Remote desktop on home network

[thoon]

Hi Folks

I have a wired home network with three machines. One runs XPpro SP2, the second (not relevant to my question) runs XP home and the third runs Win98se. The XPpro machine will be replaced soon with a Vista SP1 machine.

The Win98 machine has FAT32 hardrive management, the others NFTS. I have a number of games, utilities, old programs, etc on the Win98 machine which will not run on XP pro machine for various reasons.

The network seems to work well, but I have really used only the file transfer function.

I want to be able to call up the win98 desktop on the XPpro machine (later the Vista machine) and use the programs and games there, instead of having to move to another computer -- in fact I want to put the Win98 machine in a closet, with a network connection, and just turn it on when needed.

I managed to get the remote desktop feature to work, but ironically, while I can get the XP desktop on the Win98 machine, it won't work the other way. The message is something like "no terminal server on [the win98 machine]"

What can I do? Is there a program that might work as a terminal server on the win98 machine?

Other things I have thought of are to install XPpro on the Win98 machine -- expensive and probably will disable the software I want to use.

Get some kind of switch to get both machines on the same monitor, keyboard and mouse? Might work (does anybody know?) but clumsy with much hardware and wiring clutter.

I'm not worried about security since my network is well protected.

Anybody have any suggestions? Any help appreciated.

thanks

thoon

[johnwill]

I use UltraVNC, works with all versions of Windows, and is compatible with other VNC applications for Linux/Unix and even the Mac.

[thoon]

Thanks for the response. I downloaded the program and will try to get it to work tonight.

thoon

[thoon]

Alas. no luck. The server will not install on Win98 -- "requires NTxxxx". So, I'm still looking.

Thanks for the suggestion.

thoon

[johnwill]

Try TightVNC, it's another of the VNC versions that is compatible with W98.

[thoon]

Thanks for the tip. Since I posted, I discovered that UltraVNC 1.02 is compatible with Win98. I am having trouble getting it configured, though -- TightVNC will be next on my list.

thoon

[johnwill]

What problem are you having? I find UltraVNC to be very easy to configure, basically install it and assign a password!

[thoon]

Well, I installed the server on the win98 machine and the viewer on the XPpro machine. I made sure both firewalls were off, and the installation seemed to go perfectly. I created a password. I left the settings at the default values, in particular the dsplay/port setting on the server at 'auto'. Whatever I try on the 'VNC server' dialog on the viewer, I get 'failed to get server address'.

My real problem is ignorance. My modem/router (ZOOM adsl X5) has a firewall, but I believe it is just between the adsl line and my network. The file sharing feature works, so I know the two computers see each other on the network.

The router uses DHCP IP assignment. I have tried all the ports I can think of or that anyone on the UltraVNC forum suggested. I do not know how to 'bind a port' or change port assignments. I tried YourServerIPAdr::xxxxx where xxxxx is all the IP addresses my router says are in use. And I don't know what else to do. My thinking is:

A. UltraVNC 1.02 may not work on win98 after all, despite the note on the UltraVNC forum. (1.05 will not install on win98)

B. The router firewall is blocking the connection -- I need to figure out how to get it through.

C. Some kind of adjustment needs to made on the Win98 machine to allow outsiders to get in.

D. I am making some silly mistake in format or something. Here it would be helpful if you told me exactly what should be entered in the 'VNC server' dialog in the viewer.

This where the ignorance comes in. I am reluctant to spend a lot of time on something which actually has nothing to do with the problem. I know very little about networking, and obviously there are all sorts of things which would prevent the creation of a connection.

[johnwill]

The firewall in the router is not the issue, since it only affects incoming Internet traffic.

Can you network these two machines otherwise? Can you ping both ways by computer name? Did you disable ALL firewalls as a test?

[thoon]

Again, thanks for the response.

I pinged succesfully both ways by name. I moved files successfully both ways with file sharing. I checked the Microsoft remote desktop again. I can see and use the XPpro desktop on the Win98 machine.

I made sure both Windows firewalls were off. I disabled all the accessible protections in the router firewall. I disabled all the protections in the Norton anti virus.

I uninstalled and reinstalled UltraVNC 1.02 on both machines, a full install. I uninstalled the Microsoft remote desktop client from the win98 machine.

I entered the number 5900 in the Viewer dialog box 'VNC server'.

Did not work either way. I now get 'failed to connect to server' rather than 'did not find server address'.

The fact that it did not work with the server on the XPpro machine and the viewer on the win98 machine suggests that it is something about my setup. It's certainly supposed to work that way. hmmm.

[johnwill]

Let's see a screen shot of the UntraVNC admin panel on the machine you're trying to connect to (the server).

[thoon]

I attached the screenshot. Haven't thought of anything else so far.

[thoon]

I have to drop out for a few days due to calls on my time. I will check back in the middle of next week. I appreciate your efforts.

[johnwill]

The only thing that comes to mind here is a firewall blocking port 5900, that VNC configuration looks fine, and just like mine.