Windows 7 Home Premium Remote Desktop

[Nico Sadiq]

I installed a home server for a friend with Win 7 Home Premium, opting to save him money, since he will never log onto the domain etc. I have not realized Remote Desktop is not a part of standard Win 7 Home install. This has created a pain, since we must use some 3rd party remote connection tool. This was OK until LogMeIn stopped being free.

Depends upon the requirement, you may also give a shot to Lepide remote admin tool that is available free and allows IT Administrators to remotely administer single or multiple computers in the entire network simultaneously spread across multiple domains.

Windows operating systems come in different editions, each with its own set of features. A prime example is the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) in Windows 10/11, which is significantly restricted in the Home editions compared to the Professional ones.

Enter the name or IP address of the remote computer and the login credentials to satisfy authentication requirements. The target computer to which you want to connect must have Remote Desktop Connections enabled.

Is the RDP wrapper library safe? Well, this solution does not change the properties of a Windows Home operating system. Essentially, the RDPwrap software subverts Windows 11 Home security to enable Remote Desktop.

While this is a less expensive alternative than upgrading from Windows Home to Windows Professional, it does open potential vulnerabilities that may not be acceptable to most users. In that case, you will need to use an alternate way of enabling remote desktop functionality on Windows 11 Home.

Contrasting with conventional remote assistance tools that are hard and complicated to use, HelpWire features a simple and intuitive interface that allows users to establish remote connections in just a few clicks, while also providing advanced remote support features.

In conclusion, while Windows 10/11 Home editions have limitations with RDP, effective workarounds and alternatives like HelpWire exist. These solutions enable remote desktop functionality, catering to different comfort levels regarding security and ease of use. Whether you opt for the RDP wrapper library or HelpWire, you can maintain productivity and connectivity with remote access to the Windows Home PC.

Any recommendations on how I can connect from Windows 10, to Ubuntu 19.04 over home wifi (but preferably from anywhere on the internet), and do a screenshare of Ubuntu desktop, and control the desktop from Windows?

I tried using Chrome Remote Desktop, which sounded like an amazingly easy solution, except that CRD did not load the sudo user/created a new desktop environment, and following directions from here simply made my Ubuntu computer unusable.

The key information here is that vncserver has started up an X server as display :1 on system "myhost" and that it has created a sub-directory called .vnc in the home directory of the user that started the server containing a startup script called xstartup. In addition it has also created a log file that can be reviewed to diagnose any problems should the server have failed to start.

A useful point to note here is that process being killed in called Xvnc. Xvnc is the the actual VNC server process. The vncserver command we ran to launch the VNC server is actually a shell script that sets up the environment prior to launching the Xvnc process.

The next step is to configure what gets started up when the VNC server is launched. As outlined previously the first time a user starts vncserver the .vnc directory is created in their home directory. Change directory to $HOME/.vnc and load the xstartup file into an editor. It should appear as follows:

These commands perform some basic tasks such as setting the background of the X window, launching an X terminal window and finally launching the twm window manager. The twm window manager is a very good lightweight window manager. Another good lightweight manager is the Motif Window Manager (mwm). Those familiar with the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) on Solaris, HP and IBM systems may want to change to the "twm &" to "mwm &" in the xstartup script.

Having selected the desktop environment you would like to use the next step is to install the client side VNC viewer. On Linux and Unix systems the viewer is called vncviewer. Check to see if you already have VNC installed on the client system. If it is not already installed or you are running on Windows we once again recommend that you download TightVNC from the site.

For security reasons it is recommended that the VNC communication take place through an encrypted secure tunnel connection. On Linux or Unix this can be achieved using the ssh command. On Windows we recommend that you use PuTTY which is freely available from putty.nl

By default the VNC server will communicate on port 59xx where xx represents the display number. If vncserver announces that it is running as display :1 then the port being used is 5901. If it tells you it is display :2 then port 5902 is being used and so on.

Assuming all went smoothly with the VNC server installation and that you have established a secure shell connection using the appropriate port (in our example 5901) you can now launch the VNC viewer client. On Linux or UNIX this is done as follows:

In both cases you will prompted for a password. This is the password that you specified when you ran vncpasswd earlier. After short delay you should see a large window appear dispalaying your Linux desktop and you can work with it as if you were sitting in front of your console.

It does work when i go to the office start Pix4D & open raycloud, go home and take over the machine.
I would really like to see a solution which enables me to start Pix4D & specially raycloud from home without 1st going to the office start Pix4D & open raycloud.

Hi, thanks for your insight.
Can you explain me why it works when raycloud is active on the workstation and I take it over from home through windows remote desktop, it shows the 3d graphics no problem.

But when I close Pix4D or start a new session everthing works untill I need to open raycloud.
Also using Agisoft, 3D graphics through windows remote desktop, No Problem.
Hexagon 3D Reshaper, 3D graphics No Problem.

I dont know what viewers or codes those other softwares use but Pix4D uses OpenGL which is one of the better optimized viewers, it runs better and faster than DirectX. OpenGL is what is causing the problem because RDP does not allow OpenGL viewing. I am not sure if changing the group policy will help fix that.

My desktop has a windows 10 pro version and remote desktop enabled. I can use the remote desktop windows client to connect from my laptop to my desktop when both devices are connected to my home wifi.

However, based on what you said how the network in your apartment building is layed out, I think it is unlikely the ISP or network admin would be able to assign a Public IPv4 address to your network port or router. But you could still ask them.

If you can't get Windows remote desktop to work as you'd like, then maybe look if something like TeamViewer or similar software would allow you to achieve what you've planned to do. TeamViewer uses a different way to establish the connection between computers and doesn't require that your home router has a Public IP address.

@woozle I can not. This is the way the windows VPN is configured and this is the error i get when i try to connect with my laptop over my mobile phone data. trying to ping the routers WAN IP results in the "Reply from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: Destination host unreachable." error i described above. The Ip i have used coincides with the one shown by the no-ip DDNS and also with the self reported ip in the Status section under my router's

How is your Internet connection set up? It is rather rare that a non-DSL or non-Cable, plain Wi-Fi router connects directly to the ISP. In most cases there is another "box" (e.g. pure modem, modem with router function, ONT) in between the broadband line and the user's own router. In case there is such a "box", do you have access to it?

I think the entire building has such a "box" to convert the glass fiber connection entering the building into the Ethernet connections we get in our apartments. So the ISP or the buildings community would have access to it. If i understand correctly I would first need a PPTP VPN through that box in order to connect to mi routers WAN IP?

Same. I've always used built-in Windows Remote Desktop and I've had no complaints. I think there's some better options if you are constantly switching between many RD sessions at once, but for a single session it's perfectly fine. Is there some feature in particular you find lacking?

Thanks for sharing @Robert_LeClair . I am so excited to see how easy it is to remote desktop using ArcGIS Pro. This means I can keep my laptop which is a Microsoft Surface Book 2 and instead upgrade the specs on a new desktop, instead of getting a clunky ugly gaming laptop to lug around.

I have to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro to use the Microsoft Remote Desktop that your using and for $100 one-time fee I wonder if it's worth it? Otherwise, TeamViewer is working decent enough and it's free. The only things is I have to leave my computer at home on with the TeamViewer App open to connect remotely to it.

Thanks so much for the reply (and full disclosure.) I'm currently trying out TeamViewer, but I wonder if it's worth upgrading to Windows 11 Pro to be able to use the Microsoft Remote Desktop your using.

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