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If you have ever been in the predicament of working in one place when the files or programs you want are in another, you will understand the frustration. “If only there was some way to access that computer from where I am now . . .” It’s becoming more and more of a problem as telecommuting becomes more and more popular. Telecommuting certainly doesn’t suit everyone, nor does it suit many industries but many organisations now realise the benefits of allowing particular staff to work at home, either part of the time or all the time, and use technology to “commute” their work to the office, instead of commuting themselves to the office. It saves time in travelling (which for most people is completely wasted time) and it can save in high-rent office space. And the worker is usually a lot happier; a win-win situation if ever there was one. Most contractors and freelancers have practised a form of telecommuting for years, doing the work in one place and electronically lodging it in another. But as with employees telecommuting, they occasionally encounter a few hiccups in the sys- By ROSS TESTER tem, when things don’t quite work as intended! Let’s look at a few real-life examples (yes, these are from unfortunate experience!): I have worked hours, perhaps days, at home on a project and when I finally take it to the office or to a bureau, one of the files is missing or corrupted! I’m working in a strange office and the software they have simply won’t do the job. Or they don’t have a particular type style I want to use. If only I could get access to the software on my own computer... A client sees a proof from a fax or from a mono laser printer. Of course, they want to see the glorious living Technicolor version. And what if we moved this to there and changed this and . . . A file is bigger than 1.44MB and splitting it is not easy. But I need to get it from point A to point B. How can it be transported? My little laptop computer simply can’t handle the jobs my desktop computer can. If only I could link them . . . We could go on but we’re sure you get the picture. So how do you solve the dilemma? First you’ll need a modem What’s a modem? It’s one of those few buzz-words of computer speak which actually tells you what it does! Modem is a contraction of MOdulate/DEModulate. Its task is to take the digital information from a computer and MODulate it to analog format so that it can be fed down a telephone March 1997  7 This Dynalink 33.6Kb external modem was purchased by phone order for just $179.95 including next morning delivery. An internal version is even cheaper but should only be considered if you have plenty of vacant slots – now and for the future. line. Another moDEM will DEModulate the analog signal back to digital for the computer to process. Modems have been around for years but today’s modem is a far cry from those of even a decade ago. As everyone knows, one of the major advances in computer technology has been in the speed department. From the humble IBM XT operating at the then blinding speed of 4.77MHz, 133MHz is rapidly becoming today’s entry level computer. And 166MHz and 200MHz models are now common. At the same time, modems have also been increasing in speed. Back in the days of the XT, most modems were flat out at 300 bits per second (bps). Today, no self-respecting ‘net surfer would be seen dead with anything less than a 14,400 bps modem. Even that is considered snail pace – 28,800 and now 33,600 bps modems are virtually a necessity. Incidentally, 33,600 bps is just about as fast as modems can theoretically get using conventional phone lines and currently available technology. Just as with PCs, as modems have gone up in speed, their price has taken the opposite direction. To research this article, we bought a brand new 33,600 bps modem, over the counter, for just $179.95. By comparison, a year ago when we purchased the 28,800 bps modem we use in the Silicon Chip office, we paid more than double that! 8  Silicon Chip So modems have got much faster and much cheaper. So what? What it means is that data communication is now well and truly within the average person’s reach. Most retail computer packages now include a 14,400 or 28,800 bps modem, especially as more and more people are climbing onto the Internet band­waggon. Of course, we are not limited to using the telephone line and a couple of modems for communication between computers. These days you could connect the computers directly via their parallel or serial cables if they are close enough, or you can use an existing IPX or TCP/IP network, connection via the Internet or ISDN (Integrated Subscriber Digital Network – a somewhat expensive digital data link capable 64kb/s), or even infrared (IrDA) connections if you have them. You might be wondering why anyone would want software to communicate via a network when the network is specifically set up for that purpose. There are specific applications where the network doesn’t have the capabilities we are looking for: more of this anon. Suitable software It doesn’t take much in the way of software to get computers to talk via a modem. In fact, Windows has had quite usable communication software built in for years. If you wanted more bells and whistles then you had to buy more powerful software but even that, for the most part, has been pretty reasonably priced. Basic communication software is fine if all you want to do is send files to and from other computers, log on to bulletin boards or even access the Internet (although you’ll need other software to properly use the Net). As you might expect if you want to do much more than that you’ll need more specialised software. In this article, we’re looking at software which will do much more than allow two computers to talk to each other. It will allow one computer to control the other! We are talking about remote control or remote access software. In a nutshell, this software not only communicates with a second computer, it actually allows complete control over it. While there are many packages around which do the job in varying degrees, we looked at two main contenders: LapLink and pcANYWHERE. With minor differences, both do essentially the same job with similar performance. As its name suggests, LapLink originally started out as a program to transfer files between laptop (and later notebook) computers to desktop models using their parallel or serial ports. pcANYWHERE, on the other hand, started out as a software to remotely address one computer from another. Over the years, both packages have taken on more and more of the other’s features to the point where today there is little to choose between them. The version of LapLink we used was the 32-bit LapLink for Windows 95 (also known as LapLink V7.5). This package also includes the 16-bit software for Windows 3.11 users and is, in fact, a means of creating a bridge between machines using the different operating systems. We also used pcANYWHERE32, another 32-bit package designed for Windows 95 or Windows NT. Other versions are available for 16-bit (ie, Win 3.11, etc). But regardless of which software you use, the same program and version must be loaded on both computers. What can you do? There are three basic uses for remote software which we will examine in turn. 1: Remote Computer Control This is the most important use for remote software. With this system, you effectively “drive” the remote computer from the computer you are currently at (the local computer). It is important to note that the remote computer functions just as if it would if you were sitting at the keyboard – it provides all the power, all the “grunt” (or lack of it) – any limitations you would experience at that computer (eg lack of memory, limited disc space, etc) you will also experience remotely. However, all the software on that remote computer, its disc drives, even its network connections (if it has any) are at your disposal. Basically, the local computer simply becomes a terminal for the remote computer – all work is actually performed in the remote and “echoed” to the local computer. Windows (3.11 and 95) has software built in which sort-of does the same thing. The big disadvantage is that it tends to send a lot more information to and from each computer, information which it needs to accomplish the task because both computers are working hard in the process. Programs such as pcANYWHERE and LapLink achieve a better result by letting the remote computer do the work and simply sending screen images and keystrokes over the link, resulting in a much faster system. One application where remote control really comes into its own is in the linking of a laptop or notebook computer (which is often limited in resources) to a higher-performing computer. The laptop or notebook may not have the power to accomplish certain tasks – high-end graphics, for example. Connect it to a computer intended for the job and bingo! Another popular use: think about how remote control can make life simpler for people involved in computer support. Ask anyone in this field and they’ll tell you there is overwhelmingly one main problem: the person on the other end of the phone! Not only is that person more than likely to have caused the problem in the first place, they have a devil of a job explaining the problem to tech support. Now, if tech support had remote computer control they could solve the problem much more quickly, without having to leave the office! The potential savings in time, and therefore money, are staggering. By the way, this is not simply a possible use: many PC support companies are using exactly this approach these days. One question which arises from time to time is on the touchy subject of software licences. You know, all that “fine print” on the outside of the software which says “read me before opening” – which of course you never read – or the important message which flashes up when you load new programs: “Click here if you agree”. Yeah, yeah – everyone clicks, no-one bothers reading through all the legal waffle! What you are doing is agreeing to the terms of the manufacturer or distributor. Despite your paying good money for the software, after the event they tell you that you haven’t purchased it at all, just a licence to use it. And if you don’t comply with the licence conditions (which of course you’ve never read) they’ll come down the keyboard lead and break your $#<at>%&~ fingers! One of those conditions you’ve agreed to says that under pain of death, or worse, you will only install the software on one machine. However, if you use a remote control program you’ve beaten them at their own game! You get complete access to the software on the remote machine but it is not installed on the local machine – you are simply controlling it from there. So now there’s no need to buy a copy of the software for home as well as the one you use at the office! The two software packages we trialled: pcANYWHERE32 (above), which was capable of operating under both Windows 95 and Windows NT, and LapLink V7.5 for Windows 95 (right). There are many other programs available to do the same or similar jobs, including some excellent "shareware" versions. March 1997  9 2: File Transfer We mentioned this before: if there’s a file on one computer and you want it on another computer, remote software is one of the easiest ways to transfer it. Regardless of whether the computers are across a room or across the world, file transfer is delightfully simple. One particular advantage of using remote access software for file transfer (as distinct from generic communications software) is that if you don’t know where the file is or what it is called, you have the opportunity to search the remote machine. (Most generic programs require you to know the name and/or location of the file). Another major reason for using this type of software is that some of it (LapLink for example) has the ability to synchronise files/folders between two machines. What does that mean? Let’s say you have transferred a file from a remote machine and worked on it on your local machine. The files are now different, even though they might have the same name. Some time later you want to work on the file and . . . which one? By using remote access software to synchronise files, the files on the two machines are always updated to the latest version. More than that, you can set the parameters so that only amended files are synchronised, saving time. An example of file transfer in action: the very pages you are reading now. As you probably know, SILICON CHIP is produced in Sydney but printed in Dubbo, some 400km away. When we need to get a file to Dubbo in a hurry (presses just won’t wait!) we use file transfer via a modem and standard telephone lines. A typical page might take about twenty minutes or so to send - overall, the cost is not dramatically different to sending the file by air express and certainly a lot, lot faster! 3: Idle Chit-Chat Remote software can be used to enable a two-way conversation with someone at a remote computer. Whether that is for information, for fun or even to ask for a date(!) it’s simple. More than that, chatting can be combined with remote control or file transfer: the tech support person we talked about earlier can now not only control the remote machine, upload or download files as required (eg software upgrades or patches) but can “talk” to the remote operator at the same time. Setting up the software Whether the software you choose is on CD-ROM or floppy, loading and setting up is basically a matter of following the instructions. CD-ROMs tend to come with an autoload file which loads as soon as you put the disc in the drive. Note that Windows 95 is required for the 32-bit versions of the software; if you are still using Windows 3.11 you will need to load the 16-bit versions. Better performance can be expected from the 32-bit versions. Purely for the convenience of having two computers virtually side-by-side which we could compare, we first decided to try out the programs via their network connection instead of via the modem and phone line. According to the manual, each works in much the same way. First snag: the PCs on the SILICON CHIP network use Windows NT, the “industrial strength” version of Windows. While pcANYWHERE would operate under both Windows 95 and Windows NT, LapLink would only operate under Windows 95. To us that doesn’t make a great deal of sense, given the fact that Windows networks in industry are more and more based on NT, not 95. Of course, we wanted to stack each program against the other so Windows 95 was required. Fortunately, one of our networked PCs is a “dual boot” Windows 3.11/ Windows 95 system (see SILICON CHIP July ’96) to allow the use of some essential, but non-NT-compatbile software. And it wasn't too difficult to bring in a Windows-95 machine from home – I have three machines networked for my home-based business anyway, so connecting one of these to the SILICON CHIP network was quite simple. The sign-on screens for pcANYWHERE (left) and LapLink (right). One thing we liked about LapLink was its “Quick Steps” windows which automatically opened to guide you through the required steps. pcANYWHERE has a similar, though not quite as informative, "Quick Start" window available. 10  Silicon Chip That done, we had no trouble loading either of the programs. Setting up, though, was not quite as simple. While both programs have a step-bystep “Wizard” to guide you through the process, and we followed the step-bystep instructions to the letter, we found that neither program worked over the network when first fired up. LapLink was the first program we attacked and the cure also fixed the problem with pcANYWHERE. What we had not done was first load the specific drivers for our network. This was more a matter of ignorance on our part than anything else: had we read the packaging properly we would have found that the protocol we use on our network (NetBEUI) was not supported by the programs. Instead, they required either TCP/IP or IPX. (No, we haven’t bothered to explain what the acronyms mean – what’s the point?) To cut a long story short, once we realised this we went back into our network setup and loaded the IPX protocol (it’s a lot simpler than loading TCP/IP because you don’t have to work out machine addresses). Did it spring to life? Not on your nelly! Sod’s law No 42: if all else fails, read the manual. Under troubleshooting there was a section on enabling and disabling ports. Alas, it didn't help. The software insisted that the IPX protocol was enabled – the “enable port” checkbox was checked and the dialogue box above reported that the IPX network port was enabled. Purely on a whim, we disabled the port and re-enabled it – just two clicks of the mouse button. Presto! It worked: up came the remote computer in the dialog box above. Clicking on that brought up the message that the link with the other computer was being established and not too long after that (perhaps 15-20 seconds) the screen image of the remote computer came up on the screen. First of all, we were extremely disappointed with the screen quality – it was very difficult to read and nearly impossible to use. Then we realised that the remote computer was using a much higher screen resolution than the local computer. Once the resolution was made the same on each, the screens were almost identical. One of the remote computer’s tasks is to control a scanner. We thought a pretty reasonable task would be to remotely scan a photograph (of course, the photo had to be placed on the scanner first!). Using LapLink, we were able to scan the photograph in exactly the same way we would have done at the remote computer’s keyboard. Yes, it was markedly slower (perhaps twice as long) but the scanner didn’t miss a beat (it is sometimes temperamental) and the end result was the equal of scanning it on the spot. Think of the possibilities that brings up: if you need access to a scanner This is LapLink's setup screen to establish either a TCP/IP or IPX protocol network link. It was this window which first twigged us to the fact that we didn't have the right network protocol loaded. No wonder it didn't work first up! but don’t have one, all you need do is have someone place the photo on the scanner. You can do the rest from anywhere. You can even “chat” to them via the chat mode to tell them exactly what you want to do, all remotely! It was rather uncanny watching the remote computer screen because everything being done by the local computer was echoed – the mouse pointer moving around the screen, selections being made, even the scanning, with nobody near the thing. As mentioned, all this was tried out using LapLink because at this stage we hadn’t again tried to get pcANY­ WHERE to work. But fixing the IPX problem for LapLink also fixed it for pcANYWHERE, as one might expect. When we subsequently fired up pcANY­WHERE we were able to do exactly the same job. The times were comparable: it appears that pcANYWHERE might establish the connection slightly faster, but in use there wasn’t much in it. We mentioned before that it might seem silly to install this type of software for use on a network. But the above example highlights the versatility. You get much more than simple network connections. Control via a modem OK, so that was the network connection. What about the modem connection? The secret here, as Mrs Beaton’s In “File Transfer” mode you can see two directories: the machine on the left is the remote machine (Ross), while the machine on the right (SC100) is the local. Trans­ ferring files between the two machines is as simple as the familiar Windows “drag and drop”. March 1997  11 Cook Book might suggest, is to first catch your modem. Make sure it is set up and working perfectly before trying to use the remote software on it. You have the choice of using the installation software supplied with most modems, or letting Windows 95 install it for you. We tend to prefer the latter approach: by clicking on Control Panel and then Install New Hardware, Windows 95 will go off and look for the modem (and usually finds it). When it does, you can use the drivers supplied with Windows 95 if your modem is a common brand. If your modem is a little odd-ball, don’t despair: your instruction manual will usually tell you it can be installed as a “so and so” modem, or it may tell you to install it using the software supplied on the installation disc. Either way, it’s easy to do. You may see a lot of information about IRQ’s and addresses and so on. If these terms mean about as much to you as Quantum Mechanics and the meaning of life, don’t despair – most of the process is automated. In most cases, installation is as simple as following the on-screen instructions. And finally, refer to Sod’s law no 42 above. To test the modem, simply call another modem-equipped computer. It makes some sense to call the computer you are going to use the remote software on later because if something doesn’t work as intended at least you can eliminate the modem and connection as a cause. Alternatively, you could call one of the bulletin boards that allow free access or free limited visitor access (and there are lots of those). Don’t be tempted – yet – to sign up with an Internet Service Provider and go surfing the net, at least until you find out the cost you could be up for! It’s working! Now it’s time to call the other computer with the remote control software. Naturally, the remote computer also needs to be running the same remote control software. We have taken several “screen dumps” to show you what to expect. It’s basically a matter of entering the phone number you wish to call and clicking on dial. From there on in the process is automatic until such time as the connection is established. Once the connection is established, the remote computer screen pops up (albeit slowly) and you are ready to take full control, as outlined above. Alternatively, if you choose the appropriate options, you can very simply transfer files, chat or just examine the other system. Just as before, we were able to control the scanner, edit text in Word­ Perfect, open up a Pagemaker file and manipulate the pages . . . all as if we were sitting there instead of here! Again, operation is significantly slower than it would be if you were sitting at the other PC and performing the same keystrokes. You often have to wait for the screen to refresh after having clicked with the mouse – in fact, it is not too hard to get ahead of yourself if you are used to working quickly. But, those reservations aside, either program is an excellent way around what has been a significant problem. One of the more interesting uses, especially for business and commerce, is the ability to log into a remote network by remotely controlling one of the PCs on that network. We did this on a small scale with the SILICON CHIP network: we were able to dial in to one PC from a location several kilometres away (we could have been thousands of kilometres away) and through it, gain access to the entire network. There are countless applications where this could be a Godsend but there are also some security aspects to worry about. Both software packages we used had the ability to limit access and to use a variety of password protection devices to ensure that anyone who accessed the system – and the network – had the authority to do so. Even so, unless you have good reasons for allowing unlimited access at any time, security experts recommend gateways to networks be turned off or disconnected unless actually re­ One of the big advantages with this type of software over run-of-themill communications software is its ability to set up very detailed address books, with all the information needed to establish the contact contained in the listing. This address book listing, again in LapLink (though pcANYWHERE has a similar arrangement), is setting up a modem connection for a fictitious “Remote Computer” called “A Name” (the name must be correct) via a modem at a local telephone number 12345678. All three services available are selected but security is not. Security is vital for commercial organisations to minimise or prevent unauthorthorised access (“hacking”) especially where remote control is available. Imagine the damage that someone could do . . . 12  Silicon Chip quired.That seems like fair enough advice to us; it's something we do here at SILICON CHIP. Connecting via a cable While we have been talking about communication via modems and phone lines, or via an existing IPX or TCP/IP network, we acknowledge that there are many people who don’t have such devices. But often there is a need to transfer files between computers. If you can get the computers close enough you can connect a cable between them and, using the remote software, transfer files using their parallel or serial ports. If at all possible, you should use the parallel ports (ie, both computers’ parallel ports are connected via a special cable) because file transfer is significantly faster via the parallel port. Note that the cable must be purpose-made; ordinary parallel printer cables and most serial data cables do not work. The cable connection is selected during the setup procedure and file transfer is achieved in a very similar way to using a modem or network connection. File transfer can be bi-directional; either computer can send or receive files to or from the other. Which software? In use, we have found very little to choose from between LapLink and pcANYWHERE. There were a couple of features we liked slightly more on one than the other but these were countered in other directions. We'd be happy to use either package. The Proof of the Pudding . . . These two screen images show exactly the same Windows 95 “desktop” screen but were actually taken on two different PCs. The top screen is taken from the PC on which Windows 95 was actually running, the bottom screen was the same Windows 95 desktop, captured by pcANYWHERE, as viewed on a computer in a different part of the same building. While in this case it was being run over a network, it could have been running via a modem from the other side of the world! Both PCs were also running Windows Paint, the program used to capture these screen images. Where do you get it? LapLink For Windows 95 and pcANYWHERE32 are available at virtually any good computer store; if not in stock, they should be able to get it in for you. With recommended retail prices of $230-295, you can expect to pay anywhere from under $200 up, depending on the margin the retailer wants to make! The Dynalink 33.6Kb external modem was purchased from Software Today in Melbourne for $179.95, including next day door-to-door delivery (in fact, the modem was delivered just four working hours after ordering. That's not bad service from 1000km SC away!). March 1997  13