We found a service that is almost identical to GoToMyPC \u2013 and they offer a free version too. It doesn\u2019t have all the bells and whistles of the full version, but it lets you remotely access your home computer from wherever you are. And we mean full access \u2013 it\u2019s like you\u2019re sitting right in front of your PC.<\/p>\n
You have to smile when you first discover how easy\u00a0LogMeIn<\/a> is to use. You go their Web site and you signup for an account. All you have to provide is a working email address and password. Then download the software and install it. Then go to another computer, like your laptop for instance, or a neighbor\u2019s computer and go back to\u00a0LogMeIn<\/a> and type in your email address and password. You\u2019ll see your computer at home and button to press that allows you to connect to it. If your account on your computer is password protected (and it should be) you\u2019ll need to type in your Windows User Account Name and your Windows password. In a few seconds, your desktop appears on the computer you\u2019re using and you can use your other computer as if you were sitting right in front of it. Really.<\/p>\n Oh, you\u2019re worried about security right? Well each\u00a0LogMeIn<\/a> session is encrypted with a 128-bit key. It would take a hacker with a brute-force hacking tool about a trillion years to break that security key. Still worried?<\/p>\n You can access all your programs, files, folders \u2013 heck, you can even send email from your home computer in Sheboygan to your boss in Sheboygan telling him you\u2019re still under the weather, lying in bed at home suffering from the flu, while you\u2019re in Tahiti basking in the sun watching pretty young ladies prancing around in coconuts and swaying grass skirts. No! We\u2019re just kidding. You shouldn\u2019t do that. You might lose your job! But you could pull it off and your boss would never know \u2013 especially if you have no landline \u2013 just a cellphone\u00a0 If you travel much or if you are away from your computer often and you have access to another computer at another location you, really need to tryLogMeIn<\/a>. The free version will work just fine for you if all you want to do is access your main (or desktop) computer from anywhere else. The paid version offers more features \u2013 for instance you can even reboot your home computer from anywhere using any computer. Amazing stuff!<\/p>\n Another good reason to use\u00a0LogMeIn<\/a>? How about this. You have an aging Windows XP desktop but it still runs fine. Laptops are getting more and more powerful, most laptops rival desktops these days. In fact, I\u2019ve been writing thisnewsletter<\/a> on my Windows 7 laptop for over a year now, and rarely use by desktop anymore except to test new programs. And if you have a lot of programs installed on your desktop and they\u2019re working fine, why junk up your laptop with the same programs? Just use\u00a0LogMeIn<\/a> to access your desktop, run the programs you like by controlling your desktop from you laptop. It\u2019s just like sitting in front of your desktop \u2013 whether you\u2019re sitting in your own home, across town, 1000 miles away, or 10,000 miles away. As long as you have a broadband connection -at home and on your laptop, everything is pretty darn fast.<\/p>\n Getting back to security again for a second. Transmissions between your laptop and desktop are encrypted, and all communication is done via secure servers. The only weak point would be you \u2013 actually not you, but your password. Make sure you use a strong password \u2013 you should be using strong passwords anyway \u2013 always. Don\u2019t use things like dotty814 or marcy221 or 12345678 \u2013 you\u2019re only asking for trouble. Never, ever, never, ever use the same password for more than one account. Some people use the same password for everything \u2013 if you\u2019re one of those you really need to stop reading this right now \u2013 and start changing passwords \u2013 all of them.<\/p>\n We recommend RoboForm or LastPass (free) \u2014 to save passwords, to fill in forms and to generate passwords. The password generator will create and save passwords for you in an encrypted password protected file. With more and more applications and services moving to the cloud \u2013 the time to start using strong passwords is here. If you don\u2019t, you\u2019re going to have big problems \u2013 the question isn\u2019t \u201cIF\u201d it\u2019s \u201cWhen\u201d. Heed our advice or pay the price.<\/p>\n OK back to\u00a0LogMeIn<\/a> \u2013 go to\u00a0http:\/\/logmein.com\/<\/a> and signup for a free account. They\u2019ll let you use the paid version free for 30 days \u2013 after that you\u2019ll have to pay to keep using the paid version \u2013 or it will turn into the free version with some of the features disabled. Even the free version lets you remotely control your home computer from anywhere. LogMeIn works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 – both 32bit and 64bit.<\/p>\n LogMeIn<\/a> is a great way to keep connected with yourself. Huh?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This tip stems from a TV commercial. The commercial was \u201cGo To My PC\u201d. If you live anywhere in the USA you\u2019ve probably seen it. It looks too good to be true: Sitting at a computer in New Delhi and remotely controlling your computer back in icy Sheboygan. So we tested Go To My PC \u2013 amazing. It\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2038"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2041,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038\/revisions\/2041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\":)\"](\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/icon_smile.gif\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n