And there is an even better way to transfer files via the Internet: Microsoft’s NetMeeting. And NetMeeting does much more than just allowing you to transfer files. While connected to the Internet and running NetMeeting, you can have an audio conversation, watch each other on video, write on a white board, or have a keyboard chat. Then there is the real neat feature of being able to share an application you are running on your computer with the other individual with whom you are having a NetMeeting. And once you have done this, you may take the further step of allowing them to share control of the program. For example, if I have Windows running, I can give the individual access to it, and he can then move around my computer looking at all my files. Or, if I am running Microsoft Word, I can give him the ability to run Word on my computer, creating documents, typing into them, etc. The only problem with all this is a lack of bandwidth using regular modems.

So why am I writing about LapLink—and why did I pay for a new version of it—if NetMeeting is so wonderful? I purchased a new Windows 95/98 version simply because LapLink is better suited to controlling a remote computer, which is something that is quite important if you are going to help people with their computer problems.

With LapLink running on both computers (the software license allows you to install your copy on up to three computers) and the computers connected basically any way you can think of (cable, LAN, phone, Internet), you can easily transfer files and control the remote computer. This allows the computer technician to take control of his client’s machine and do basically anything that the client could do. If the client was unsure of how to install or configure a program, the technician could do it for him. If the client was having a problem with a particular piece of software, the technician could duplicate it and hopefully correct the problem.

For computers that are both connected to the Internet and located more than a local phone call apart, it makes sense to connect via the Internet to use LapLink since the connection will be free. To do this you use the TCP/IP protocol (which can also be used for connections over a LAN). However, I immediately ran into a problem when I first tried to do this after installing LapLink on my desktop and Laptop. I had the TCP/IP protocol enabled in LapLink on my desktop machine, but it could not be enabled in LapLink on the laptop. The Laptop had TCP/IP installed, and it worked fine in connecting the computer to the Internet, but this is not the same as having it enabled in LapLink. Furthermore Help just said to check my network settings (I was first testing using TCP/IP over the LAN before moving on the Internet).

A search of the Microsoft and the LapLink sites produced no solution. So where else do I always turn for answers in such situations? I do a search of the Usenet newsgroups via http://www.dejanews.com. I found my answer in a message in the newsgroup comp.sys.laptops. Here is the pertinent part of the message. Who could ask for more?

You will note that he mentions Win 98. The laptop runs Win 98 and the desktop runs Win 95. I had installed FrontPage 98 on both of them, but the problem didn’t occur on the Win 95 machine. With that problem corrected, I had TCP/IP enabled on the laptop and was ready to control or retrieve files from my home computer from anywhere in the world—most probably from somewhere else in Florida.

There is a danger here, though. If you leave LapLink running on your computer and either leave your computer connected to the Internet or set to answer the phone, then anyone running LapLink who knows your computer's IP address or dials your computer’s phone line can gain total control of your computer—unless you password protect everything in LapLink (highly recommended).

How much control do you have? Well, right now I am running Microsoft Publisher on the desktop computer via LapLink on the laptop and typing this in from the laptop. But that is not a real test. From the laptop, I just started my scanning software on the desktop and am scanning in a photo and directing it to the laptop. Oops, an error message about not enough memory. Well, we have plenty of memory, so maybe I cannot control the desktop computer via the network connection and at the same time send a file over the network. So let’s just do the scan over the network and save the results to the desktop computer. Then we can do a transfer of the photo file. That worked fine.

Now to see how all this works over the Internet. I have Laplink running on both my laptop and the desktop. I connect each computer to the Internet using two different Internet accounts. On the desktop computer, I run the program WINIPCFG.EXE (it is on all Win 95/98 computers) to find the desktop’s temporary IP address. Then on the laptop, I tell it I want to connect over Dial-Up Networking and provide the desktop’s IP address. Momentarily I am prompted for my user name and password and am then connected.

If you are going to connect to a remote computer, you can use either the regular modem dial or the dial-up connection to the Internet. They should be about the same speed since they are both going over the phone lines. The Internet connection has the advantage of being free. How fast is such an Internet connection? Certainly much slower than a LAN connection.

I did a test of opening Microsoft Word remotely on the desktop computer via the Internet from the laptop. It took essentially one minute from the time I clicked on start | programs…. on the desktop’s screen as viewed on the laptop until I was able to start typing into a new document.

Obviously the value in using LapLink to access another computer remotely is not in creating Word documents on the remote computer. To me it is useful for accessing the files on a remote computer and for being able to take control of the remote computer so as to diagnose problems or, in general, to help when someone is having problems with their machine.

Symantec makes a competing program called PC Anywhere. I think it basically does the same thing. Additionally, in the latest CompUSA Ad., I saw some pretty good pricing on LapLink (especially if you had a recent version from which to upgrade). I, however, don’t see too much of a future for these products since right now Microsoft’s NetMeeting does essentially the same tasks (just not as smoothly) as long as you connect via the Internet—and it is free. u