Gallery: Control your computer remotely

To start accessing your computer remotely, it is necessary to download a copy of the free utility UltraVNC. We’ve created a link to the software developer’s home page at our own website, so launch your web browser, type www.computeractive.co.uk/2201508 into the Address or Location bar at the top and press Enter. When our site appears, click the link to be transferred. Click the Download link at the top of the UltraVNC home page, then click the link to download the most recent version of the program, labelled as ‘stable’ - at time of writing, this was version number 1.0.2. The download should start automatically, so save the file to the Windows Desktop. As the program needs to be installed on two or more computers, either download it on each or copy it across the network or onto a USB memory key.

Start on the computer that is going to be remotely controlled. Double-click the downloaded file to start the installation. After selecting the installation language, click OK, followed by Next. Agree to the licence and click Next again. Click Next, choose where the program should be installed and click Next again. Make sure that the Full Installation option is selected and click Next twice. Tick the box labelled ‘Register UltraVNC Server as a system service’ and click Next, followed by Install.

You may see a warning message about unsigned drivers at this point. Don’t worry - it is safe to allow the installation to continue. Click Next, followed by Finish and the installation will be complete. Now launch UltraVNC Server from the Start menu. At this stage, depending on any anti-spyware or firewall software that may be installed, a message may appear asking whether the program should be allowed to run. Select the Allow or Permit option and you are ready to start configuring the program. Take a deep breath now.

The dialogue box that appears looks somewhat overwhelming to start with, but in reality the vast majority of the options displayed can be ignored for now. At this stage, all we are interested in doing is to configure a password so that another computer can communicate with this one. To do so, delete the symbols that appear in the VNC Password box in the Authentication area, enter a new password (and remember it), then click the OK button.

In order for one computer to connect to another remotely, it needs to know the relevant IP address - a unique code for each computer on the network. To quickly determine the IP address, press the Windows key and ‘R’ on the keyboard simultaneously, type ‘cmd’ (without the quotes) and press Enter. Now type ‘ipconfig’ and press Enter. Depending on the version of Windows that is being used, the IP address will either be listed at IP Address or IPv4 Address, and will be something like the form 192.168.2.2. Make a note of this number. Note that you may need to scroll up the page to find this IP address.

UltraVNC now needs to be installed on the PC that is destined to do the remote controlling. Run through the installation in much the same way as described in Step 2, again performing a Full Installation. When the Select Additional Tasks screen appears, there’s no need to tick any of the boxes - just click Next and Complete setup. It is possible to install only the UltraVNC Viewer, but installing all components now will allow the computers to control each other later.

Now launch the UltraVNC Viewer by clicking the Start button followed by All Programs, and then selecting UltraVNC Viewer from the UltraVNC menu. At the top of the Connection dialogue box that appears, enter the IP address of the computer that is to be remotely controlled in the box labelled VNC Server. All the other options that are available can be left at their default settings. Click the Connect button to the right of the dialogue box, then enter the password set up in Step 4.

Soon, the screen of the remote computer will be displayed on the monitor of the controlling computer. Everything will appear as if you were sitting in front of the remote computer, although to speed up the connection, the Windows Desktop background may have been removed. If the remote computer display is running at the same or at a higher resolution than the controlling computer, scroll bars will appear in order to allow navigation around the complete Desktop.

To save having to scroll around the remote computer’s Windows Desktop, click the third toolbar button from the left in the VNC Viewer window to bring up the Connection Options dialogue. In the lower right-hand corner of the dialogue box, tick the box labelled Auto in the Viewer Scale section and click OK. The remote Desktop will then be shrunk slightly in size so that it is all visible at the same time. The Connection Options screen can also be used to scale the size of the remote Desktop using percentages, as required.

Perhaps the easiest way to use UltraVNC to work with a remote computer is to switch to full-screen mode. This eliminates the potential confusion of being able to see two Start buttons and Taskbars and makes it feel like the remote computer is in front of you. To make the switch, launch the Connection Options dialogue box, untick the Auto box and set the scaling to 95 per cent. Click OK, then click the second toolbar button to instigate Full Screen Mode. Click the button again to switch back to windowed mode.

Spend a little time working with UltraVNC and it does not take long to discover that using a computer remotely is really no different from using it normally. This makes it a particularly useful tool for performing a range of administrative tasks on networked computers from a single computer. As any actions that are performed remotely will be displayed on the screen of the remote computer, it is a good idea to turn off this monitor - if not for privacy, then to save confusion for anyone that sees the computer working on its own.

It’s also easy to transfer files from one computer to the other. On the controlling computer, click the forth toolbar button from the right in UltraVNC Viewer and the File Transfer window will appear. This can be used to copy files from any folder on either computer, regardless of whether it is configured to be shared or not. From here it is also possible to create folders as required.

While UltraVNC is a great program for performing administrative tasks on your own computers, it is also an excellent way to give help to others - in much the same way as Remote Desktop in Windows XP. Once connected, it is possible to take control of the other user’s computer and show them how to do something. When doing so, there is a chat facility that may come in handy - this can be accessed by clicking the toolbar button furthest to the right.

Should you find that the performance of UltraVNC is a little slow or that the program is having an adverse effect on other networking activities, it is possible to change the settings to help speed things up. Bring up the Connection Options screen and untick the box labelled ‘Auto select best settings’. To the right of this, select the 256 Colors option, then click OK. While this may not look as impressive as before, it can increase performance dramatically.

Should you find that the performance of UltraVNC is a little slow or that the program is having an adverse effect on other networking activities, it is possible to change the settings to help speed things up. Bring up the Connection Options screen and untick the box labelled ‘Auto select best settings’. To the right of this, select the 256 Colors option, then click OK. While this may not look as impressive as before, it can increase performance dramatically.