With your Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP
computer set up to act as a Remote Desktop host, you’ve ready to make
the connection, as described in the next two sections.
Making a Basic Connection
Remote Desktop
Connection comes with a large number of advanced connection options and
settings. If you don’t want to bother with those advanced features right
now, you can connect to the host in just a few steps. On the Windows 7
client computer, you make a basic connection to the host computer’s
desktop by following these steps:
1. | Select Start, type remote, and then select Remote Desktop Connection in the search results.
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2. | In the Computer text box, type the name or the IP address of the host computer, as shown in Figure 1.
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3. | Click Connect. Windows 7 prompts you to enter your security credentials.
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4. | In
Windows 7, type the username and password of the host account you want
to use for the logon, and then click OK. (Note that in subsequent
logons, you only need to type the password.)
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Note
If you’re using
Windows XP to connect to a Windows 7 host, select Start, All Programs,
Accessories, Communications, Remote Desktop Connection to open the
Remote Desktop Connection window. Type the host computer name or IP
address, and then click Connect. When the Windows 7 logon screen
appears, click the icon of the user account with which you want to
connect, type the account’s password, and press Enter to complete the
connection.
In Windows 7, the Remote Desktop Connection program supports jump
lists, and its jump list consists of recent connections you’ve made. For
example, in Figure 2
you can see that the MEDIAPC connection I just made now appears in the
Remote Desktop Connection jump list. I can reconnect to t6hat PC quickly
by selecting if from the jump list.