VNC was the common option even when 9x was currant so is probably your best
You also have commercial software like PC Anywhere or MS System Management Server (requires a NT server)

There are hardware solution's like early Compaq RILO cards which do work on generic PC's for remote console but not things like remote rebooting, virtual media, etc
Catch is your locked in to using its onboard VGA, a nothing fancy Cirrus Logic chip, old versions of browsers and java.
Performance is roughly bit slower then RDP, it's got its own CPU so the host system doesn't have to worry abut that side of things

You can also use an IP KVM if you don't want to install anything on the system.

RealVNC 3.3.7 is freeware I believe. It's what I use on old computers. I don't know if its faster than TightVNC , UltraVNC etc.

ETA: In the old days I used to use RAdmin 2.1. This is not free though and uses a different protocol.

Sub7, Netbus, BO2k. 🤣

I am having a vague memory of using Citrix from a Win98 machine, but I may be mistaken about the OS'es involved on the remote one... regardless, it was pre WinXP I believe.

Was definitively Citrix though, back in 2001 or so... At least the client side was free(I just downloaded the program), not sure if there was a licence involved on the other end or not.

Errius wrote on 2020-06-10, 18:08:

ETA: In the old days I used to use RAdmin 2.1. This is not free though and uses a different protocol.

I use RAdmin 2.2 on my Windows 9x systems. It is compatible with all the newer RAdmin Viewer versions. And it also has a file transfer option (which is quite slow, but stll convenient).
In fact, I use RAdmin on most of my computers (Windows 10 as well). Have been using it for many years. There was talk of a version 4, which has never surfaced. You can download and try RAdmin for free for 30 days. However, only the latest version can be downloaded from the Famatech website. You will need to search elsewhere for version 2.2 or 2.1.

bestemor wrote on 2020-06-12, 12:16:

I am having a vague memory of using Citrix from a Win98 machine, but I may be mistaken about the OS'es involved on the remote one... regardless, it was pre WinXP I believe.

Was definitively Citrix though, back in 2001 or so... At least the client side was free(I just downloaded the program), not sure if there was a licence involved on the other end or not.

Citrix IS Remote desktop at least in the early days.
From memory the story goes MS made a deal with citrix and sue their technology for NT4 terminal server for basic functions. Citrix would provide the full feature version.

Your memory is correct though Citrix client is free and could run on Win3x and above. Server was NT based and required licences to connect.

DosFreak wrote on 2020-06-10, 17:51:

You can also use an IP KVM if you don't want to install anything on the system.

I always forget about IP KVM's! I want to try this sometime as think its the cleanest option.

We use Raritan IP KVM's at work with systems as old as the earliest VGA implementations. However, I'm not sure on the latency.. probably wouldn't be any good for gaming type applications. Anyhow, these Raritans can usually be picked up for under $100, even on eBay.

wiretap wrote on 2020-06-11, 02:24:

Sub7, Netbus, BO2k. 🤣

😂 sub7 +1

Hummingbird Exceed was popular back in 1990’s
I don’t know if there is a client for Win9x but it worked well for accessing UNIX systems.
http://www.mattecsupport.com/service/document … es/720-0092.pdf

PC Anywhere worked a treat on Windows 9x hosts (and 2k and XP for that matter)

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-06-16, 20:38:

Hummingbird Exceed was popular back in 1990’s
I don’t know if there is a client for Win9x but it worked well for accessing UNIX systems.
http://www.mattecsupport.com/service/document … es/720-0092.pdf

Ah, hadn't seen that logo in a while.

Well, the manual you found there is for the Win9x client for an XWindows server (UNIX)... so... yes, there was a client for Win9x.

Unless you meant a Win9x client for a Win9x server. In that case... no I don't think they had that.

But you can also take my word for it. I bought a copy of Exceed, in fact probably that same version, Exceed 6.0 for Win9x. Its main purpose was for accessing XWindows apps from a personal computer. I was in college then with a Win9x computer - and when I went to the computer lab to ask if there was a simple way for me to use one of the Sun systems remotely from my dorm room as I didn't always feel like walking over, especially late at night... they sold me a copy of Exceed for Win9x. It DID work, but I found that actually using the XWindows software I wanted to use was a little wonky, so I gave up quickly and switched back to walking through campus to the computer lab when I needed to use one of the Suns.

Yes, here it is for Win3x, 95, 98 and NT.