Windows Remote Desktop Tutorial: Setting Up Web Access Access a PC Remotely via the Web with Windows Remote Desktop Eric Geier
The first installment of this tutorial series walked through the process of enabling the Remote Desktop feature on a Windows XP or Vista PC, which will let you remotely access your computer with Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection client program. Today, before we discuss configuring your firewall and router, which will enable you to actually connect to your PC remotely, we will cover enabling Web access.
Instead of having to use the Remote Desktop Connection client, you can install and use the Remote Desktop Web Connection component, allowing you ton bring up your PC remotely right within a Web browser. This way, the computer you're using to remote into your home PC doesn't have to have the client program installed.
This tutorial will show you how to set up this Web access.
Installing and Configuring Internet Information Services (IIS)
To activate Web access of your Remote Desktop connection, you must install the Internet Information Services (IIS) and Remote Desktop Web Connection components of Windows. The IIS component of Windows also lets you host Web sites and FTP connections. The Remote Desktop Web Connection component installs the necessary Web pages and scripts to the IIS server directory, giving you the Web page interface for your remote desktop.
On the Control Panel window, click the Programs category.
Under the Programs and Features section, click the "Turn Windows features on or off" link.
If User Account Control is enabled, select an account and enter a password if required, and click Continue on the prompt.
On the Windows Features dialog box that appears, expand the Internet Information Services category by clicking its plus sign, and then expand the Web Management Tools and World Wide Web Services options.
As Figure 1 shows, under the Web Management Tools section, select the IIS Management Console checkbox, and under the World Wide Web Services section, select Common Http Features.
These are the only required components for Web access for your Remote Desktop.
Click OK.
For Windows Vista, you'll also need to download and install the Remote Desktop Connection Web software from Microsoft's site. Install the software to the default root directory of IIS; for example: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\. The software should create a new folder (TSWeb) in this directory.
If you're using Windows XP, here's how to install IIS and the Remote Desktop Web Connection components:
Click the Start button and choose Control Panel.
On the Control Panel window, click Add or Remove Programs.
On the left side of the Add or Remove Programs windows, click Add/Remove Windows Components.
On the Windows Components Wizard, select the Internet Information Services (IIS) entry, and then click the Details button.
On the Subcomponents list, select the World Wide Web Service, and then click the Details button.
On the Subcomponents list, mark the Remote Desktop Web Connection check box, and then click OK.
On the Windows Components Wizard, click Next. Then click Finish when the wizard has completed.
