[japsander]

ok so my situation is as follows.

i want to use my pc as a home server/HTPC hosting my plex server so i can serve to my roku players around the house and as a main media centre and as such, it will be running from a cupboard so there will be no sitting it next to the sofa like i currently use it and the only monitor connected will be my TV

i also have an old netbook with a broken screen that i can plug up to my KB/monitor but have no idea about how to do the following.

i would like to remotely run programs from my htpc so that does the processing and acts as if the app is running on my client without having to do a whole remote desktop as that would interfere with media playback when it takes control of the screen, defocusing the media centre frontend.
i dont care about gaming or any app that requires fast screenrates
with all the spare power it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

is there any way i could run apps remotely like that and have all the data save direct to the HTPC so i can login from my laptop at work and when i disconnect, the program will continue and save all data to it until i get home and carry on from my bastardized netbook
e.g host pc app (altbinz)runs from C:\Users\justin-bieber-smokes-****\Desktop and when i run remotely it saves to C:\Users\justin-bieber-smokes-****\Desktop on the host and not try saving to the client

example is running my usenet program / managing archives / video editing / photoshop etc using the power of my HTPC leaving my client devices as a sort of thin client requiring little power. basically taking control of running programs without it showing on my tv in case i/the wife/kids are watching a movie

ive heard about remoteapp but havent found definitive "noob friendly" usages for it.
from what i have read, it seems i can host the app on my remote pc but i cant find an answer to whether or not the app will be persistent when i disconnect the client, leaving it running on the host so i can login from other locations and carry on where i left off

i could mess with setting up a VMWARE image logging into that and sharing folders with the host but i would rather not if at all possible

i hope i explained well enough :/ if not, i apologize

id rather just not pay for another computer and would like find a use for hardware that i own at the moment that would be shelved otherwise

thx in advance for any help

love you long time xxx

[arwynj55]

1. I think vmware could do this a server thing and controll everything in different places... I could be wrong.... (works on raspberry pi tho)

2. for the netbook I think you could use a vga adapter from the netbook to a monitor

3. im not good with servers... any pc stuff in general let me know I could give you tips unless youd rather make sheep jokes (dont)... -.-

for media center use XBMC that works great

[japsander]

i decided ill basically vmware half my pc resources. one half for htpc as host with the other as a remote access from the new netbook i just got.

if i can tweak plex to run better on this netbook (as its got hdmi) then i may just use this instead

i have a bad habit of spending money and got impatient -.-

[devstar]

tightvnc will let you log on to your pc and will continue your tasks once you log off it will also let you log on from outside your home dont know about sharing the reasources tho

[awwdeit]

What OS are you running on your laptop? If it's Windows, you should be able to connect to the laptop using a different account with a concurrent remote desktop session. To enable concurrent sessions, you just have to run a registry file that will enable it. Basically you can login as a different user on the laptop without interfering with the login session that's showing up on your TV. I had my HTPC setup like this at one time and it worked great.