I tend to move around a lot, and one of my essential software picks is LogMeIn’s Hamachi.

What It Does It Do?

Hamachi works to provide you a virtual private network. You can have   an unlimited number of computers on it, and you can allow each pc on the network to connect via encryption, so it’s great to use if you’re on your laptop at a wireless hotspot. You can share any files over windows filesharing, access shared music via iTunes, collaborate with MS OneNote 2007, send encrypted messages with Hamachi’s built-in messaging protocol, access web servers on connected machines, and more!

In a nutshell, Hamachi allows you to do remotely anything you could do with a PC or server you might otherwise be sitting next to.

Precaution: Hamachi runs as an executable under Windows, and not as a service. Hamachi will only run if the user on any machine you are attempting to access is logged on.

How Much Does It Cost?

Hamachi is Free for a base user license, which works fine for me, and will likely work for you.

Does It Work On Anything Other Than Windows?

Yes! Console versions are available for both Mac OS X and Linux.

So I spent most of today trying to sort out Windows File Sharing over a  cluster of Vista and XP machines using Hamachi. I could access all files and folders, except I had no access to any computer from the Laptop. The weird part to that is that I could access the laptop’s files from all other machines.

After playing with my firewall, flushing my DNS settings and re-registering them, and tweaking my registry, I came to a great and simple (not to mention the first working) solution.

1. Go to Start Menu >> Control Panel >> Network & Sharing Center >> Manage Network Connections
2. Right-click and select “Properties” for your network connection du jour.
3. Select “Internet Protocol Version 4″ and press the “Properties” button.
4. Press the “Advanced” button in the box that appears.
5. Click the WINS tab and select the radio button marked “Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP”
6. Press “Ok”, “Ok”, and “Close”
7. Repeat steps 2-6 for your virtual Hamachi adapter, in the event you have one.
8. Stop swearing already. Jeesh!

Technorati Tags: windows file sharing, file sharing, troubleshooting, vista, NetBIOS, Hamachi

So Apple’s new keyboards are rather nice.  I have a few requests before I go and buy one, though.

1. Make a wireless version that has the arrow, delete, page up & down keys in full size
2. Make it work with my Vista box
3. Package a more-ergonomic version of the mighty mouse with it.