How do I get Apple Remote Desktop and Windows VNC working together?
I control OSX via VNC, leaving Apple Remote Desktop out of it. I don’t know if OsX VNC (linked above) will work with 10.2, but that’s exactly what I’m doing. VNC server on the Mac, VNC client on the windows system. The Os X VNC installer is point-and-click, then it pops up a control panel from which all she should need to do is enter a password (for you to use) and hit “Start Server”. You shouldn’t need (her) to muck about on the command line, if I recall correctly. You can also tunnel VNC across ssh for (some) added security.
I highly recommend using Apple Remote Desktop Client 2.2 software. It integrates with the OS better than other solutions and is thus easier to configure. I’ve walked a few people through the simple configuration steps over the phone with good success. Once it’s installed, go into the Sharing System Preferences, check the Apple Remote Desktop item, click the Access Privileges button, then check the VNC option and assign a password to it. Now all you have to do is figure out the Mac’s IP address.
I use OSXVnc rather than Apple Remote Desktop because it lets me set the number of colors to a much lower setting, thus improving responsiveness by a large degree. In OSXVNC, you just go into the Profile manager, click the Color tab for the default profile, and change it to 256. (You could also just create a profile identical to the Default, name it “Faster,” and change just the color setting.) Usually the ports you need to open on her firewall or router are 5800 and 5900. It’s easy to do this, as long as she has a fixed IP address on her computer, by simply redirecting all incoming requests for ports 5800 and 5900 to her LAN IP address. I can see, though, that this particularl setp would be quite difficult to do from afar (unless remote administration is enabled, which it isn’t by default). Then, you should register for a dynamic DNS host name (I use No-IP.com), which only takes a few moments, install the OS X No-IP.com client on her computer, help her configure it (very easy, using t
