Not everyone owns a laptop and even those who do, do not find it convenient to carry it everywhere. So there has to some way to access the files stored on your PC? Thankfully yes, Microsoft Windows XP and Vista come inbuilt with Windows Remote Desktop utility that lets you establish the same with much ease. To use this feature, the host PC must have Windows XP or Vista and both the PCs need to have access to an Internet connection.

Step 1 : Enable Remote Assistance on host PC

The host PC is the one from which you will be fetching files etc. It needs to running Windows XP or Vista as these operating systems support this feature. In addition to this, you need to have Administrator rights to enable remote assistance. In Windows XP, open up My Computer properties and go to the Remote tab. Check the "Allow Remote Assistance invitation to be sent from this computer" box. If you need to access your desktop too, then check the "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer" box too. In Windows Vista, the My Computer properties box can be opened from Advanced System Settings.

Step 2 : Change Firewall settings

Open up Control Panel and under Security option, select manage settings for Windows Firewall. Under General tab, make sure "Don't allow exceptions" is unchecked. Go to the Exceptions tab and check the Remote Desktop box. Click OK to apply the settings.

Step 3 : Find out IP address of host computer

If you are going to remote connect this PC on a network, then you can use the name of the computer itself when connecting to it. But if it is not on a network, then you need to find out the IP address of the computer. There are many sites which you can use to find out the IP address or even a simple DOS command will also do. I prefer to go to www.ipchicken.com site, which shows my IP address in one go. Note down the IP address and leave the host PC running and connected to Internet.

Step 4 : Connect to the host

After having set up the host, we can now access the PC from any other PC having access to Internet. To connect the client PC to the host computer go to Start Menu> All Programs> Accessories> Remote Desktop Connection.

Step 5 : Enter host settings

In the Computer box, enter the computer name if the host PC is on a network else the IP address and click Connect. It will now ask you for the username and password of the host PC. After entering the details, the Remote Desktop window will open containing your desktop settings, files, programs etc. To terminate the connection, Log Off.