remote
> assistance. Go to "Help and Support" and search on "remote assistance" for
> more help...
>