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Why Might I Need to Access a Computer Remotely?You may have heard recent radio advertising for this product - it certainly makes you think about working away from the office and how easy it would be to cope. So, how can this product aid productivity and enable you to continue working wherever you may be in the World ? If you are sometimes away form the office, working on site, or at home, you can come across various problems where you forget to take a specific file with you, or you need something printing in high quality, or just need access to a certain database. Some companies spend thousands of pounds to provide online access to their email system and databases allowing you to logon remotely and enter details, but this is not always cost effective, where you only have one or two people working out in the field, or where it is not a frequent occurrence. Imagine an architect visiting a client on site to go through some drawings, and the client wants to make a few changes to the drawings - how simple would it be to implement an option for the architect to recalculate all of the cost implications and check whether it might impact on planning or building regulation consents, and produce updated drawings for the client to see and send them electronically to the builders who might already be on site? GoToMyPC is an innovative piece of software for connecting two computers over the internet, using any web browser which has JAVA scripts enabled. This means that a field operative does not necessarily need a high powered computer with all of the software and databases installed in order to use the full power of an office back-end system. GoToMyPC provides a simple means of accessing files, emails and running programs on a remote computer and utilise any equipment such as printers, plotters, or engineering equipment which may be attached to that remote system. It bypasses any firewall systems, providing a highly secure method of communication between the two computers. Why not use a VPN NetworkGenerally, companies who need to allow remote access to their network, do so by the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) which require considerable configuration, computer resources and specialist software on the remote computer. They also tend to be less secure than the commercial network within the office, as they are generally set up to verify authentication of the computer trying to connect to the network, rather than the specific user. They also provide full access to the corporate LAN (Local Area Network) which can pose something of a security risk. Finally, applications run over a Virtual Private Network, tend to be slow. This type of solution is aimed at joining more than one office to a corporate network, rather than just haphazard connection by employees away from the office. The most secure method of attaching a computer via a Virtual Private Network is using fixed IP addresses (which are not always available over roaming networks, such as a GPRS connection, or cable broadband) and it limits the scope in that you cannot borrow someone else's computer to access the network. By contrast, in order to use GoToMyPC, although you need to install the software on the computer which is to be accessed remotely (the host computer), there is no need for any specialist software on the computer which is to connect to the host. Apart from that. you will only need to have both computers connected to the internet. Installation is very fast and problem free, with a minimal amount of configuration required., once you have registered at the GoToMyPC site.Although the host computer must be running Windows, due to the fact that the access is made through a web browser, any computer with a JAVA enabled browser can be used to access the host. This enables you to access your remote PC from a system running Windows®, Windows® CE, Linux, Unix, Macintosh or Solaris operating systems - you can even use a Pocket PC, Microsoft® Windows® Mobile or Microsoft® Windows® CE wireless device. - This system is aimed more at direct connection with a specific computer rather than a whole network and can therefore be much more secure than a Virtual Private Network. I Have Heard of pcAnywhere - is this the same?Similar in some respects to Symantec's pcAnywhere, the use of a JAVA applet to connect to the host computer is a big advantage for GoToMyPC users, as they do not need to install any software on the remote computer at all (whereas pcAnywhere requires installation and substantial configuration on each remote computer) - it also means that, unlike pcAnywhere, GoToMyPC is not limited to remote access from Windows based computers. This means that the software can be downloaded in minutes onto a borrowed computer and it is even feasible to utilise the system over a GPRS device. Unfortunately, the inability to "call" a computer which is not currently connected to the internet is something of a shortcoming (not present in pcAnywhere or LapLink for example) and as a result, the host computer will need a permanent connection to the internet. This can of course cause problems if you have not set up the host to automatically reconnect to the internet following a power cut or loss of connection, but with most office based systems which are always connected, this is not a problem). You can also overcome this by running GoToMyPC as a Windows NT service on the host computer, where it will automatically restart when the PC powers up. How Secure is GoToMyPC?Leaving a computer permanently connected to the internet in your absence, does of course have inherent dangers, of being susceptible to attacks by hackers, it is therefore imperative that you install some firewall software (such as Norton Internet Security) onto the computer which is to be accessed remotely. This will not affect the operation of GoToMyPC, which connects the secure servers of GoToMyPC, with password protection (not stored on their servers) and 128 bit security encryption on data transferred between the two computers. Further protection is afforded by the ability to lock-out the keyboard, mouse and monitor displays on the host computer as well as inactivity timeouts (anywhere from 5 minutes to 9999 minutes) and specifying which IP addresses are able (or unable) to access the host computer. However, it is not possible to restrict access to certain files or directories (unlike LapLink), which is something of a pity. However, a recent enhancement is the ability to add a series of one-time passwords to the system which will fail to work once the connection between the two computers is broken - this overcomes the possibility of anyone else (or keyboard sniffer programs) seeing you access the remote machine and learning your password. This is an essential solution when borrowing someone else's machine to connect to your office systems. One of the main concerns over remote access software is that it tends to leave a port open on the host computer to listen for remote commands. GoToMyPC circumvents this by the host computer polling the GoToMyPC server once every few seconds to check for access requests. As a result, even without a firewall, GoToMyPC is fairly secure from attacks by hackers. The local machine is also secure, as the Java applet installed into the browser when you want to connect to the host machine, is completely removed when you end your session, thus removing the possibility of a later user of the local machine gaining access to your host system. How Easy is this to Use?Unlike traditional remote-control software, where you have to assign new names and attributes to every new guest machine, as well as tackle firewall software, arcane network protocols and settings, dynamic IP addresses, and name servers; GoToMyPC sidesteps all of this, so that using remote control is almost as easy as surfing the Web and as accessible as the Web. Install the main software on your office based computer, and then simply use any internet browser on any other computer to connect to the GoToMyPC servers. Once the connection has been made, you are able to see the desktop of the host computer in real time in 24 bit colour. If the screen resolution of the host machine is greater than that of the viewing machine, the program will scale it down to fit, or allow you to switch to full-screen size, actual size (which will necessitate the use of scroll bars), or choose a level of magnification which will suit you. You are also able to vary the performance of the link by adjusting screen appearance and speed which helps when using a slow internet connection, such as dialup or GPRS. The latest enhancement (and by far the most useful) has been the release of PocketView for GoToMyPC, which enables you to connect to the host PC using most mobile devices which use Windows CE v4.x or Pocket PC's with Windows Mobile 2003 operating systems, which makes this a truly portable product. Surely this is like Windows XP Remote AssistanceWindows XP Remote Assistance is similar in some ways to GoToMyPC, in that it allows you to connect directly to another computer over the internet and control that remote computer's desktop and functions as though you were sitting at the computer. However Windows XP Remote Assistance is very limited, in that it needs someone to be present on both PC's in order to accept an invitation and permit full access - also it is very easy to lose the connection, meaning that you need to ensure that someone remains at both computers the whole time. GoToMyPC also has a host of additional features, which cannot be used with Windows XP Remote Assistance, such as access to the printers and other equipment attached to the remote computer. This means that an engineer (for example), could easily discuss final changes to a design with a customer and set up the tooling and engineering equipment to start production, whilst still sat in the customer's office. What Features are Provided by GoToMyPC?Once a connection has been made between two computers, you are able to transfer files between the two computers (by directly accessing any of its connected network drives through utilising its own desktop), print documents stored on the remote host machine, using a printer connected to the local machine and even cut and paste text between applications on the two machines. The program even includes the facility to have a text chat session between the two machines - great for providing technical support. Once you run a program on the remote host computer, Print commands will take effect via the printers connected to that remote host - meaning you have free access to any equipment, for example large printers and plotters, which you could not take on site. Access is highly responsive, even using 56K connections, and we were surprised by the robustness of the system. It is much faster than the competing pcAnywhere program and is also much faster in operation than Windows XP Remote Assistance. We also found it slightly more intuitive and easier to set up and use. The ability to add a desktop shortcut to the host computer on the local machine is of great advantage in quickly connecting the two machines. In v3.0 of the software, file transfer is made even simpler with a Windows Explorer type File Transfer utility, where you are presented with two windows side by side, one depicting the directory structure of the host machine and the other depicting the directory structure of the local machine. You can easily drag and drop files or directories between the two machines, as well as rename, delete and create new folders on either machine. The only real problem we could find with the system, was that there is no means to copy and paste information from one computer to another using the clipboard - we felt that it would have been useful to be given the option of copying the information held on the remote computer's clipboard onto the local computer's. You can also easily forget that when you use the Print command from within a program running on the remote computer, the document will be printed on a printer attached to that remote computer, rather than the local one. Both of these suggestions have been passed onto GoToMyPC for consideration in a future release. However, the benefits of such a program do not end at simple file access. It can readily be used to enable a second guest to log on at the same time (at your invitation), in order to share information and provide technical support. Just imagine, being able to demonstrate a program to someone over the internet without them having to download any software, thus overcoming the problem of needing to generate temporary free licences. A corporate plan, enables you to use a Draw Tool, to sketch on the host machines desktop - very useful for helplines, to demonstrate important points to customers. You can even use GoToMyPC to change a server's settings, reboot it and log back onto its operating system. We would also recommend that companies who supply ready built computer systems, should consider providing one month's subscription to the service, as part of their support, since this provides a simple means of diagnosing and possibly fixing problems remotely, without a customer needing to return a computer, or expensive on-site maintenance (for example, to disable Windows Messenger, or remove spyware). This is an ideal solution for anyone working away from home, as they can quickly and easily access any files which they may have inadvertently forgotten to take with them, whilst remaining secure in the knowledge that their host computer is not open to attacks by hackers. GoToMyPC costs $19.95 pm or $179.40 pa (after an initial free trial) for 1 PC, $29.95 pm, $269.40pa for two PCs. Although this may be more expensive than other similar solutions, we believe that its ease of use and installation, together with the guaranteed security, easily justifies the price, particularly if you are likely to need to access your home computer from any other PC which may be to hand when you are out and about. 
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