Remote connection to a PC over internet [closed]

I have a PC running Windows Vista Home Premium with Norton Internet Security 2009. I like to help my father and sister by connecting their PCs over the internet and taking full control. My father has Windows Vista Home Premium and my sister has Windows XP SP3. Both of them are using McAfee Internet Security 2009. One of my friends recommended me to use TeamViewer. I didn't try it yet. Any comments for this work and for any possible adjustments in both security programs and OS?

TeamViewer, from personal experience, allows you to connect remotely without any modifications to the router for port forwarding. Although you will need to make a firewall exception.

For using regular RDC instead, you will need to:

• Enable their remote machines to be connected to remotely (My Computer -> Properties -> Remote)
• Ensure you have permissions to log onto their machine
• Configure port forwarding in their router for port 3389
• Configure firewall exceptions for RDC (on both computers), if applicable

TeamViewer is probably the easiest alternative, most other remote desktop software (VNC, NX, etc) will require system and router configuration changes just like RDC.

You could use LogMeIn. It's very easy to use.

The OS is not a problem, though McAffee may be if it includes a restrictive firewall.

But beyond that, most people nowadays (especially if they use WLAN) are bhind a NAT router, which needs to be configured to forward connection attempts from outside. This is know as "port forwarding" and how to do it varies with the router model. This site has descriptions for lots of different models.

I maintain remote family machines (like out of state) with the free version of the LogMeIn remote client. Simple, easy to use and -- importantly -- no need to muck about with firewalls opening ports.

I've also had good luck with the free Crossloop app as well. A bit more interactive to get going, but some folks like that.