Remote Control of Your PC Via the Web You’ll never have to go back to work just to get a forgotten file You’re out of town on business; your meeting starts in fifteen minutes, and you realize you’ve forgotten a critical file. No need to panic. You’ve got Internet access in your hotel and you installed GoToMyPC on your office computer before you left. GoToMyPC is a secure and easy way to access your computer from any browser-equipped computer anywhere in the world. Once your computer is enabled, you can access it at any time from anywhere by logging in to the GoToMyPC Web site. You have full control of the computer and all files, programs and network resources available on the machine. You simply work on your PC as if you were sitting in front of it, even though you may be thousands of miles away. This makes telecommuting, working from home and keeping up while traveling much easier than its ever been before. You can work on your computer remotely or transfer files between the computer you’re using and the one you’re accessing. Unlike conventional remote control software or VPN solutions (virtual private networks), GoToMyPC doesn’t require you to fiddle with port settings, IP addresses or complicated software and hardware installations. Setup takes only 2 minutes. And it even works behind corporate firewalls. The only requirement is that your computer must be left on and connected to the Internet in order to access it remotely. GoToMyPC can only be used with Windows PCs for now, but MAC and Linux versions are expected in the future. GoToMyPC uses 128-bit end-to-end encryption plus multiple password challenges to ensure security. You can get a free trial by: Clicking Here.

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*   Microsoft SyncToy versus Karen’s Replicator
Two free programs to copy or back up your data files…

*   Help! I Can’t Connect to the Internet
Sometimes updates from Microsoft break computer communications. This reader asked for help in solving that problem recently…

*   My Security Software Recommendations
My recommendations for anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, and anti-spam software…

*   After 4 Months, My Verdict on the iPhone
You’ve read the hype about the iPhone. Now, I’m writing about my real world experiences with it and what I think…

This week’s email and on-line newsletters are now available:
*   free weekly Terry”s Computer Tips email newsletter
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This week’s online articles include:
*   Traveling with a Computer
*   Updates Last Week
*   Connecting to the Internet While Traveling
*   Fast Internet Connections — Via My Cellphone
*   Cool Technology Videos — Microsoft Surface
*   My Computer Security Software Recommendations
*   Internet Access — Traveling Without Your Computer

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This week’s email and on-line newsletters are now available:

• free weekly Terry”s Computer Tips email newsletter
• weekly on-line Terry”s Computer Tips newsletter

This week’s online articles include:

• More Internet Explorer 7 Problems Reported
• Updates Last Week discusses updates from Microsoft and other software publishers whom I track
• Router Security — Wired & Wireless Routers
• Multiple Email Copies Received
• My Cellphone Choice: Motorola Razr V3xx
• My Computer Security Software Recommendations
• Cell Phone Internet Access

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I wrote in my online Terry’s Computer Tips newsletter this week that I had bought a new Cingular 8525 smartphone. The high-speed cellular Internet access plus Bluetooth plus WiFi 802.11b sounded like it would be a great convergence device — combining PDA and cellphone into one.

After searching the web to see what was available, I was seriiously considering the Samsung Blackjack – until I saw it and realized that it didn’t have a touchscreen. So, the Cingular 8525 (Cingular’s name for the HTC HERM-100) looked like the best bet.

Well, it went back on Day 3 — the last day where I could get everything including my activation fee refunded.

What went wrong?

First, the Internet access wasn’t too reliable. Despite having the high-speed access 400Mb/sec-700Mb/sec (that’s megabit, not megabyte), the speed doesn’t help if you have to reboot the phone each day in order to access the Internet.
Strike 1.

The slideout keyboard was a nice size and the auto-switching to landscape mode was great. But, every time I picked up the phone, the keyboard slid partway out.
Strike 2.

No one ever mentions that the Internet access is designed for WAP/WML and websites are filtered through a WAP server. This meant that graphics and text were sometimes overlapped, CSS (cascading style sheets for page formatting) were ignored and JavaScript didn’t work.
Strike 3.

Microsoft ActiveSync first wouldn’t install properly. Then, when I finally got it to install, it worked for one day. It then decided that it should crash whenever I connected the phone to the computer. Great, no PDA syncing. Even better, I haven’t figured out how to uninstall ActiveSync yet, since it crashes whenever I try to uninstall it.
Strike 4

And, one more strike, too. One of my “killer apps” that had to work — which was designed for Windows Mobile including Windows Mobile 5 (used by the 8525) didn’t work properly. Apparently one of the keys on the phone was either defective or, at least, didn’t put out the proper signal to Windows Media 5 — so I could not edit records in my database.

So, for now, I’m back to my old cellphone and my PalmOS pda…