Remote Desktop from Snow Leopard to Windows XP

[Ender]

So I'm trying to remote desktop from my MacBook (Snow Leopard) into my work computer (WinXP).

I installed Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client and I connect to my work without problem.

However, once connected, I don't seem to feel the "presence" of a VPN. I don't see any computers on the network (nothing in the Places drop-down in my Finder) and I can't ping my work computer either.

It's so very frustrating... am I using my VPN client incorrectly? Do I have route network traffic through the tunnel? (Maybe ifconfig route etc.) If my work computer were sleeping / on standby right now, would that be a problem (would it not respond to a ping while asleep / on standby)?

I'd greatly appreciate any help.

[iago]

Can you ping a different host on the corporate network? (if yes, it might be a firewal on your XP machine causing the problem)

Does your ip address (if you go to, for example, www.ipchicken.com) change when you connect to your VPN? (If not, it's either a split tunnel vpn (where some traffic goes through it and other traffic doesn't, or it's not working)

Can you normally ping your XP computer if you're plugged into the physical network? (If you can, it might be a firewall on the VPN, if you can't it might be a firewall on your XP computer)

My advice is to talk to tech folks at your work.. there are a ton of configurations and stuff that a VPN can have, and any help I can give you is purely guesswork. Hopefully there's at least one tech person at work who can step through troubleshooting with you.

[Ender]

I got it to work! The problem was that my Win XP work computer kept on going into standby mode. So I set the power scheme to "Always On".

It works now, though I'm a little worried that my current power scheme might cause heating problems =/ It's set so that the computer never goes on standby, never hibernates, and so that the hard disk never "turns off" (stops spinning I presume).

[iago]

I normally disable all that stuff and it's fine.

[Joe]

Unless you've explicitly set for the hard drive to never spin down, it should spin down. And if you have done that, I'd go back right now and switch it off, because that's just asking for the motors to go bad.

You don't say for sure but I'm guessing that your work machine is a desktop? I've never had heating issues with a desktop except the one that didn't have a processor fan. If it's not full of dust (and it may well be, take a look on the exhaust (for lack of a more technical term off the top of my head)), you should be good.

[Ender]

Unless you've explicitly set for the hard drive to never spin down, it should spin down. And if you have done that, I'd go back right now and switch it off, because that's just asking for the motors to go bad.

Good to know... I'll set it to spin down tomorrow and see if I can still remote my way in.

You don't say for sure but I'm guessing that your work machine is a desktop? I've never had heating issues with a desktop except the one that didn't have a processor fan. If it's not full of dust (and it may well be, take a look on the exhaust (for lack of a more technical term off the top of my head)), you should be good.

Yes, it's a desktop. Okay - so the concern isn't overheating, but the possibility that the HD will develop motor problems.

[Joe]

As long as the core system is still up and thinking, the hard drive can take a nap and be brought back up when needed. You should be able to remote your way in.

In fact, an old battery conservation trick was to make a "RAM drive" and move all the files you're going to need for a while to that, open your apps, and then force a hard drive spindown. You could work and "save" to RAM and then when you're done, copy the files back.