Q&A
Working from home made easier

By Kim Komando
Gannett News Service

If you are planning to use Windows XP when you upgrade your computer, you'll have a choice of programs — Home or Professional.

Every feature in Windows XP Home ($200) is included in Windows XP Professional ($300). And while many of Professional's additional features are things that only a network administrator could love, some offer benefits to the home user or small businesses.

If your office computer has Windows XP Professional, you can use the Remote Desktop from your home computer. It allows you to connect to your office computer to check e-mail, work on files and swap files with others just as if you were sitting at your desk.

All of this is done over the Internet. It works best with a broadband connection such as a cable or digital subscriber line. It's also designed to work well with a dial-up modem connection.

You can do all this from a computer running Windows XP Home. The computer you're using to access the remote machine is called the "client." Home comes with the client software installed. You can use any computer as the client, as long as it is running Windows 95 or any later Windows version. You simply have to install the client software from an XP Professional disk. But the remote computer — the one you're working on — must have XP Professional.

Another advantage of XP Professional is encryption, which secures your data in case your laptop is stolen, for example, while traveling. If the data is encrypted, it will be useless to the thief.

With Windows XP Professional, you can encrypt files and folders. When you add files or subfolders, they automatically will be encrypted. Encryption can even be used on removable media, such as a CD or floppy.

Are you running a small business? You may need Windows XP Professional.

Certainly, you can network computers using Windows XP Home. It offers workgroup networking, in which every computer is on the same level. Access can be restricted on an individual basis.

This works well with a few computers, but if you have more than 10, you might be happier setting up a domain. That allows you to manage permissions and other access issues from a server. Keeping track of passwords is much easier as computers are added.

So, if you're a home user or have a small business, Windows XP Home will be sufficient. But will you need to access that home computer from elsewhere? Or is data encryption important to you? Then you should get Windows XP Professional. If you already have Windows XP Home, you can upgrade for $199.