Connecting a Linux machine to a Windows machine
 

Dear Forum,
Unfortunately I've got to work in Windows in my new job. My boss has offered me an extra machine. Never say no, I thought. I wanted to attach a Linux machine so I could have some programming power. What software/hardware should I ask for to enable me to access/manipulate the Windows machine?
Thank you.
Fay

attach? manipulate? what does this mean? what do you actually want to do?? there is no need for special equipment. At a network level you don't connect a windows machine to a linux machine. you connect two tcp/ip capable devices to a tcp/ip network.

Guessing that you might want rdp access, rdesktop is a decent linux client for this.

If you explain more precisely what you mean by "manipulate," it will be easier to answer you.

Also, if you are talking about connecting with your Windows machine at work and the Windows machine is in a work network, what type of network your organization is using becomes a major factor.

Thanks for replying Chris and Frank. Sorry to be thick. I had a Mac at home and Linux at work and I was used to being able to access all my directories/files with Unix and write programs in Perl/Python or whatever to do stuff to them. That's what I want to do with the stuff on my Windows machine. Am I stuck with VBA?
Yours,
Fay

Well, you could use ssh and scp to do a lot from Windows to Linux using a Windows ssh client such as PuTTY, but as nearly as I can determine, PuTTY is not a server, so you could not connect from Linux to the Windows machine with it. Plus it's not a full graphical connection, though with the right switches you can run individual programs in GUI window under ssh.

To access all the files on the Windows machine (as opposed to accesssing a shared directory), you may need to use some sort of VNC, and that's a topic I'm not qualified to discuss--I just don't know that much about it. Telnet may also be an option, but when I last used that it was on a GEnie dial-up connection.

I think your best bet would be some kind of VNC, but there are others here more qualified than I. Hopefully, they'll step in.

Best wishes. Sorry I can't help more.

'Connecting a Linux machine to a Windows machine'
 

Thanks for your post Frank. I've just found a terminal-like thing on Windows called the Command Prompt which seems to be a bit like unix so I am going to have a go with that. At least I can access the directories and files without all those windows and buttons flying round the place.
Ys,
Fay

If you are that anti GUI, or even if you have any other reason to want to do a lot with text command mode, do not waste your time learning Windows Command Prompt.


Install Cygwin on your Windows system. Cygwin includes a Unix shell and basic Unix command line utilities all ported to work in Windows. (It includes a lot more than that, but that is the part I think you clearly need first).

In addition, you can share the entire Windows partition, then mount it via SMB in the Linux system and use whatever tools you want on your Linux system to manipulate all the files and directories on the Windows system.

If what you can do via SMB isn't enough, but you prefer to use just the Linux mouse/keyboard/display there are a few GUI and text mode methods to use a Windows system from your Linux keyboard/mouse/display. I don't have details, because I only use the reverse.

Dear Johnsfine,

Command Prompt does seem a bit impoverished. Thank you v much for suggesting Cygwin; I'll try that as soon as I'm back at work. Universities let you install anything but now I'm in the public sector it may be harder. I don't mind GUIs if I can write them myself but for everyday stuff I just prefer the Linux/Unix way of doing things.

I didn't understand the bit about sharing the entire Windows partition, then mounting it via SMB in the Linux system but hey this is not a tutorial. Thanks.

Ys,
Fay