Here's the dilemma. My desktop of choice is Windows 7. Nice 21" monitor, easy on the older eyes. ( Totally secure adblock, ghostery, savvy user... please don't get sidetracked!). I WFH and use a company laptop for business (on DR table). I only use the laptop (15" hard on the eyes) when I need to log into their highly secure systems (about 30% of the time working) or zoom. I use network drives and do as much paperwork/mail/etc. on the desktop. Not always super efficient with split systems, but this has worked fine for 4 years.
Now we have changed home office systems and I will have to more work on the laptop --- probably 60% of the time and their portal design is pretty bad on the eyes. So I have ordered a 27" monitor for the DR table to solve this. However, that is not a good look in my home and I am thinking about alternatives.
I recently discovered that Remote Desktop MIGHT solve my problems. I thought I would try it out but I see it costs $99 and there is no trial version. I need to confirm the following before I jump in
sorry so long. I tend to over explain.
Now we have changed home office systems and I will have to more work on the laptop --- probably 60% of the time and their portal design is pretty bad on the eyes. So I have ordered a 27" monitor for the DR table to solve this. However, that is not a good look in my home and I am thinking about alternatives.
I recently discovered that Remote Desktop MIGHT solve my problems. I thought I would try it out but I see it costs $99 and there is no trial version. I need to confirm the following before I jump in
- will it be compatible with my W7 desktop? I don't want to assume. W7 SP1 Ultimate. Dell XPS Studio 8000 (2009)
- will being remote pass our compliance/security checkup? Every time we login to portal, it runs some spylike software to check various O/S settings, encryption, password strength, screen time out, blah blah blah. It checks for a lot of things and not all that transparent about details, so this is a bit of a risk. What is peer-to-peer file sharing? It checks for that (and I pass. guess that doesn't mean network drives).
- will it actually solve my problem? If I go fullscreen on desktop monitor, is resolution still 1080p?
- Any other pitfalls I might encounter. Last time I used remote desktop was over 25 years ago with a VPN dial in on snow days. All I remember I didnt have access to home printer.
- is there such a thing as a trial Pro version? I assume not, just putting it out there.. Downgrading back to Home could be messy.
sorry so long. I tend to over explain.

My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 11
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Lenova/Ideapad