A somewhat hidden feature of Remote Desktop Connection is the ability to access files from your local computer while in a remote session.  This is incredibly useful if you need to copy a file from your computer to the remote computer.

Enabling File Sharing

To enable local drive access, open Remote Desktop Connection and click the Options >> button.

Click the Local Resources tab.

Click the More… button.

Check the Drives box to enable your local drives on the remote computer.  If you expand the Drives tree, you can specify which of your local drives appear on the remote computer, including drives you haven’t connected yet.

Now when you connect to the remote computer, open My Computer and your local drives will be available under Other Drives.  That’s it!

The post How to Share Files and Drives from Your Computer in a Remote Desktop Session first appeared on Techerator.

Connecting from Windows XP/Vista/7

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection.
2. In the window, enter the IP address of the computer you are connecting to the IP address text field, as shown below.





3. Once the IP address has been entered, click Connect.
4. When prompted, enter your username and password to connect to the remote computer.
5. To disconnect from the session and leave it running, click Start > Disconnect.
6. To logoff the session, click Start > Log Off.

Connecting from OS X

1. Mac OS X version 10.4.9 (Tiger) or a later version of Mac OS is required to install the software.
   
2. Download the Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac from Microsoft.
3. Double-click the file that you downloaded to place the Remote Desktop Connection volume on your desktop.
4. In the Remote Desktop Connection volume window, double-click the Remote Desktop Connection.mpkg application to start the installation process, and then follow the instructions on the screen.
5. To disconnect from the session and leave it running, click Start > Disconnect.
6. To logoff the session, click Start > Log Off.

The post How to Connect to a Windows Remote Desktop first appeared on Techerator.

Note: Remote Desktop access is only available in the Professional, Business, or Ultimate versions of Windows. Home editions cannot be accessed with Remote Desktop, but do include the Remote Desktop client so you can access other computers.

Enabling Remote Desktop Windows XP

1. Click Start then Right-click My Computer.
2. Left-click properties.
3. Click the Remote Tab.
4. In the Remote Desktop section, check the box Allow users to connect remotely to this computer.
5. Click OK.

Enabling Remote Desktop in Windows Vista/7

1. Click Start and then Right-click My Computer.
2. Select Remote Settings on the left.
3. Click the radio button Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop.
4. Click OK.

Once Remote Desktop has been enabled, you will need to locate your IP address which uniquely identifies your computer.  If your computer is behind a router, you must configure your port forwarding to provide access on Port 3389.  If you are not familiar with port forwarding, more information can be found here.

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