I’m not sure about the rest of you, but one of the first things I do when I get to work is pull up my home computer via Remote Desktop in Windows.  This way I have access to all of my files, applications and I typically leave Outlook open at home all day long so that I also have access to the mail from about a dozen different E-mail accounts that Outlook is pulling down via POP or IMAP.

For years now, I’ve been using a service called DynDNS to disguise my difficult-to-remember, dynamically assigned Comcast IP address into something I can remember…something like: myname.dyndns.org.  (They have other domain name options, too.)  The software that controls my router easily integrates with DynDNS so that whenever I log onto a Windows machine (any Windows machine with Remote Desktop installed - which is just about all of them*) all I have to do is type in that address and I can instantly connect to my home computer.

Up until now, however, I’ve been manually updating my DynDNS account online whenever Comcast decides to change my IP address.  That changed today when I found the DynDNS Updater application for Windows. 

Acting as an application launched at startup or even as a native Windows service, the updater will automatically detect any IP address changes from my ISP and update my DynDNS account so that I never have to worry about not being able to connect to myname.dyndns.org if, by chance, my Internet service goes out while I’m away from the house.  (It seems like I always knew DynDNS offered this type of application but I only found out for sure today.)

The account at DynDNS is completely free, as is the Updater app so I highly recommend you check it out: http://www.dyndns.com.

Of course, Remote Desktop is only one of many possible applications for using the DynDNS service.  For instance, you could use the DynDNS service (in conjunction with a lightweight Web server like VertrigoServ or XAMPP) to host your own Web site and subsequently provide your users with an easy-to-remember address.

In addition, there are also some other similar services out there so if any of our readers have any recommendations, feel free to share them via the comments.