All type of IT Support especially Networking, Operating Systems and Hardware. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By combining WOL (Wake On LAN) and Splashtop Remote Desktop on Windows 7, you will be able to have full control of your sleeping or hibernating Windows 7 computer from afar.  So, what is great about the combination of WOL and Splashtop Remote Desktop?  If you had read my past posts on WOL and Splashtop Remote Desktop, you probably knew that these two things are very limited by themselves.  WOL is very limited, because it can only wake your computer up from a sleep or hibernation but not really capable of anything more.  Splashtop Remote Desktop cannot do what WOL can, but it sure can allow you to remotely control your desktop somewhat.  WOL is not a separate application from an operating system, because it’s a feature that came with most operating system and BIOS by default.  On the other hand, Splashtop Remote Desktop is an application that you must download/buy from its creator and install it onto Windows 7.

The combination of WOL and Splashtop Remote Desktop had saved me more than a few times when I had the need to work with my home computers while I was away from home.  For an example, I wanted to fire up a virtual machine on a home computer, but the home computer was in a deep slumber.  By now you probably wonder why did I even need Splashtop Remote Desktop when I could have had turned on a virtual machine, let the host computer slipped into a slumber (sleep mode) so I could wake the host machine and the virtual machine up at the same time with using WOL only, right?  Well, I tried that, and it wasn’t pretty!  A virtual machine that I worked with for some strange reasons refused to go to sleep and so my host machine (Windows 7) could not come out of a mid point, between going to sleep and staying awake, and so the host machine kept on churning but nothing would work.  This was why I had to use Splashtop Remote Desktop to remotely fire up a virtual machine right after I had used WOL on the Windows 7 computer which acted as the host machine for the virtual machine.  The reverse would be using Splashtop Remote Desktop to power off the virtual machine and put the Windows 7 computer in a sleep or hibernating mode.  This is only one example among many other examples of why I’ve found using WOL and Splashtop Remote Desktop together is quite useful when I’ve to remotely work with my home Windows 7 computers.  I think you might find the combination of WOL and Splashtop Remote Desktop can be quite useful in some other ways that I may never ever will encounter, because everybody uses their computers in different manners.

Splashtop Remote Desktop is the only easiest solution I’ve came to know for remotely controlling a Windows desktop, therefore the combination of Splashtop Remote Desktop and WOL is working rather well for me.  Obviously, setting up WOL on Windows 7 machine can take a little bit of work, but nothing is that complicated that can prevent a normal computer user from enabling WOL.  You can follow my past WOL article’s Wake On LAN Setup For Windows 7 for setting up WOL on your Windows 7 computer.  Setting up Splashtop Remote Desktop is even easier, because all you have to do is to install Splashtop Remote Desktop on the computer that you want to remotely have control of (don’t forget to install Splastop Streamer on the device/computer that will be used as the controller or terminal), enabling few self-explanatory settings and before you know it you already have the ability to remotely control your Windows 7 computer.

Related articles

• Splashtop THD released for Tegra 3-based Android 4.0 tablets (theverge.com)
• Wake On LAN Setup For Windows 7 (essayboard.com)
• WOL iOS Project (stackoverflow.com)
• Daily App Deals: Get Splashtop Remote Desktop for Android for $1.99 in Today’s App Deals (lifehacker.com)
• Splashtop Launches Splashtop K.K. in Japan (prweb.com)
• Dell WOL problems (edugeek.net)
• Free Andriod Splashtop Remote Desktop (forthemommas.com)
• Amazon Appstore for Android FREE App of the Day – Splashtop Remote Desktop (randomizeme.net)
• How to Remotely Access your PC using your Android device (simplehelp.net)
• iShutdown HD – brand new remote Shutdown and WOL utility for your iPad (themactrack.com)
• Amazon Appstore offers ‘Splashtop Remote Desktop’ Android app for free (9to5google.com)
• Splashtop Remote Desktopfor Android is FREE at Amazon AppStore Today! (geardiary.com)
• Cybele Software, Inc. Announces the release of ThinVNC Remote Access Server (prweb.com)
• App Review: Splashtop Remote Desktop vs. LogMeIn Ignition (inc.com)
• Wake On LAN (WOL) (chuckbarest.wordpress.com)
• Connect your PC from anywhere using Splashtop products (gputoaster.wordpress.com)
• Boot your PC with the Arduino using the Wake on Lan command (electronics-lab.com)
• Microsoft extends consumer support for Windows 7, Vista (news.cnet.com)