osx - How can I elegantly manage a machine for running slideshows using VNC or RDP?

07
2014-07
  • NReilingh

    I have a WinXP professional machine that is connected to a video distribution system. It needs to display a slideshow on screen, and this slideshow will be changed every weekend or so. The person managing the slideshow is savvy enough to use VNC-like solutions, but is not a technical specialist.

    I see two options with two downsides:

    Option 1:

    Make use of WinXP Pro's built-in Microsoft Remote Desktop server. This is marginally more secure than VNC, and has the major plus of being able to do folder redirection. This will make it much easier for the user to upload new slides each week. The downside is that RDP locks the server's screen when the user signs on to a remote session, and it stays locked after the user signs off. This basically defeats the purpose, except there is a rather kludge-y workaround.

    Option 2:

    Install a 3rd party VNC server and use that to simulate local access. This solves the screen locking problem, but makes it more difficult to upload the new set of files. The user is Mac-based, and would ideally be using the built-in "Screen Sharing" VNC client (or the Microsoft Remote Desktop app in the first option). I'm not really concerned with VNC's more lax security.

    Does anyone have any elegant ways to solve either of those two downsides, or a different option entirely that I'm missing?

    • Answers
  • NReilingh

    Further research seems to prove that to use RDP here would be foolhardy--the session needs to persist, and VNC allows for this easily. Making sure "sessions are always shared" seems to ensure this.

    For file transfers, I hadn't considered simply using Dropbox (or similar alternative). That should wrap this all up in an easy-to-use and elegant package.


    • Related Question

    How can I remote desktop from Windows XP into Windows Vista?
  • Questioner

    How can I remote desktop from Windows XP into Windows Vista? Is there an update to XP's mstsc.exe app that will allow it to work with Vista's version of the RDP protocol?

    I know there's VNC, but I'd rather avoid starting another service in Vista -- it consumes enough resources as it is.

    Thanks for the help!


    • Related Answers
  • blowdart

    You need V6 of Remote Desktop

  • Tomalak

    You need to have the current version of the Terminal Services Client (RDP 6.1), which requires XP SP3.

    Also try to enable downlevel access from the Vista box:

    Start -> Computer -> Properties -> Remote Settings -> "Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure)"

  • swilliams

    You do need either Vista Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate too. Though I think there are ways to enable it on home, but it may void your license...

  • Michael Kohne

    I know you said you didn't want VNC, but CoPilot does work very well, and is quite agnostic about windows versions.

  • Indrek

    SUMMARY
    This article discusses the Remote Desktop Connection 6.0 client update that helps you use the new Terminal Services features. These features are introduced in Windows Vista and in the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 operating system from a computer that is running one of the following operating systems:

    • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
    • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
    • Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)

    The Remote Desktop Connection 6.0 client can be used to connect to legacy terminal servers or to remote desktops as before. However, the new features that are mentioned in this article are available only when the remote computer is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008.

    Remote Desktop V6

  • jeffm

    You can also use the Remote Desktop feature of Windows Live Mesh, which has the additional feature of being able to remote access via Internet Explorer in addition to via the Live Mesh client.

  • locster

    Vista Ultimate has Remote Desktop, Vista Home (including Home Premium) does not. There are ways of enabling it but that is contrary to the licensing.

  • kdmurray

    I'm pretty sure that you can connect from XP to a Vista or Windows 7 machine if you disable the extra layer of security introduced in the newer versions of RDP.

    1. Open up My Computer and click on the System Properties button
    2. Select the Advanced System Properties link
    3. Click on the Remote tab
    4. In the Remote Desktop section at the bottom select the second option "Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure)"

    That should allow you to connect from your XP machines.