Remote Control inside a LAN - Please help a Noob

Hi there,

I'm fairly IT literate but I was hoping to tap into the vast knowledge here in order to come up with the best solution.

I have 2 PC's, one a laptop (wireless) and one a desktop (wired). I want to be able to securely control the Desktop via the Laptop. I want this secure as possible and I only want my Laptop to connect to the Desktop, I have no need for this fuctionality to be availble over the internet.

I've tried the built in Remote Desktop but I had some problems in that my Desktop has Dual monitors of different resolutions. I've also tried LOGMEIN which works great for the multi-monitor but it goes via the internet and there is slow.

I've heard that VNC is an option but it is not secure.

Any help coming up with a solution would be great.

Many thanks in advance.


Note:
Both Laptop and Desktop are running Windows XP Pro SP2.
Desktop plugs directly into a Linksys wireless router
Laptop connects to Router via secure Wireless