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    Remotely access a mac from a pc?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by ronnieb, Dec 20, 2009.

  1. ronnieb

    ronnieb Representing the Canucks

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    So I have a sister living in Calgary with a 30-inch iMac, and I live in Toronto with a host of Windows PCs.

    She always has problems with her ipods, tomtom GPS unit etc. and she is not very tech savvy, so explaining something to her is :(

    is there any way I can remotely connect and use her desktop from where I currently am on a PC?
     
    ronnieb, Dec 20, 2009
    #1
  2. Khris

    Khris Yes I am better than you!

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    LogMeIn.com has a free option that works with both Macs and PCs. No firewall/router configuring involved.
     
    Khris, Dec 20, 2009
    #2
  3. ronnieb

    ronnieb Representing the Canucks

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    I'm gonna try that. Do I need to pay for a subscription fee? Is it really viable as a long-term option? I'm gonna be using it at least 4 times a week..
     
    ronnieb, Dec 20, 2009
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  4. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    LogMeIn is free.

    Teamviewer is also a good choice, with the advantage of being portable.
     
    surfasb, Dec 20, 2009
    #4
  5. crazycanuk

    crazycanuk Notebook Virtuoso

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    prefer teamviewer myself
     
    crazycanuk, Dec 20, 2009
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  6. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    The mac has a built in vnc client. That is a cross platform standard you can use to remote in. The mac user can set that up in the "sharing" settings. (share the screen). Then you can get a vnc client (there are many free open source solutions, wikipedia even has an extensive comparison list). Voilà.
     
    masterchef341, Dec 20, 2009
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  7. sulkorp

    sulkorp Notebook Deity

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    Yea, the one thing with vnc, is that shes gonna have to forward ports to her laptop, and find out her ip.
    Not too difficult, because it sounds like you know what you're doing, just another step
     
    sulkorp, Dec 20, 2009
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  8. ronnieb

    ronnieb Representing the Canucks

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    Thanks guys for your ideas and opinions!

    I can handle ANYTHING from my side, but it's hard not being able to see the screen she's looking at and the options in front of her, so I think a VNC client is off-limits for me. Going to try logmein tonight, and hopefully that takes care of it :)
     
    ronnieb, Dec 20, 2009
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  9. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    Screw a VNC client.

    LogMeIn and Teamviewer have the setup requirements easy enough that a caveman can do it.
     
    surfasb, Dec 20, 2009
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  10. Khris

    Khris Yes I am better than you!

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    From what I can see about Teamviewer, you can only administer the "client" computers you have from one "workstation". I was going to give it a try until I saw this.

    LogMeIn clients can be connected to through anywhere that has a web browser, and you can even connect from an iPhone (paid app).
     
    Khris, Dec 20, 2009
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  11. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    Teamviewer is a portable app, which is my preference.
     
    surfasb, Dec 20, 2009
    #11