Installing the Remote Desktop Client

The local computer must be running the Remote Desktop Connection Client software in order to connect to a remote Windows XP Professional computer running Remote Desktop. Windows XP Professional comes with the Remote Desktop Connection Client already installed. Microsoft makes a free copy of the Remote Desktop Connection Client available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads. It can be installed and run on any of the following Windows operating systems, allowing each to establish a Remote Desktop session to a Windows XP Professional computer.

• Windows 95
• Windows 98
• Windows 98 2nd Edition
• Windows Me
• Windows NT 4.0
• Windows 2000

The Remote Desktop Connection Client can also be found on the Windows XP Professional CD using the following procedure.

1. Insert the Windows XP Professional CD into the computer's CD-ROM drive.
2. The Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP page appears. Select Perform Additional Tasks.
3. Select Set up Remote Desktop Connection.
4. Follow the instructions presented to complete the rest of the installation.

Starting a Remote Desktop Session

The following procedure outlines the steps involved in establishing a connection to a remote Windows XP Professional computer running Remote Desktop. Before using the following procedure, an active network connection must already exist between the local and remote computers.

1. Click on Start/All Programs/Accessories/Communications and then Remote Desktop Connection. The Remote Desktop Connection dialog opens.
2. Click on Options to configure any desired session settings as described in the next section.
3. Type the name of the computer to which a Remote Desktop connection is to be established and then click on Connect. By default, Windows XP Professional uses the user's current username, password, and domain when establishing the connection. (Different login information can be specified by clicking on Options before making the connection.) The Remote Desktop window opens and displays the desktop of the remote computer.

Ending a Remote Desktop Session

Once a Remote Desktop session is started, the user can work with the remote computer just as if he or she were sitting in front of it. When done working, the user needs to log off the remote computer and terminate the Remote Desktop session.

The following procedure outlines the steps in terminating a remote session once work has been completed.

1. Within the Remote Desktop window, click on Start and then Disconnect.
2. When prompted for confirmation, click on Disconnect.