VPN or Virtual Private Network is normally used by offices or for users that are always on the go, with the help of a VPN, you can securely access the files and resources which are based in your office or on a central network.  Your IP address will depend on your server. If your VPN server is in Indonesia, then you’ll also be getting an Indonesia IP. That’s how VPN works. In this article, I’ll be showing you the simple steps on how to connect to a XP client to a VPN server.

Step 1: Go to Start then control Panel

Step 2: Double click Network Connections

Step 3: Double click the New Connection Wizard then Click Next

Step 4: Select the “Connect to the network at my workplace” then click next again.

Step 5: Select “Virtual Private Network connect” then click next again.

Step 6: In this text box, you will be asked to type a name for your VPN. You can type any name that you want then click next again.

Step 7: If you have a previous VPN connection, windows would detect you and would ask you to automatically dial that connection but don’t dial it automatically. Select the “Do not dial the initial connection” then click next.

Step 8: In this space, you will enter the host name or IP address of your server. Make sure that your host name or IP address is correct to avoid any problems then click next again.

Step 9: In this page, you will be asked if you want to save the VPN connection on your account only or for anyone. After selecting, click next again.

Step 10: In this page, you will be prompted that you successfully created a VPN connection and will ask you to add a shortcut to your desktop then click finish.

Step 11: Double click the VPN connection that you created, it will ask for a username and password for authentication. Make sure that you supply correct username and password to successfully connect to your VPN server. Hit Connect.

Step 12: If everything that you entered are correct, you can easily connect to your VPN without any problems. You will also be prompted that your VPN connection is now connection. To check, you can go to whatismyipaddress.com to see if your IP address changed already.

The said steps are the basic steps in connecting to a VPN server. If you experience problems while connecting, there might be some additional steps that you need to do like changing the security or the DNS. You can ask the System Administrator for additional details.