ChatterBank2 mins ago
Desktop remote access
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There are a couple of problems you will have, firstly XP Home doesn't come with Remote Desktop so you would need to upgrade to XP Pro on their machine to see it. (or as I said use VNC)
The other bigger problem is how to contact to their machine, you basically need a set DNS address which will respond to requests. I don't know all the ins and outs of it by my Linksys router is able to connect to a site
http://www.dyndns.com/
Which allows it to maintain an ever present link to the outside world (this I understand because on broadband you have a dynamic IP address the linksys router tells dyndns when this changes allowing you to connect).
I for example can connect via VNC from my PC at work to my home machine. But to get this working you really need a broadband connection and router at each PC you want to access. It might be more hassle than it's worth.
I was previously advised on here to use www.logmein.com which is totally free - and I must say it is fantastic. My brother in law who lives 3 hours away phoned me up the other day a virus. It was not major and advice from symantec website showed me what to do - but it involved editing registry keys - somehting he would not be comfortable doing. He gave me control over his pc via the above and a little while later it was all backto normal.
100% recommended and no hassle to set up.
There are others available over and above www.logmein.com such as co-pilot.
Remote Desktop and VNC are a little more powerfull than these but for your purposes that shouldn't be a problem.