How to easily share files/directories remotely under Windows?

Question

I am looking for an as-easy-as-possible solution to share files and directories using Windows XP and Windows 7.

Requirements:

• direct connection, no upload to 3rd party servers (e.g. Dropbox)
• easy set-up, suited for technophobes. E.g. setting up an FTP server or likewise is not an option
• support for dynamic IPs
• remote connection via internet

Nice to have:

• encrypted transfer

So far, I have not been able to find an easy solution for this. Or is there maybe a good solution built into Windows itself, which I have not found? From the usability point-of-view, a solution similar to Crossloop would be great, i.e. start a piece of software, exchange an alphanumeric code and here you go.

Best regards in advance :)

Answer 1

Ok, the answer to yoru revised question is to use Remote Desktop. You will need to open port 3389 on the remote computer's firewall, or firewalls if there is both a hardware and software firewall in the way.

You will also need some kind of DNS, or dynmanic DNS setup to help you resolve it if the remote IP is going to change. You can get a free Dynamic DNS account here:

http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/

As far as how to transfer files, you can do this:

Here is how it looks on the remote computer (note the bottom "drive".

Answer 2

On one or both machines, do the following:

Right click the folder you want to share, and share it. Set the permissions for everyone to Full (since it is a home network, this is pretty safe). You will also need to assign the folder permissions for everyone.

From the other computer you can now browse to the sharing computer, double click it, and see the share. You can then right-click the share, and do "Map network drive" if you want to assign it a letter. Another easy way to use the share is simply to run the command net use x: \\computername\share from a command line.

This is how I shared Temp on Windows 7 Ultimate (it may vary slightly with the Home editions).

Answer 3

If you need to remotely share files as well regardless of the ip address, you can use Logmein Hamachi which is a great and free for noncommercial use VPN program. It establishes outgoing connections and will then link your two computers together. Whether your on the same network or remotely, it will act like the two computers are sitting right next to each other. Each computer will be given a second ip address that you can use to browse the shares, rdp, etc.