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Can I use a VPN to SHARE an EXCEL worksheet remotely as if I am on the office pc

Tags:
  • Windows 7
  • Excel
  • Spreadsheet
  • Office
Last response: in Business Computing
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April 5, 2014 3:50:25 PM

This seems like such a dang easy question but I cant find any direct answers.

I am pulling my hair out....I have a small office running 2003 server. On the server we have an excel spreadsheet that is shared among two of us, and we use it day in and day out.

Works great....yes...sure we have to yell back at one another...."did you save your changes?" before I add in the same column, but it gets the job done!!!

Problem now is that I am traveling more and more and working at a remote office. Its just too difficult to be using LOGMEIN to take control of my office PC to make changes to the spreadsheet, and I am dying to figure out a way to do this on my laptop or another remote PC.

I went through all the trouble of trying Office 365 (and frankly I am not impressed) using ONEDRIVE to store the EXCEL file, only to find out that YOU CANNOT SHARE A SPREADSHEET REAL TIME on ONEDRIVE using Office 365!!! so what the heck is the use!!! To make matters worse when I REMOVED Office 365 from my PC it neutered my OUTLOOK 2003 and I had to go back to a restore point to get my Outlook working again....thanks MICROSOFT!!!....anyway I digress!

So...bottom like....PLEASE someone tell me if I were to install a VPN between my laptop and the office server, can I open that EXCEL file and work on it just like I am in the office??

I am tired of wasting time and thought I would come right here to my the expert forum.

Thanks

More about : vpn share excel worksheet remotely office

a c 633 $ Windows 7
April 5, 2014 4:17:28 PM

Moving this to Business Applications.

But....the problem you're seeing is trying to share a single Excel workbook between multiple people. No matter where and how you try to share it. Office365, Dropbox, OneDrive...whatever....that does not work.
It is a single file.

There are ways to separate the 'data' (rows) vs the display (charts). But that takes a little work.

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April 5, 2014 4:50:35 PM

I'm not sure if you are understanding me. Excel INDEED allows you to SHARE a workbook.

If two people are on the same network you CAN share the EXCEL spreadsheet. Two people can be in the sheet at once, and it is updated either upon saving, or by an amount of time you designate in Excel.

Excel ALLOWS you to share.....you simple change the settings to SHARE.

There are limitations....ie, if the two people try changing the same CELL, then it will warn you when saving and ASK YOU which change you want to keep.

What I am talking about in the use of Office 360 and ONEDRIVE....you CANNOT AT ALL....have 2 people working at the same time. When the first person OPENS the file on ONEDRIVE no proble. But when the SECOND person tries to open the file....you get a message saying "File is already in use" and then gives you the option to open it as READ ONLY.

I did some research into 360 and ONEDRIVE and they do not allow SHARING....ie it will NOT work as if it were a NETWORK DRIVE.

Now that leads me to a VPN and my question. If I use a VPN to open the file remotely, will it allow me to share the file. Again....two people working on the network CAN SHARE A SPREADSHEET. The question is.....is attaching remotely through a VPN to a file the same as BEING there on the network.

I dont know enough about the protocols of file sharing to know if VPN access is the same as access on the same network.
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April 15, 2014 12:55:09 PM

Yes, VPN is almost basically like being on the same network. Of course, whomever sets up that VPN connection will want to ensure the proper traffic is allowed by access rules to go back & forth. The only difference is that firewall rules & services might be inspecting your traffic back & forth; you might get some hiccups from an aggressive IPS (Intrusion Prevention Service) or maybe a Gateway Antivirus on the firewall.

Other than that type of issue, it should work that same as if you were local.
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