How to Access a Remote Computer Even If It’s Shut Down

You know that awkward situation when you need to tap into your remote computer but have forgotten to leave it running? That. Luckily, most of the better equipped remote access tools will let you access it anyway with a few tweaks made beforehand.

So, how do you access a remote computer that is shut down?
First, you need to meet four requirements:
• The computer has Wake-on-LAN enabled.
• The computer is on a wired network.
• At least one other computer on the network is online and running remote access software.
• Wake-on-LAN is enabled in the remote access software.

What is Wake-on-LAN?
The starting point of this setup is a feature available to almost all newer computers known as Wake-on-LAN (or WOL), which—as the name suggests—turns on your computer through your local network. In combination with remote access software it is a breeze to set up and use, to connect to your remote computer from anywhere even if it is powered off, in hibernation (Windows) or sleep (Mac) mode.

Enable Wake-on-LAN in BIOS
To access your BIOS, restart your computer and press and hold the ‘Delete’ key (oranother access key your BIOS requests) to enter the BIOS setup utility. Once in the BIOS, open the Power management section and look for a Wake-on-LAN (WOL) setting. If you find one, make sure it’s enabled, then save and exit (F10) your BIOS and start up your computer. If you can’t find the straightforward Wake-on-LAN option, try to find and enable ‘Power On By PCI/PCIE Device’, ‘Boot on LAN’ or another similar option.

(OR) Enable Wake-on-LAN in Windows
Those of you who are not too familiar with BIOS might prefer to enable Wake-on-LAN in Windows. To do that, click Start, select Run, then enter “devmgmt.msc” to run the Device manager. Find ‘Network adapters’, double click it, then select the network controller you are using by double clicking it.

First, open the Advanced tab and locate Wake Up Capabilities/Wake On LAN from the Property list, setting the value to Magic Packet.

Then, open the Power Management tab and tick the checkboxes next to ‘Allow this device to wake the computer’ and ‘Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer’. Now hit OK and your computer is ready to be woken up from anywhere through your remote access service.

(OR) Enable Wake on Demand on a Mac
Apple has made it really easy to enable Wake-on-LAN – or Wake on Demand as Apple calls it. To enable Wake on Demand on a Mac, just follow these steps:
• From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
• From the View menu, choose Energy Saver.
• Select (check) “Wake for network access”.

Enable Wake-on-LAN in remote access software
If you are using ISL AlwaysOn remote access software, make a right-mouse click on the ISL AlwaysOn tray icon to open its Settings, then choose Advanced and make sure Wake-on-LAN is enabled. That’s it!

Ready for remote work?
Once Wake-on-LAN is set and other three requirements are met, you can stop worrying whether you have left the computer turned on or not. You just need to log into your remote access service, and either ‘Send WOL’ if the computer is offline or ‘Connect’ if it is online. It is that simple.

ISL AlwaysOn: ‘Send WOL’ to wake up a remote computer, then ‘Connect’

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