I have a MacBook Pro that I would like to use while I'm at work, but am reluctant to actually take to work because the environment is quite dusty.

I have been provided with a IBM Thinkpad running Windows 7 at work and would like the remote control the MacBook Pro from work over an existing VPN tunnel. Ideally, the laptop would just be connected to the power and the lid would be closed to prevent any dust or anything building up on the screen.

Is there any offical or advisable ways to do this? I imaging something like VNC but the fact that the lid would be closed and I may want to disconnect the VNC connection and reconnect after the laptop will have gone to sleep could be an issue.

The MacBook Pro is running OS X Lion and has an SSD drive (if that makes any difference to sleep issues, etc.).

  • Have you looked into dust covers for your MBP case? – Gerry Apr 17 '12 at 21:22

There is probably not going to be an offical way to do this but, what you want to do is disable the laptop from sleeping when the lid is closed. And adujust the energy saver settings in System Preferences to never let the Computer Sleep. Then use your existing VPN tunnel as expected.

See Is there any way to set a MacBook Pro to not sleep when you close the lid? for suggestions on ways to stop your Mac Book Pro from sleeping when the lid is closed.

The top rated suggestion was downloading InsomniaX to disable sleep mode.

  • Yes, and then once you have it not sleeping, you can enable screen sharing in the sharing control panel. If your VNC client does not support Mac authentication, you'll need to go to "Computer Settings..." and add a password for standard VNC viewers. – Bill Brasky Apr 17 '12 at 21:26

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