Control Your Desktop PC Using Your H/PC

Those of us buying WindowsCE devices instead of Palm Pilots are looking for more than simple appointment and contacts capability. One of the main reasons I purchased my HP Jornada 680 Handheld PC Pro last May was to be able to access and control my office computer remotely. Let me explain.

I spend a considerable amount of time away from my office and I cannot download all the information I might possibly need to my Jornada 680 in advance. In addition, I have some programs that will only run on my desktop PC. I cannot run them on my H/PC and have no direct way to access their data. That's why I was interested in a program from Symantec called pcAnywhere.

pcAnywhere lets you use one computer to remotely control another. Both computers must be connected together via telephone lines and modems (or directly cabled together), and each needs to be running either the Host or Remote part of the pcAnywhere software package. Once the Remote computer calls up and connects to the Host computer, the Remote computer can access data on, or peripherals connected to, the Host computer. The Remote computer can even run programs on the Host computer, using its (the Remote computer's) screen to view the program and its keyboard to control the Host. pcAnywhere is a feature-rich program that is very easy to use. I had used it on my home desktop PC to connect to and control the desktop PC in my office.

I knew that Symantec had developed a version of pcAnywhere for Windows CE and purchased it for $50 shortly after I got my Jornada 680. I was disappointed to find out that this was an older version created for Windows CE 2.0 Handheld PCs and was not compatible with the latest Handheld PC Pros.

Initially, Symantec indicated that they had no plans to offer an upgraded version. But I guess enough Handheld PC Pro users complained, because this past March Symantec quietly released a new version of pcAnywhere CE that works with the Windows CE Handheld PC Pros. This software is offered at no charge, but you must own the full version installed on the Host desktop for the remote CE software to be of any use.

Viewing the screen and moving around on it

pcAnywhere lets you control and view your Host (desktop PC) using a few basic features, including Screen-scaling, ezZOOM, and ezSCROLL. There are also buttons on the toolbar to disconnect as well as to re-boot the Host computer.

Screen-scaling is wasted on the Jornada 680. The scaling feature is supposed to allow the entire screen of the Host computer to be viewed at one time on the H/PC screen. On the Jornada 680's 1/2 VGA screen, this feature distorts a full VGA display to the point that it's unreadable (see Screen 1). This feature may work better on the full-screen H/PC Pros like the NEC's MobilePro 880.

Screen 1: pcAnywhere's screen scaling feature displays the entire desktop PC's screen on the remote H/PC. In the case of the 1/2 VGA screen of the HP Jornada 680, it distorts the screen to the point where it's relatively useless. Leave it turned off on the Jornada.

ezZOOM divides the Host's screen so that only a portion of it is displayed on the Jornada 680 (see Screen 2). The advantage is that it doesn't distort the screen -- what you see is quite viewable. The disadvantage is that you have to scroll down to see the rest of the screen.

Screen 2: pcAnywhere's ezZoom feature divides the host's screen so that only a portion of it is displayed on the Jornada 680. It's more readable, but you have to scroll it to see the whole screen.

ezSCROLL is an excellent feature. Tap on the small hand icon on the toolbar and then use your stylus to drag the viewable area of the Host's screen around on the H/PC's screen. For example, you can put your stylus at the bottom of the screen and drag the hidden portion of the screen up so you can see it. You can use scroll bars to do this, but I find ezSCROLL is far easier to use.

Getting used to the differences