VNC from a Mac into a PC?

tilttilt
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hi,



Is it possible to VNC into a PC from a Mac? What software would I use to do that?



My buddy living a few timezones away is a PC user and I am his friendly neighbourhood geek for support. Providing phone spport is getting to be painful. It would be easier for me to take control of his PC and try out things for myself. However, I use a Macbook.



Cheers

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    tag me backtag me back Posts: 121member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tilt


    Hi,



    Is it possible to VNC into a PC from a Mac? What software would I use to do that?



    My buddy living a few timezones away is a PC user and I am his friendly neighbourhood geek for support. Providing phone spport is getting to be painful. It would be easier for me to take control of his PC and try out things for myself. However, I use a Macbook.



    Cheers



    If you're not hugely concerned about bandwidth, then any of the freebie VNC servs should work happy. UltraVNC is popular, and its website http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/ has a walkthrough for installation, so you can get an idea over the phone what's happening with the installation and security setups. Chicken of the VNC seems to be a workable VNC client for your mac.



    -t
  • Reply 2 of 6
    pubguypubguy Posts: 108member
    I do this all the time.

    UltraVNC is a good free client for Windows.

    Chicken of the VNC is available at http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9517



    You may have to have your PC buddy make some changes to the settings on his router to allow passing of port 5900 (that is the default port used by VNC).
  • Reply 3 of 6
    tilttilt Posts: 396member
    So, does he have to install ultraVNC on his PC and I install ChickenVNC on my Mac? Does Windows XP not come with a built-in VNC server?



    Cheers
  • Reply 4 of 6
    pubguypubguy Posts: 108member
    Windows XP Pro does, but UltraVNC is just as effective and free.



    Yes, Chicken of the VNC much be installed on the Mac.



    Also,I assume your friend will not have a fixed IP address on his PC thru his hosting provider, so your friend should sign up for No-IP.com for a free dynamic DNS. There is software he needs to install on his PC so that it "announces" his internal IP to the No-IP servers. You will need to have this information to connect to his machine remotely.



    I've got both Macs and PCs setup this way and I can access them both remotely and painlessly.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    tilttilt Posts: 396member
    That's right Pubguy, he has no fixed IP.



    Thanks Pubguy. I shall have to do some RTFMming now that you have given me some direction



    Cheers
  • Reply 6 of 6
    demenasdemenas Posts: 109member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tilt


    So, does he have to install ultraVNC on his PC and I install ChickenVNC on my Mac? Does Windows XP not come with a built-in VNC server?



    Cheers



    Microsoft has a Remote Desktop Client for OS X also that you can use, and he would enable Remote Assistance on his end.



    RealVNC has a beta client and server for OS X also:

    http://www.realvnc.com/products/beta/



    Steve
Sign In or Register to comment.