The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Laplink Professional Stan Johnstone stanj@melbpc.org.au

Travelling Software first introduced LapLink to provide remote access to computers back in 1994. It currently markets Remote DeskLink and LapLink Tech. Now it has introduced LapLink Professional for Windows 3.1/9x/NT, and also LapLink CE for handheld devices.

Although remote access products are not new, over the years many new features have been developed and added, as well as increasing the methods of access. Originally starting with the method to transfer files between PCs by cable, later came remote control whereby a host computer could control another, new methods of connections were added such as modems, and then file synchronisation was introduced to maintain the latest versions of nominated files on different computers.

LapLink Professional turned out to be a very hard product to review. It has so many features and means of access that it is impossible to try and describe them adequately in one review.

LapLink Professional provides these facilities:

• Access and control of your main PC from anywhere in the world
• File transfer using an Explorer-like interface
• File synchronisation automatically and by using a scheduler
• Bi-directional remote printing--e.g. print a file from remote on to your office printer, or a file from your office to your local printer

Text chat using the keyboard to communicate with someone at the other machine

No need to have host and remote modes--operations can be carried out on both computers from either end.

It also has the advantage that the same software need not be installed on both computers as it works perfectly together with earlier versions of LapLink or Remote DeskLink. 

Connectivity options

Depending on where the individual computers are located they can be connected by:

• LapLink cable between serial (COM) or parallel (LPT) ports
• Direct dial-up using modem to modem
• Internet connections
• TCP/IP across wide area networks
• USB cable support providing transfer rates five times as fast a parallel cables
• Fast infrared ports on new notebook computers can be connected using a "connect with wireless" command.

Figure 1.  Directory listings from both PCs

Installation of the software is a breeze, and apart from the normal registration details it asks for an identifying name for the computer on which it is installed. As soon as the software is installed it is ready to connect to another computer which also has LapLink installed. In my own case where I had the two computers side by side, it was a simple matter to commence by connecting them with the cable provided. After starting LapLink on both machines and using the Cable AutoConnect eature the ports were identified automatically, and the connection completed.

A Quick Start Guide booklet of 36 pages is enough to get started, although there is also a detailed 152 page instruction book available on the CD-ROM.

A blue cable with two 9-pin and one 25-pin connectors is provided with the software. This is suitable for connecting using serial ports, however I needed to use a 9- to 25-pin converter to complete this connection. Another disadvantage. on most computers, is it is necessary to unplug the modem that is commonly used on the one normally available port (COM2). Although this worked satisfactorily, I quickly swapped for one of the yellow LapLink cables that are available to connect using the parallel ports. Having an additional printer port (LPT2) on both machines meant I was able to leave the cable n place all the time, as well as taking advantage of the faster transfer rates that parallel port connections permit.

Who needs to read the manual?

One of the excellent featutres is the Quick Steps icon on the linkbar. Every action prompts a help screen ready to show what to do next, making it ideal for those of us who don't read manuals! Luckily the icon toggles this help screen on and off so it does not become an annoyance once you are familiar with the program.

LapLink in action

Before any communication can be made, both computers have LapLink running. The normal installation adds LapLink to the Start Up menu.

When using a cable connection, the directory structure of both PCs is shown on both monitors with its own information on the left hand side of the screen, and the other PC shown on the right (see Figure 1).

Windows 98 permits the use of two monitors, and if you are lucky enough to have this setup, it is possible to have the two displays on the two monitors, and just switch back and forth using the mouse. It's just as though you were running two computers--well that is exactly what you are doing! The long filenames of Windows 95/98/NT are also fully supported (see Figures 2a and 2b).

The first simple test was to transfer a file. A 7.2 MB file was copied in just three minutes. LapLink uses a file compression method during transfer, however this was not immediately apparent in the .EXE file I used in this test.

Just to get a quick feel for some of the other features I then tried the remote control option. A simple click and the desktop from the second PC appeared in the centre of the screen on my own monitor. Using my mouse on this second image, I started MS Word as normal, opened a file, typed in a modification, and then closed it--all of this happening just as though it was on my main computer.

Connecting using a modem

After this it seemed to be time to try connecting over phone lines. A simple option menu permits you to set both computers to recognise all modems installed under Windows, or to a specific serial port. With both modems switched on and connected to different phone lines, I then dialled and called the second computer by identifying it by name and its phone number.

These were just regular modems I normally use for dialling into the Internet, and it was not necessary to make any changes to their standard settings. Modem aficionados may be interested to know I used a k56flex modem to call up the other which had V.90 installed! A couple of rings and the call was connected, both computers responded and their file structures appeared on both monitors, with no difference in appearance between this and the earlier test using a direct cable.

Starting to feel rather confident at this stage, I decided it was time to make a screen capture for use as an illustration. To do this I told the remote computer to take the image from its screen, opened Paint on the same computer to save the file, and then copied it back to the host computer. The resulting 300 KB BMP file was copied back to the host computer over the phone lines in just one minute using automatic compression with a reported factor of 34. Incidentally, copying this same file by direct cable took less than a second, so a larger BMP file of 2.4 MB was tested achieving the transfer in just three seconds, again aided by the automatic compression.

Should an interruption occur while using a modem connection, only the unsent portion of the file will need to be sent after the connection is re-established, as LapLink recognises that part of the file is already transferred.

Although I have used the traditional terms "host" and "remote" when describing these tests, these terms are not encouraged by LapLink as both PCs have the ability to carry out the same actions on each other. As a result, some menus use the preferred terms of "guest" and "host" for easy identification.

Security

Leaving a computer connected to a modem or other external source with LapLink running could make it accessible to other callers. Ranges of security options are available to restrict remote access to no one, or to a specific list of authorised callers. In addition there can be encrypted login lists complete with passwords, etc, and you can even use call logging or callbacks only to predefined phone numbers to ensure full security.

Print re-direction

This versatile feature permits the printing of files on any PC to any printer connected to any other PC on the connection. It is necessary to install the drivers for any other printer you are likely to want to access. Giving each printer a unique name using the LapLink convention means that it is just a matter of selecting a printer just as though it were connected to the computer you are using.

Automating tasks

Many of the regular tasls of transferring files can be automated using the LapLink Xchange Agent to specify individual, or groups of, files to be kept synchronised. There is even the facility to schedule these transfer tasks on a regular basis.

Even the Scheduled Tasks for the system in Windows 95 Plus!, Windows 98 and NT can be initiated from one computer to the other.

Conclusion

LapLink Professional is a powerful tool for linking PCs either for local or distant transfer and synchronisation of files, remote operation of PCs, printing, and just about anything else you could want - quickly, simply and reliably.

Reprinted from the May 1999 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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