Hi -

Son is going to college in September, and living in term-time accommodation
there. I need a simple, reliable way for him to connect to our family
LAN, where we share vast amounts of media & photos etc. The main file
server on the home LAN is XP Pro, and files are currently served from 8
'themed' hard drives by simple file-sharing, shared folders (read only).

The home LAN is behind an ADSL NAT router with the usual port-mapping &
firewall capabilities. Internet service is generic ADSL without a fixed
IP address, but the router has a DynDNS updater so a consistent host name
can be maintained.

He will be using a Windows 7 laptop via academic network (pretty fast &
reliable, apparently). I don't want him, or any of his room-mates, to be
able to move or delete anything, and I'd prefer not to give them a desktop
access (eg VNC or LogMeIn) which could lead to experimentation. I would
prefer not to have complex client software installed at his end, it'll
inevitably stop working the day after he arrives. Better to have a
LAN/Server based host which can accept generic connections, I think.

My perfect solution would be an FTP Folder-style view via web browser or
Windows Explorer - just seeing the shared folders and contents, with the
options only to view or copy to his laptop. It doesn't need a lot of
security, maybe just a password to stop casual port-scanners from wasting my
uploading bandwidth (although they're welcome to see our Christmas 2006
photos!). Would be nice to have it as a shared access which other friends
or family members could view.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I'd appreciate them ---

Thanks!
Steve