How Can I Remotely Access & Interact with a Computer Over the Internet?

I am looking for a method to connect to another computer remotely over a broadband connection for my consulting business so I can diagnose & correct problems without needing to be on-site. I have a few requirements:

1.) The method must be secure.
It can be secure either by a form of password, encryption, or by having the user remove the software from their computer when not in use.

2.) Interactivity.
I need to have full (temporary) admin rights to their computer or as close as to this as I can. It would be helpful if the user and I each had separate cursors we could use to make changes to the system, or we could take turns using the same cursor.

3.) Free or low cost licensing.
I would prefer free methods, but if I do need to purchase software to do this, I would look at licensing plans.

Please provide links to the software and/or methods of doing this. I would need Windows 2K, XP, and Media Center OS compatibilities.

Simple answer to a simple question. You can use realVNC, UltraVNC, PCAnywhere, Remotely Anywhere, or LogMeIn.
UltraVNC and reaVNC are free., PCAnywhere and RemotelyAnywhere cost money. Logmein is free if you get the basic but if you want to be abe to transfer files and all that then you need to pay for it. Now, I recommend Remotely Anywhere. I use it all the time. You can share files, make system changes, and just about anything you want.

Good Luck

Since you want Interactive, that means remote desktop is out. So, VNC, is probably your best bet. Traffic is encrypted, and it can be made to require a password to connect.

Dameware is really good as well, it's not free though. But it has lots of great utilities, and of course the mini remote control which is interactive.

PcAnywhere is another alternative.

For further security you could give them a batch file that they run that would enable the service, and then just stop the service afterwards to seal up that listening port.

If you have, or the computer that you are trying to access has Windows XP, you can go to the start menu, and choose "programs", "remote assistant". This allows you, or the person who's computer you are trying to work on access to one anothers computer remotely. Not sure if this is what you need, but it might be a start.

Options include:

gotomyPC.com
VNC
pcAnywhere
etc.

You can find information on any of these by searching via Yahoo search or the G-word (rhymes with oogle). ;-)

Go to gotomypc.com and sign-up.