Connecting to a computer from an outside location

[Help0008]

Hello,

I am not very familiar with computers but I will try to be as thorough as possible. I work out of an office in which all of our computers use Windows Vista. They are all HP as well (not sure if that is important).

We have a network set-up and a host computer that holds all of our important files. All of our computers access this computer's public folders to view these files.

I am moving into another office in a different city. I am trying to find out if there is any way to connect to the main offices network so I can access the files on my boss's public folders. I don't believe that a remote desktop connection will work as she uses the computer. I don't know where to begin.

Any information at all will help, even if it's a referral to someone that could set it up for us. We do not have an IT department - I am the closest thing to it and have no knowledge of computers.

Thank you in advance.

[soybean]

I've never done this but I think it may be a solution for you: Setting up your VPN under Windows Vista.  I'd say setting this up is not for the faint of heart.  You may want to get outside assistance with this.

[Quantos]

Here's a link to MS on VPN for Vista.  All seem to be for third party though.

[killerb255]

The "make it work" answer:

1) Purchase a router with VPN capabilities.  Examples are the Linksys BEFVP41 (old) or the Linksys RV042. 
2) Set up the VPN router in the office.
3) Create a tunnel on the router.
4) Download this and use it on your computer at your remote location:

http://forums.linksysbycisco.com/t5/Wired-Routers/Where-do-I-get-the-quick-VPN-client/m-p/254495

5) Connect using the VPN client software.  From there, you should be able to map network drives and/or use a UNC path (looks like this: \\servername\sharename) to get to your files.

The "do it right," not-so simple answer (which requires spending time and money, and may even require gaining a greater degree of additional computer/networking knowledge and/or an IT consultant to get involved (most likely the latter), but is beneficial in the long run):

1) Purchase a server. 
2) Purchase and install Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 Standard on it.  Read up on Microsoft documentation, as it's a fairly picky little bird.
3) Copy all of the files you want to share to the SBS instead of the workstation you're using.  While you're at it, purchase a removable drive bay for that server and some SATA hard drives to back up your stuff so you don't lose all of it for whatever reason (i.e.: the public computer dies, the building burns down, somebody accidentally deletes something)
4) Join all your computers to the new SBS 2008 domain. 
5) Configure Routing and Remote Access on it (Start -> Administrative Tools -> Routing and Remote Access).  Right-click the server name, left click "Configure and enable Routing and Remote Access."  Select "Custom," then "VPN," then your choice of static pool or DHCP (use DHCP for now) -> Finish.
6) Open up Port 1723 and Protocol 47 on your router (for PPTP VPNs...can't remember the ports for L2TP/IPSec).  Point them to the internal IP address of the SBS 2008 server.
7) Grant your user account access rights to VPN (in Active Directory, under the Dial-In tab, select "Allow Access" and add yourself to the "Windows SBS Virtual Private Network Users" group. 
From your satellite location, create a VPN connection.  In Vista and 7, it's under "Network and Sharing Center" -> Set up a new connection or network -> Connect to a workplace -> use my Internet connection -> the external public IP address of your company (or external domain name i.e.: mail.something.com) -> your user name, password, and domain -> don't connect yet.  Go into the Properties of the VPN connection -> Advanced tab -> Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IP v4) -> Properties button -> Advanced tab -> uncheck "Use default gateway on local network" -> DNS tab -> add the INTERNAL IP address of your SBS server -> WINS tab -> add the Internal IP address of your SBS server.  Now try connecting.

Granted, an SBS sounds like overkill, but you get additional stuff with it:

1) Your own mail server.  Added bonus if you have iPhones and/or Windows Mobile phones, as people can sync their Outlook e-mail, Calendar, Contacts, etc over the air from their phones to the mail server.  Blackberries are a little more of a pain, though...
2) Your own Intranet (Sharepoint) site, in case internal communication is an issue.  Just post stuff on the Sharepoint site and have everyone's Internet Explorer (or Firefox or whatever browser) have the Sharepoint site as the home page.  Even better...post your documents on the Sharepoint site and grant outside access to the site.  As long as it's secure, it then becomes a very easy way for you to get access to your documents from ANYWHERE with an Internet connection!  At that point, you could pretty much skip #5-8 above!
3) Control over user accounts and passwords on the network.
4) A way to back up everything centrally (including users' Desktops, Favorites, and Documents folders if you configure Roaming Profiles and folder redirection properly)...use SATA drive, schedule Windows Server Backup to backup everything at night, switch to another drive whenever you feel the need (at least once a week would be good...every day if the information is super-critical). 
5) A way to lock people out of doing certain things (i.e.: changing their wallpaper to stupid stuff). 
6) Centralized print queues.  As an added bonus, either use Group Policy or a logon script to map printers whenever a new printer is installed or a new computer/user is added.  No more manually installing them on every computer!