PC Remote Control Software, Remote Access to Computer.

Quotes from GoToMyPC Users

GoToMyPC gives you greater flexibility to work remotely than ever before. Our customers have found that it changes the way they work and travel:

"I love how easy it is to use GoToMyPC to access my office computer when I'm on the road. I can't imagine leaving town without it!" Markus Mullarkey, CNET, Vice President

"I was swamped at work, and I got a call from my wife that I needed to get home by 7 P.M. I quickly went to the site and registered. As soon as I got home, I went on online and pulled up my work PC. This was the most amazing thing I have ever seen and so easy to use. I am blown away by this." Brian Myre, Sr. Branch Sales Manager, WorldCom/NYC

"It allows me to spend more time with my family, and it lets me keep my sanity by working without the early morning commute." Mike Edmunds, CALY Networks

"For once I was able to go on vacation without worrying. Now my network is available at any time. I can even access my network in the wee hours when no one is on the system. It works fantastically." Fran Symonoski, System Administrator, Children's Specialized Hospital

"It's revolutionized how we do business and has given us the freedom to be away from our office desks. We previously used pcAnywhere, and had nothing but problems." Craig Walsh, Owner, The Poi Company, Inc.

"As a busy trial lawyer, I often find myself needing to get work down while away from the office. Thanks to GoToMyPC, that challenge has become less daunting. Airports, hotels, courtrooms - if they have Internet access, they can now serve as my virtual office." John E. Harding, J.D., Harding & Associates

Access Your PC from Anywhere - Free Download

Remote Control
GoToMyPC

By Cade Metz

Don't feel tied to the office. Getting to your work computer and accessing the network is a lot easier than you think-even from halfway around the world.

Even when vacationing in the South of France, Jerry Swerling can type away on his home-office PC in Malibu, California. This isn't magic. It's remote control.

With help from Expertcity's GoToMyPC, a Web-based remote-control application, Swerling can navigate his very own Windows desktop from any Java-enabled machine on the Internet.

"I'll be in a smoky little bar where there's a side room with a couple of PCs or maybe a campground where France Telecom has set up an Internet kiosk in a little clubhouse, and I'm able to access my machine through GoToMyPC, do a quick check of my e-mail, and see what's going on back home," says Swerling, who runs the PR consultancy Swerling and Associates.

He finds the tool just as valuable when traveling for business. Able to access his home-office PC from his clients' Internet machines, Swerling can often hit the road without a laptop. And when he does bring a laptop, the application lets him retrieve important documents he may have left back in Malibu. "Sometimes an unexpected meeting will come up, and I'll need a document I didn't bring with me," he says. "With GoToMyPC, I can transfer files from my home PC to wherever I am."

Taking a unique, Web-based approach, Expertcity delivers a remote-control service that is far easier to use than its software-based competitors. GoToMyPC, which provides many of the same features as traditional tools, such as LapLink and pcAnywhere, is so intuitive that most people, even those who have never used remote-control software, should be able to set up a session without the help of a user guide.

To get started, you simply create an account on the GoToMyPC Web site, install a small piece of software on the host PC, and assign a password to that machine. You can access the host machine from any other system on the Internet in a matter of seconds by logging on to your GoToMyPC account from a Web browser, selecting your host, and typing in the password. The GoToMyPC host client runs only on Windows systems, but it can be accessed from any computer with a Java-enabled browser.

With traditional remote-control software, you have to assign new names and attributes to every new guest machine. These can easily be confused with the names and attributes of host machines. You also have to grapple with your network firewall, arcane network protocols and settings, dynamic IP addresses, and name servers. GoToMyPC sidesteps all of this, so that using remote control is almost as easy as surfing the Web-and as accessible as the Web.

GoToMyPC's remote control is very responsive, all the more impressive because every connection-even one to the PC in the office next to yours-must go through Expertcity's servers. File transfers were also quite speedy.

GoToMyPC can serve as a solution for your help desk and IT departments. The service's Corporate Plan provides a variety of administration tools for organizing and monitoring myriad host machines.

Help desk staff will like GoToMyPC's Draw tool, which lets you sketch on the host machine's Windows desktop, much as John Madden uses the Telestrator to annotate football plays on-screen.

IT managers can use GoToMyPC to change a server's settings, reboot it, and log back on to its OS. And the host application can be run on machines as a Windows NT service, so your machines need not be left logged on to be accessible. Of course, since GoToMyPC depends on Web connectivity, you won't be able to access your systems and servers if your Internet connection goes down. Nor can GoToMyPC perform a file transfer via a serial cable between two machines.

Access Your PC from Anywhere - Free Download

CNET review

By Gregg Keizer

Telecommuters, travelers, and anyone who faces the unhappy reality of leaving a work PC behind regularly should check out GoToMyPC. This Web service lets you access and control a Windows PC from any Java-enabled Web browser anywhere, anytime. It's the best way to access files, get e-mail, and run programs on a remote computer when you're not in front of that keyboard.

Fast and easy
Remote control just doesn't get any easier than this. To set up your account, head to the GoToMyPC Web site, register using your e-mail address, create an account password (GoToMyPC requires passwords with at least eight characters and numbers mixed in), then download and install a file on the host PC, (the computer you'll want to access from afar). Next, make up an access code that allows you to control your host PC when you're at another computer with a Net connection and a Java-ready browser. The whole setup process took us just 10 minutes from start to finish. Try that with pcAnywhere.

Because GoToMyPC controls your host PC over the Internet, the service runs only as fast as your Net connection. Performance over a dial-up modem (we tested at a sluglike 28.8Kbps) is pathetic but bearable in a pinch, especially if you're just transferring files from your host to a remote computer. Boost your bandwidth to T1, DSL, cable, or even ISDN, however, and GoToMyPC produces response times and screen redraws fast enough for most tasks.

One problem with connecting, though, may put GoToMyPC out of your reach. Unless the host has an always-on connection to the Internet, such as a LAN, DSL, or cable, GoToMyPC simply won't work. Unlike desktop apps such as LapLink, Timbuktu, and pcAnywhere, GoToMyPC doesn't offer a modem-to-modem option that lets you "call" a host not currently connected to the Net. If your host isn't always online, LapLink is your best alternative.

Regardless of your connection speed, getting onto your host PC is as easy as logging in to an online e-mail account. First, leave your host PC on and connected to the Internet. Next, from a browser running on any computer with a Web connection--including Mac and Linux systems--just log on to the service, click the Connect button, and enter your access code. In 15 to 30 seconds, depending on your connection speed, a Java applet loads into your browser and the host PC's desktop appears on the remote computer's screen. Voilà!

Just like being there
From this point on, you'll feel just as though you're sitting in front of the host PC. You can open documents, retrieve e-mail, run any program that resides on your host machine, and, new to the 2.0 upgrade, print to a printer attached to the remote PC. GoToMyPC also includes its own basic file-transfer feature so that you can move files between the two machines, as well as a text chat function (great if you're using GoToMyPC to provide or receive tech support). A single click to close the session window disconnects the computers.

Security anxiety
GoToMyPC's original security no-no has been fixed. You can now blank the screen and lock the keyboard and mouse of the host as soon as a remote connects to it, ensuring that anyone around the host PC can't see what you're doing or when you're controlling it from afar. Unfortunately, GoToMyPC's remote access is all or nothing. Unlike LapLink, it can't restrict access to just some folders or files.

A tough defense
Are these glitches enough to spoil GoToMyPC's brilliant convenience? We asked security guru Steve Gibson of ShieldsUp fame to help us gauge our vulnerability. Gibson says we don't have too much to worry about.

With GoToMyPC installed, your host PC doesn't constantly monitor incoming connections on an open port--a potentially huge security hole, according to Gibson--but instead pings the GoToMyPC servers every 5 seconds via HTTP (specifically, through port 80, 443, or 8200) to see if an access request has come in. This process is completely different from all other remote control applications we reviewed, which "listen" using specific ports. We like GoToMyPC's approach because it doesn't hold ports open, so it foils hackers' main weapon: scanning software that hunts for open ports on Internet-connected computers. We installed GoToMyPC on a PC without a firewall, then ran several port scanners, including Port Detective and Port Checker to see if GoToMyPC opened any new security holes. It didn't. And because the computer you use to connect to your host erases the GoToMyPC Java applet when the session is over, you're not leaving any sensitive digital debris behind--great when you're borrowing a computer to get to your host or using a public machine (such as one in a library or a hotel business center).

Of course, we like to play it safe anyway, so we installed a firewall on our GoToMyPC host computer, and we recommend you do the same. Firewalls such as Norton Internet Security mask all of your PC's ports, making the machine invisible to hackers. After we added the firewall, we ran the port scanners again. The host PC remained concealed when GoToMyPC was active, and, unlike LapLink, GoToMyPC ran just fine, even through the firewall.

More defense
GoToMyPC boasts a bushel of additional security features. It uses AES 128-bit encryption to encipher all data as it is transmitted between PCs, deactivates an account for 5 minutes if three straight login attempts fail (so a hacker can't just keep guessing until he or she nails your password), and doesn't store machine access codes on its own servers, where they might make a tempting target.

Control from a Mac
Unlike AT&T's free WinVNC (Virtual Network Computing) remote access software, GoToMyPC currently works only with Windows on the host end of the connection. But now that you can remotely control a PC using a Mac (or any other OS able to run a Java-equipped browser), GoToMyPC comes a tad closer to VNC's cross-platform qualities.

No support
Support, though, can be less than stellar. Although there's a well-stocked online help site and phone support is a toll-free call, when we rang up the help desk, we always had to leave a message and wait for a callback. We typically received one within four hours. The support reps had excellent problem-solving skills, but the wait was aggravating. You can also contact help via e-mail, but expect a similar delay.

There's no question: GoToMyPC is the slickest way we've seen to run one computer from another when you need the anywhere access that control from a browser provides. This Web service is the best way for home users, sole proprietors, and small-business users to be in two places at once.

Access Your PC from Anywhere - Free Download

Web-Based Service Allows
Remote Control of Your PC

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

I AM WRITING this paragraph on my home computer in the Washington suburbs. Only I'm not anywhere near the machine, or my home, or Washington. In fact, I'm in a hotel room in New Orleans, using a laptop to remotely control my home PC over the Internet.

Now, I'm composing this second paragraph a few minutes later on an entirely different machine -- my office PC, in downtown Washington -- again via remote control from that laptop in New Orleans. In both cases, I am able to remotely launch Microsoft Word, create a file and type from the laptop keyboard onto the screen of the PCs back east, even without running Word on the laptop.

Not only that, but I can do anything else I want on the machines via remote control from New Orleans -- surf the Web, read and send e-mail, search for files stored on those machines that aren't on the laptop. I can even swap files between Washington and New Orleans.

All of this is made possible by a simple new Web-based service called GoToMyPC, which can be reached at www.gotomypc.com. For a fee that starts at $10 a month, the service allows you to remotely control any of your PCs from any other PC anywhere in the world that has Internet access. It's the brainchild of a company called Expertcity Inc., of Santa Barbara, Calif.

IT'S BEEN POSSIBLE for years to remotely control one PC from another, but the process required that special software, like Symantec's $150 pcAnywhere or LapLink's $140 LapLink Gold, be installed on both machines. That limited you to running your remote-control sessions from a PC on which you had the foresight to install the special software. And these programs can be complicated to set up and use.

But with GoToMyPC, you can use almost any old Windows PC to remotely control your home or office machines. You only have to prepare your own computers, the target machines, in advance.

That frees travelers from having to lug a laptop everywhere, and from having to keep a laptop constantly synchronized with their main PC. For instance, you could take a weekend trip and still finish up a partially written memo on your home machine and e-mail it to the recipient. All you'd have to do is sit down at a friend's PC, or the computer in a hotel business center or an Internet cafe, and log onto your PC back home via GoToMyPC. Alternatively, if you do travel with a laptop but suddenly discover you need a file that's only on your office PC, you could log onto the office machine with GoToMyPC and consult the file.

You can even use GoToMyPC to invite a knowledgeable friend to take over your PC temporarily and show you how to do something, or diagnose a problem.

In my tests, using four different computers, the system worked flawlessly and without any special effort. It worked on PCs using Windows 98, Windows 2000 and even the new Windows XP operating system. There was a slight lag in typing and performing other operations on the target PCs, but it was tolerable.

HERE'S HOW GoToMyPC works. First, you go to the company's Web site, register and download a small program on the PC or PCs you wish to be potential targets for remote control. The program, which works quietly in the background, must be running for the process to work. You don't need to fiddle with any Internet settings at all.

Then, when you want to remotely control the target PCs, you just log onto the GoToMyPC Web site, specify the PC you want to control from a list of those you've enabled, and magic occurs. The screen of the target PC appears in a window on the remote PC's screen, exactly as it would look if you were sitting there. The mouse and keyboard of the remote PC operate all the programs on your target machine.

The company says the process is highly secure. Two passwords are required -- one to log onto the service and another to gain access to each target PC. And all of the data exchanged in each remote-control session is encrypted. The company even claims the service will work through many corporate firewalls.

There is one major limitation: The service works best with an always-on, high-speed Internet connection on both ends. It will function via a slower dial-up connection, but the target computer must remain dialed into the Internet constantly, and the typing and viewing lag is more noticeable.

Another problem arises if there's a difference in screen size or resolution between the remote and target machines. If the remote machine has a smaller or lower-resolution screen, you'll either have to squint to read the target machine's screen or do a lot of scrolling to see everything.

Right now, you can't use a Macintosh as a remote machine, but that will be fixed in a future release. The company is also working on remote printing and on better file transfer and synchronization.

Even with its current limitations, GoToMyPC is a very handy service for people who find themselves juggling multiple PCs at multiple locations. It really works.

Access Your PC from Anywhere - Free Download

State of the Art:
Putting You at the PC, Remotely

By DAVID POGUE

YOU can't call yourself a modern mobile professional until you've survived three rites of passage. First, there's boarding the flight on which you hoped to complete an important memo, and realizing that your laptop was "recharging" all night from a dead outlet. Second, there's spilling coffee into your keyboard in flight; extra credit if you're caught without a napkin and the seat-belt sign is illuminated. Finally, there's winding up in some remote and inconvenient city and discovering that you need to consult a crucial file that's nonchalantly resting on your hard drive back home.

Not even Microsoft sells software for rescuing dead batteries or caffeinated keys. But hooking back into your PC at the office got a lot easier last month with the opening of GoToMyPC, an ingenious Web site created by Expertcity that lets you channel the spirit of your computer at home onto the screen of any Internet-connected machine in the world. Sure, you can use your own laptop, but this product lets you consider traveling laptop-free. You can just as easily dial into your home (or office) machine from a hotel's business center, a convention center, an airport's Internet cafe or a public library.

All you have to do is go to www.gotomypc.com, type in two passwords, and then click on Connect. Then wait about 30 seconds as the Web site negotiates an extremely secure, encrypted connection with your computer back home. Then you witness something weird and wonderful: a window appears that shows you exactly what's on the screen of the PC at home. You can open your folders and documents, edit them, print them, install or run programs, read and reply to your e- mail, copy files between your two computers, restart the remote PC, and so on, exactly as though you're seated in front of your main machine.

Well, not exactly. The speed isn't quite the same. If both ends use a high-speed connection like a cable modem or D.S.L., there's only a hint of sluggishness; you may feel as though you're back on the old PC you gave your in-laws in 1998. If you're connected by standard modem, the delays are more severe; if you've ever been on the phone with someone who's obviously trying to read e-mail while you're talking, you'll recognize the feeling. Even so, slow access is often better than no access.

If there's anyone at home to glance at your machine, an even more bizarre phenomenon awaits, a sight right out of a high-tech Harry Potter novel: The cursor whirls about the screen, windows open and close, and words type themselves into documents - even though nobody's anywhere near the computer. Of course, you've got the reins, thousands of miles away. If the effect freaks out the folks back home, never fear - the company says that a future upgrade will let you black out the screen of the PC being inhabited. Even so, co-pilot control over one PC has its advantages. For example, you (on the road) and your pal (at the office) can type simultaneously, collaborating on the same document. ("I'll do the nouns, you do the verbs.")

You can further capitalize on the screen-sharing effect by using GoToMyPC's built-in chat-room software and sketch-pad software, which can be handy when a guru far away is trying to help troubleshoot your "home" machine. Actually, for those situations, GoToMyPC's guest-invitation feature is even more useful: as you sit at home, you can send an e-mail invitation to somebody who's never used GoToMyPC before. When you approve the invasion, that person can take control of your PC remotely (or, at your option, just look without touching) via the GoToMyPC Web site.

To PC veterans, of course, much of this should sound familiar; a whole class of highly regarded remote-control programs lets you perform precisely the same stunts. The leading players include Symantec's pcAnywhere, Netopia's Timbuktu and LapLink's LapLink Gold.

At first glance, these packaged programs might seem like a better bet, especially for the power user. They offer vast arrays of features; pcAnywhere, for example, offers a convenient drag-and-drop window for transferring files between your home and road computers (GoToMyPC's file-transfer feature is slower and less refined). Furthermore, packaged software is a one-time purchase (between $90 and $180). GoToMyPC, by contrast, costs $20 per month, or $120 per year. (You can also sign up for a free trial with an hour of connection time. A corporate plan centralizes the billing for hundreds of PC's and lets system administrators see who logged on when.)

On the other hand, Expertcity says it has no problem with your signing up and canceling as often as you want, so that you're paying only during the months when you're traveling. In fact, it plans to unveil a less expensive "infrequent flier" plan later this year.

GoToMyPC has certain advantages of its own over traditional remote-access programs. Chief among them is that no software needs to be installed on the dialing end; as long as you've installed the software on the home-base PC, you can connect to it from any PC without having to install anything. To gain that kind of freedom with a program like pcAnywhere, on the other hand, you would have to carry the CD with you on your travels and install the connection software on each computer you use, which can be a daunting prospect for the novice (and a ludicrous proposition at an airport Internet terminal).

As a bonus, GoToMyPC doesn't leave behind, on that hapless rented or borrowed PC, the detritus of a software installation, with all the accompanying instability and security risks. (Behind the scenes, the GoToMyPC Web site does, in fact, install a tiny program into your browser, but it's held in memory only for the duration of your connection and then vaporized.)

GoToMyPC's other huge advantage is simplicity: it takes about three minutes to install on the home-base PC (and as noted, there's nothing to install on the invading computer). There's nothing to configure and, like it or not, almost no preference settings to change. Packaged remote-control programs, on the other hand, take much longer to set up and administer. GoToMyPC's sweet simplicity also puts to shame another remote-control software approach, AT&T's free Virtual Network Computing, or V.N.C., a network-administration tool whose complexity and setup requirements make it popular primarily among people who live and breathe PC's.

Expertcity says that in corporations, GoToMyPC is especially attractive because it doesn't require the network gurus to spend time reconfiguring the company's firewall (hackerproofing) software, as they must to accommodate pcAnywhere- type programs or V.N.C. GoToMyPC works right off the bat, with corporate security setups still in place.

That's not to say that GoToMyPC is pure magic. As with any remote-control software, you can't dial in unless the PC at home is already online. (On the other hand, the stated requirement that your home PC have a "full-time Internet connection" isn't quite accurate, either. In a pinch, you could call home when you need to connect and ask a family member to fire up the PC on your desk and go online, even via America Online.)

Note, too, that at the moment, GoToMyPC requires Windows on both ends. The company hopes to release versions for Macintosh, Windows CE, Linux, Solaris and Palm in the coming year, so that GoToMyPC can connect, for example, Macs and Windows machines in any combination (much as Timbuktu can already do).

At that point, GoToMyPC will seem almost miraculous, but even now it's an impressive tool that does one thing extremely well. And that's not the only reason GoToMyPC is worth noticing: In an era when most Web-based businesses have been flattened by reality bombs, it's exciting to see such a promising green shoot growing from the ashes.

Access Your PC from Anywhere - Free Download

PC Remote Control Software, Remote Access to Computer.

How It Works

Quotes from GoToMyPC Users

Remote Control GoToMyPC

CNET review

Web-Based Service Allows Remote Control of Your PC

State of the Art: Putting You at the PC, Remotely

Remote Control
GoToMyPC

Web-Based Service Allows
Remote Control of Your PC

State of the Art:
Putting You at the PC, Remotely