Transfer Files Using Remote Desktop On Windows 7

Last night I was working on a project and needed to transfer some files from one of my Windows computers at home to my laptop at the computer shop. I was pretty sure that I could do this using Remote Desktop and after a bit of testing figured out how to do this. Below are instructions on how to transfer files between computers via Windows 7 Remote Desktop.

**NOTE** The remote computer must be configured to allow Remote Desktop connections.

Transfer Files Using Windows 7 Remote Desktop:

Launch Remote Desktop Connection: On your Windows 7 computer launch Remote Desktop Connection which will open a connection window similar to the below example image.

You can launch Remote Desktop on Windows 7 by typing “Remote Desktop” into the Start Menu search box and then clicking on the Remote Desktop Connection application.
Remote Desktop Local Resources: Once the Remote Desktop Connection window shows as displayed above click the down arrow next to Options in the lower left corner to display the available Remote Desktop Connection configuration options as shown below.

Click the Local Resources tab to display the available Local Resources configuration options as displayed in the below example image.
Remote Desktop Local Devices: Once the Local Resources tab is displayed as shown in the above example image click on the More button located in the Local Devices And Resources section to display the available local devices that can be configured to work with Remote Desktop.

As you can see you can expand the tree next to each of the sections such as Drives and Other Supported PnP Devices. Then check each of the devices or drives you want to be available to the Remote Desktop Connection. In this example we want all of the local drives to be available to the Remote Desktop connection so we add a check to each box and then click the OK button to save the changes.
Connect Remote Desktop Connection: After clicking the OK the OK button to close the Drive details window you can click the Connect button at the bottom right of the Remote Desktop configuration window to make the Remote Desktop connection. On the remote computer you are connected to click on My Computer to see if the resources(drives, etc.) of the computer you are connecting from are available on the computer you are connecting to as shown in the below image.

As you can see in the example image above the local drives are available on the remote computer under the Other section.
Transfer Files With Remote Desktop: Now simply drag and drop files from the remote computer to one of the local resources such as the “C on <Computer Name” drive. Depending on your connection and the size of the file you are transferring it may take awhile as shown in the image below.

This is a very useful configuration option for Remote Desktop and will allow you to work remotely without worrying about files and/or folders with useful data being on a remote computer.