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If you travel a lot on business, or spend some of your time working from home, taking information with you can be a chore. And if you need easy access to the spreadsheets or application programmes stored on your computer while you’re away, some form of remote access could be the answer to your prayers. Remote access involves being able to access your machine no matter where you are – although exactly how involved the process needs to be depends on your exact requirements.
The simplest form of remote access is freely available to Webmail users; most Webmail accounts will configure relatively easily to a standard POP3 account, meaning you can upload your work or home email when you access your account through a Web browser. As with many remote access solutions, however, if you use a corporate firewall you may need to consult an expert before proceeding.
If you need full control of your computer on the other side of the world (or even round the corner) there are a number of “remote control” packages which will let you view your desktop as though you were sitting at it. TridiaVNC, for example, is a free piece of downloadable software with which you just enter an IP address and use your desktop as normal – and it works on any platform, so you can control a PC from a Mac and vice versa.
LaplinkGold is commercial software which performs much the same function as TridiaVNC but which uses a password system if you don’t have a static IP address. GoToMyPC, meanwhile, is a subscription-based service which lets you access your machine entirely over the Internet. This is particularly useful for visiting hotels or cybercafes abroad which may not let you install remote access software.
Simpler solutions include file-sharing programs with which you can make individual files available to yourself with a username and password: you can’t control your whole machine this way, but you can access vital files.