The Windows Operating System provide a feature that allows you to securely log in to your office computer from a different location. For example, you can use a home desktop or laptop to connect to your office computer and work as if you were sitting directly at it. While connected, you have access to everything on your office PC, which can include files and software programs on your PC’s hard drive, files on your department’s shared drive, and local/network printers. The computer at the off-site location you use to connect to your office PC can run Windows 7, 8 and 10. In this documentation, remote computer will be used to designate your office computer, and local computer will be the computer you are using to connect to your office computer. While connected, processing takes place on the remote computer, not the local one. Thus, the local PC does not need to be a powerful machine to take advantage of the power and resources of your remote office PC. The essential requirement is an Internet connection.  It is strongly recommended to use a high speed Internet connection, such as DSL or cable.  Before continuing, the local computer (home PC) MUST have VPN configured.  If VPN has not been configured on the local computer, then visit Network for instructions on how to do this.

 

Setting up the Office Computer

This section describes how to setup your office computer for remote access. To begin with, your office computer must be left ON whenever you need remote access to it. You do not, however need to be logged in. When you connect to your office computer, a valid BarryNet username, password is required to gain access.  To setup your office computer for remote access, enable the Remote Desktop feature in Windows 7, 8 or 10 by following the steps below.

1. In the search box on your desktop, type “Allow remote access to your computer“, then click Allow remote access to your computer.
2. In the System Properties pane pops up, on the Remote tab, under the Remote Assistance section if not checked, check the box next to Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer.

    Note: if you don’t see this settings, which usually happen to Windows 7 and early versions of Windows 10, you can download the Microsoft Remote Desktop Assistant, then install it in your computer.

3. Under the Remote Desktop section, for Windows 7 users if not selected choose Allow connections from only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication (more secure).

Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 users if not selected choose Allow remote connections to this computer, and check the box next to Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication (recommended).

4. Click Apply and OK to save your changes.
5. In the System Properties pane on the Computer Name tab, make a note of the Full computer name (xxxxxxxx.barrynet.barry.edu); you will need this when you launch the remote desktop session described below.

6. Your office PC has been configured for remote access.

You can log off your computer before you leave for home and start a remote session later, or stay logged in to resume an existing session and continue work that is already in progress. For security reasons, it is advisable that you enable a screen saver with a password. This prevents someone else, who has access to your office, from using your logged in account. You may power off the monitor when leaving since it is not required for remote access.

Note:  Individuals other than yourself are unable to connect to your computer remotely unless you have authorized them to do so.

 

Obtaining IP Address from Office Computer

To obtain the IP Address for your Office Computer:

1. On your desktop bottom right-hand corner, right-click on the Internet Connection icon and select Open Network & Internet Settings.

 

2. One the left-hand side menu, click Ethernet and then click Change adapter options under Related Settings.

 

3. On the Network Connections window, double-click on the Ethernet adapter that is connected to barrynet.barry.edu.

 

4. On the Ethernet Status window, click Details.

 

5. Look for IPv4 Address and make note of the IP address.

 

 

Setting up the Local Computer (home computer)

The software used to connect to your office computer is called Remote Desktop Connection.  Since you’ve enabled Remote Desktop in your office computer, you can now start the Remote Desktop on the computer you want to work from.  In the search box, type Remote Desktop Connection, and then, in the list of results, click Remote Desktop Connection. If you can't find the app, you can install it from the Windows Store.

 

Connect to an Office Computer

To connect to the remote computer (your office PC):

1. Log onto to BarryNet using a VPN connection.

• Login with your username and password.  Your username is the part before the @ symbol in your Barry email address
• Visit http://vpn.barry.edu OR use the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client in your applications.  View instructions for installing the Connect to VPN using Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client.

2. Open Remote Desktop Connection.  In the search box, type Remote Desktop Connection, and then, in the list of results, click Remote Desktop Connection. If you can't find the app, you can install it from the Windows Store.
3. In the Computer box, type the Computer Name or IP address of the computer you wish to connect to.

4. For more Connection Options, click on Show Options.

Note: Here you can save the connection profile, adjust display properties, run specified programs upon connection, adjust connection bandwidth, etc. For more information on specific tabs, click on Help.

Note: In order to have access to your local disk drives (hard drive, CD ROM, DVD and USB/Flash drive) and printers you will need to select both options on the Local Resources tab.  If you click Save As and save these settings, you will eliminate the need to complete these fields each time the Remote Desktop Connection is run.

5. Click Connect, enter your log in credentials of a user account on the remote computer that is allowed to do a Remote Desktop Connection.
6. After a successfully connection you will have access to the content on your office computer.

You probably noticed several other tabs in the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box.  Each of the functions these tabs provide is described below.

a. The Display tab contains—you guessed it—display settings. When you want to view the remote session in a smaller window rather than in the default full-screen mode, you can edit those settings on the Display tab.

b. The Local Resources tab controls communication between the local computer and the remote system. If you want to automatically map the local computer's drives to the remote system or use the local computer's COM port with the remote session, you can enable those capabilities on this tab. (You can also disable these features from the Local Resources tab.) You can configure sound and keyboard shortcut settings on this tab.

c. If you plan to use Remote Desktop Connection to run only one application on the remote computer, you can enter the application's path on the Programs tab. (You must know the path. The tab doesn't offer a Browse option because you aren't yet connected to the remote computer.)  The Programs tab was removed from Windows 10. When you enter the path, the remote application is started and maximized automatically when you log on to the remote session. Closing the remote application disconnects you from the remote computer.

d. The Experience tab lets you specify your connection's speed and thus selectively enable or disable features such as menu and window animation. You can enable or disable these settings individually, but at first you might want to stick with the client's suggested settings to get the best performance from each network speed. Enabling too many options over slow connections can make your remote session sluggish.

Note:  Select Desktop background if you want to see the wall paper from the remote computer on your local computer.

To switch sessions from the remote computer to your local one, minimize the Remote Desktop (click the minimize button at the top-right of the screen). You can switch back to the Remote Desktop session by clicking on your office computer name on the task bar.

Files can be transferred directly between the local and remote computers if you selected Disk drives on the Local Resources tab before logging into the Remote Desktop Connection in Section 3 Step 4.

 

Closing the Remote Session

When you are finished working, click Start and select Logoff. If you select Disconnect, you may resume the same session next time you login to your office computer.