Screen sharing won't connect.

[jrsx]

So I am having troubles with screen connecting using Microsoft's RDC for Tiger. I went into the Windows 7 PC and typed "ipconfig" in a command line, and got the IP address for it. I then entered that and all preferences for the PC, and I cannot connect. I keep getting this error that asks me to check all connections. It's terribly annoying, since I have several times. I've gone through all the preferences several times to make sure they're correct, and there doesn't seem to be anything in the way. Can anyone help me here? Thanks.

 

[eyoungren]

So I am having troubles with screen connecting using Microsoft's RDC for Tiger. I went into the Windows 7 PC and typed "ipconfig" in a command line, and got the IP address for it. I then entered that and all preferences for the PC, and I cannot connect. I keep getting this error that asks me to check all connections. It's terribly annoying, since I have several times. I've gone through all the preferences several times to make sure they're correct, and there doesn't seem to be anything in the way. Can anyone help me here? Thanks.

RDC has always been flaky for me. It's Mac/Windows, so there was always something just not right.

Here's an alternative though if you want to try. UltraVNC.

Install the server part (you can download the client too). UVNC can install as a system service so you don't have to think about it.

Then, on the Mac side you can use either the native Screen Sharing app or my personal favorite Chicken of the VNC.

Honestly, this is probably a better solution than trying to get RDC working.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Let's start with the simple items:

Are the computers on the same network?
i.e. are their IP addresses similar - both 192.168.0.x or both 10.0.0.x? Or is one at home and one at work, thus not directly routable between them. Sharing over separate networks is a much more advanced topic.

What version of Windows? (Including 'level', so Pro, Home, etc.)
Windows 7 Home and 7 Home Premium do not support sharing via Remote Desktop. If you have Home or Home Premium, you must use another program like VNC.

Do you have remote desktop turned on on the Windows machine?
If you do have a Pro-or-higher version of Windows 7, then you have to make sure Remote Desktop is turned on. It will be in the Control Panel, under System Settings.

Note that I believe that if RDP is an option, it is the better option. Using Microsoft's Remote Desktop client to connect to a native RDP host saves quite a bit of bandwidth and just feels more responsive due to the way RDP works. But VNC is much more cross-platform compatible.

 

[jrsx]

Let's start with the simple items:

Are the computers on the same network?
i.e. are their IP addresses similar - both 192.168.0.x or both 10.0.0.x? Or is one at home and one at work, thus not directly routable between them. Sharing over separate networks is a much more advanced topic.

What version of Windows? (Including 'level', so Pro, Home, etc.)
Windows 7 Home and 7 Home Premium do not support sharing via Remote Desktop. If you have Home or Home Premium, you must use another program like VNC.

Do you have remote desktop turned on on the Windows machine?
If you do have a Pro-or-higher version of Windows 7, then you have to make sure Remote Desktop is turned on. It will be in the Control Panel, under System Settings.

Note that I believe that if RDP is an option, it is the better option. Using Microsoft's Remote Desktop client to connect to a native RDP host saves quite a bit of bandwidth and just feels more responsive due to the way RDP works. But VNC is much more cross-platform compatible.

Using 7 Home Premium. But there is an option for screen sharing in it's Prefs... OK, I will try VNC. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Using 7 Home Premium. But there is an option for screen sharing in it's Prefs... OK, I will try VNC. Thanks!

What you're seeing is "Remote Assistance", which is not the same thing as Remote Desktop. (Although it does use the Remote Desktop protocol, it requires that you "send an invite" first, and these can only be responded to from another Windows machine, you cannot use Microsoft Remote Desktop from a Mac to respond.)

VNC is your best bet. (In my house, to my HTPC system with Win7 Home Premium, I use TightVNC when I need to remote in to it. And from a Mac, the default Screen Sharing app can connect to VNC clients - just open Safari and type "vnc://hostname" (where "hostname" is the name or IP address of your Windows machine) and it will launch Screen Sharing client to connect.

 

[eyoungren]

You can load Screen Sharing directly too, if you want. It's an app.

Located here: Macintosh HD>System>Library>CoreServices>Screen Sharing.app

I have it added to my dock to make it easier.

Note that VNC, because it's a protocol, has a signifigant amount of apps out there. I mentioned UltraVNC simply because I needed a server/client solution way back when so I could sit at the server at work and remote in to the desktops of both Macs and PCs and do routine maintenance. Rather than having to run around to 20 different computers and make sure they were all doing what they were supposed to.

But TightVNC is good and so are a lot of other options. Just choose what works best for you. TeamViewer is another and it works in such a way that you don't have to set up any port forwarding on your router to use it outside your network.

OSXvnc is a VNC server for PowerPC OS X Macs. OS9vnc is for OS9 based PowerPC Macs. Both of those two are VNC servers and they install in such a way that they always run in the background.

Useful as an alternative to the built in screen sharing. I use OSXvnc at work on our G4/350 because it's running headless (no video card).