Try Real VNC at: http://www.realvnc.com/
I got Remote desktop to work after a great deal of  fiddlling and
investigating, but Real VNC is much simpler and supposedly very secure
(I'm not a security expert). Pay close attention to the settings to get
a decent connection speed.
I am able to run apps and access the network without any problem. These
settings must be made at the site.
Remote assistance, as I recall, works best though Windows Messenger or
email notification. See XP help and support for more info.

Will Stephenson wrote:

>Hello all!
>
>I am putting together a proposal for a client who wishes the ability to use
>QuickBooks from afar. The basic job is to get them a new computer (which
>will be the "server" for QuickBooks Pro with 5 copies and the ability to use
>it simultaneously from different computers, and to get a router/switch (we
>will probably use Verizon's) to establish a wired network at the store in
>Maine. The owner will be living in Florida during the winter, and wants to
>be able to work on QuickBooks whilst hopefully basking merrily in the land
>of sunshine and warmth.
>
>All this is reasonably basic for me except the connection from afar, which
>MUST be secure. The laptop from afar has Windows XP Home on it. In a few
>tries, I have consistently failed to get into an internal network from the
>outside with the ability to run programs, explore, etc. My question is this:
>what program or settings does the afar laptop need in order to get into the
>local network?
>
>As an aside, for another group, I was trying to set up a laptop to get into
>their local network via remote assistance in XP Pro. Although I could find
>remote desktop, I couldn't find Remote assistance. I well could be just
>missing it, but where does it live?
>
>
>
>

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