How to setup and use Remote Desktop in Windows Vista

Remote desktop is a great feature in Windows.  Whether you need to connect to another computer in your network, or connect to your computer from anywhere there’s an internet connection, it’s an excellent alternative to more complicated remote connection methods.  Turning on and configuring remote desktop is a lot easier than many people think, mainly because Vista takes care of the more complicated security measures for you.

First, make sure you’re not running a Home edition of Vista as it lacks the remote desktop function.  Vista comes pre-installed with remote desktop turned-off, so the first step is to enable it, and tweak the connection settings accordingly.

First, right-click on the computer icon, and choose "properties."  In the top left corner of the window- under tasks, click on "Remote settings."  You can now turn the function on by checking the radio button next to "Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop."  Alternatively, if you want to only connect to computer on your network- with higher security, you can check the radio button labeled "Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication."  In choosing this option, you can even click the "Select Users" button to select specific users on your network to grant access to.

As stated above, Vista takes care of all the security and firewall rules and settings necessary for which ever option you choose, so once you’ve turned Remote Desktop on and configured your connection methods, you can begin to use it.  If you’re connecting to a Vista computer with Remote Desktop already enabled, from another Vista computer on your network, all you need to do is click Start and type "remote."  Click "Remote Desktop Connection," and type the name, or choose the name, of the computer you want to connect to.  Click the "Options" button to change display settings and size, and click "Connect."  If all goes well, you should see the desktop of the remote computer.  If you get any errors, or see a blank screen, there’s likely a security problem on your network somewhere- most likely it’s in your router. 

Connecting to a Vista machine with a computer running anything other than Vista takes different methods based on the OS, but it’s a similar process.  It provides an excellent way for someone to remotely login to your computer to fix a problem, or login to your office computer to work from home. 

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