Looking for Solid Remote Desktop Options

Derrick

Hello Everyone,

The basic situation is that I'm a graphic designer and I own the nice shiny programs at home that I like to use. However, my work does not and those that they do are mostly out of date and kind of a pain in the ass to work with. I did pay a lot of money for those programs, so I would both like to use them, and not download them at work (essentially giving them away for free with a questionable licensing situation).

What I would like to do is use my home computer at work with remote desktop options. However! I've never really used those programs before, so I'm not sure what to expect and what to watch out for. It's something I definitely want to be able to shut on and off by only me, and if I should happen to leave, erase the program and not have to worry about leaving a major security hole in my home PC.

What I'm imagining is a log in system where my screen at work basically becomes a monitor for my home PC. Our office is updating to a higher speed internet, so I'm guessing that won't be too painful on the lag end of things.

I've found this link- http://lifehacker.com/5902654/use-your-home-computer-from-anywhere-a-comprehensive-guide-to-remote-controlling-your-pc but as I said I'm just getting started so if anyone has any good jumping off points, I'd be very appreciative.

Thanks!

Edit: Additional info- my home computer is Windows 7. Work computers are a smattering of XP, Vista, 7, and God only knows what else.

Djeet

So this may not help you since it's the 1st option offered up by the lifehacker article you posted, but TeamViewer is absolutely the shit here. Install it on your home PC. Define a fixed password for the TV session. Copy down that and the partner ID of the home system TV session. Install or run TV at your office machine, enter the partner ID of the TV session running on home machine. Enter the password. Now you have a remote desktop session in a window (you can move it to another monitor and maximize) on your work machine. I like TV cause it handles file transfer (between local and remote) and it doesn't inflict much of a performance hit.

see317

The problem with remote tools like your looking for (at least with the ones I've used) is you may run into some lag, which sucks if you're doing any kind of detail work. You'll think you're clicking in one place, but the mouse is actually in a slightly different location (or the list of files your scrolling though hasn't stopped scrolling) and your screen hasn't updated yet. You may also run into some resolution issues trying to display your home screen on your work screen.
I use LogMeIn at work to remote in and do tech support stuff with our customers. Even when the customer internet is working well, I'll see some lag that can make it difficult to resize windows accurately on the first try or when uninstalling stuff. Generally it's just a minor annoyance and an issue of retraining yourself to wait an extra 1-3 seconds before you do something to make sure you're doing what you want (I know that doesn't sound like much, but it can be maddening to try to work on a system like that). You'll need to install the client on your home system and set up an account. After that, log into LMI from your work machine and it'll let you connect. File transfer does require a pro license though, but you could just email it to your work address or set up a dropbox if that's an issue.

As an alternative, what about using an external drive for your software? No need to install the software on the work computer if you can just bring it in from home. You keep a track on your software and bring it home with you. I don't know how that would fly with the EULA though.

Cog

There is literally no reason to use anything but TeamViewer.

bowen

Doesn't TeamViewer build off VNC? You're going to introduce a ton of lag. RDP will be significantly less laggy, but, 3d may not work.

I feel another solution to this problem would be to get a laptop and slap the software on it. This is likely the best solution, and probably deductible on your taxes even. A shitty laptop is going to perform better than the best remote viewing software. You're introducing 100 ms delays thereabouts.

hsu

Does your work have a VPN? If so, can you leave your home machine VPN'd to the office?
When I had problems with my work laptop whilst at home, my IT guy was able to RDP to my laptop to fix the issue.
Err, not sure if he actually used RDP, but he used a standard Microsoft way to remotely fix the laptop, which worked as long as I was VPN'd in.

wrong_button

I ran into something similar awhile back, and after trying lots of different remote options, the lag ended up being too much to make it useful for me to even attempt to do all but the most basic stuff in Pshop/AI/InDesign.

Something worth looking into though - if you've gone to Adobe Creative Cloud, you can legally install on two machines (regardless of platform). Not sure if you can remotely de-authorize, in the case you part ways with your employer, but I'd imagine there's something workable there.

edit: just to clarify, I was also working with print-ready, higher-rez images. YMMV for lower rez stuff on remote.

Gilbert0

Just as a word of warning working with software licensing before, you're not making it less complicated from a licensing perspective (installing on the work PC), you're making it worse. You purchased that software to use at home, not to use in support of your job. You really shouldn't do that.

Think to if you needed a car for work. Your work only has 2000 Civic but you personally just bought a 2014. They would be all over you to using your personal vehicle for work. Or at the very least, they'd offer some sort of re-imbursment for using your personal belongings (milage credits, gas credits, etc).

kaliyama

Gilbert0 wrote: »

Just as a word of warning working with software licensing before, you're not making it less complicated from a licensing perspective (installing on the work PC), you're making it worse. You purchased that software to use at home, not to use in support of your job. You really shouldn't do that.

Think to if you needed a car for work. Your work only has 2000 Civic but you personally just bought a 2014. They would be all over you to using your personal vehicle for work. Or at the very least, they'd offer some sort of re-imbursment for using your personal belongings (milage credits, gas credits, etc).

Good issue spotting, but you are missing the mark on the analysis.

I think the distinction you are trying to make is between a commercial license and a non-commercial license, such as an educational product where the license terms expressly prohibit commercial use of some kind.

The use is what is relevant, not where the software is used or what hard drive it is installed on.

Only OP knows his license terms.

also, the analogy makes no sense. Nothing wrong with using a car you bought privately for work, tho you might have insurance issues. If you want a car analogy, better l to think of a rental truck you want you use for hauling goods - the question is whether the rental agreement lets you use truck for commercial cargo transport.