Simple PPTP VPN Server Setup in Windows XP
1) Go to Start and open Control Panel.2) Control Panel window will open, then double click Network Connections icon to open it.
3) Click Create a new connection on Network Connections window.
4) New Connection Wizard window will appear, click Next.
5) Select Set up an advanced connection option, then click Next.
6) Select Accept Incoming Connections option and click Next.
7) Please Ignore this Devices for Incoming Connections page, just click Next.
8) Select Allow virtual private connections option and click Next.
9) Then, select the user who should be allowed to connect to this VPN server. In this case, I select normal user David. Click Next at last.
Note: Please only select the users that need to access this server to minimize security risk.
10) Ok.. On this Networking Software window, you must select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) option. If you need to do file sharing after connecting to this server later, select File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks option, then click Next.
11) Click Finish to complete this VPN server setup process.
12) After that, you will see there is new Incoming Connections icon created in Network Connections window. You can still right click this icon and click on Properties to make changes on settings we have just configured.
Note: If there is user connected to this server, it would create a user icon.
13) If you wish to connect to this VPN server from Internet by going through the router, then you need to enable port forwarding and allow PPTP passthrough options on the router.
Note: Since PPTP VPN uses port TCP-1723, you need to do port forwarding on TCP-1723. If you have problem to do port forwarding, then take a look on this port forwarding how to article. In this example, my VPN server IP is 192.168.1.99, so I do port forwarding to this computer’s port TCP-1723 on router.
Note: Here is how I enabled PPTP Passthrough on Linksys router. Just go to your router management page to locate this option.
Configuring PPTP VPN Client in Windows XP
1) Go to Start and open Control Panel.2) Control Panel window will open, then double click Network Connections icon.
3) Click Create a new connection on Network Connections window.
4) New Connection Wizard window will appear, click Next.
5) Select Connect to my network at my workplace option and click Next.
6) Select Virtual Private Network connection option and click Next.
7) You can then name this VPN connection. Here I put home VPN server. Click Next again.
8) If you have dial up connection setting on your computer, this Public Network window will appear. If you computer already connected to public network or hotspot, click Do not dial the initial connection option. If you need to dial Internet connection and then initiate VPN connection, then you need to select the other option, Automatically dial this initial connection.
9) Ok, here you need to type the IP address or host name of the VPN server computer in your home network. Most of the time it’s the public WAN IP of your home network’s DSL/cable Internet connection if the VPN server is located behind router. Check this what is my WAN IP article if not too sure about WAN IP of your home network's Internet connection.
10) Click Finish to complete the new connection wizard. Tick that Add a shortcut to this connection to my desktop option.
11) Now you can go to your desktop and double-click the new VPN connection icon, after that key in your username and password and click Connect button.
Note: If you did not create the shortcut in your desktop, you can locate this new VPN connection icon in Network Connections window.
Note: click the Properties button if you need to change the configuration.
12) Once you are connected to VPN server, the connected icon will be shown in Network Connections window.
