PPTP VPN Server in Windows XP

Setup a PPTP VPN Server in Windows XP

To setup the server end of the VPN connection, we need to create a new connection, and then check the firewall/router settings.
Firstly bring up the control panel by clicking on Start -> Control Panel. If the control panel is in Classic View as shown below, then click in Category View to see the simplified panel.

1. Go to Start and open Control Panel, then double click Network Connections icon to open it.
   
   
2. Click Create a new connection on Network Connections window, click Next.
   
   
3. New Connection Wizard window will appear, select Set up an advanced connection option, then click Next.
   
   
4. Select Accept Incoming Connections option and click Next.
   
   
5. Please Ignore this Devices for Incoming Connections page, just click Next.
   
   
6. Select Allow virtual private connections option and click Next.
   
   
7. You now need to pick which users are going to be allowed to vpn in. If you created a user earlier, then ensure that just that user is ticked, else pick which user you want to use - remember they need a secure password. Then click next to continue. Note: Please only select the users that need to access this server to minimize security risk.
   
8. Ok.. On this Networking Software window, you must select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) option. If you need to do file sharing after connecting to this server later, select File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks option, then click Next.
   
   
9. Click Finish to complete this VPN server setup process.
   
   
10. After that, you will see there is new Incoming Connections icon created in Network Connections window. You can still right click this icon and click on Properties to make changes on settings we have just configured
    
    Note: If there is user connected to this server, it would create a user icon.
    
    
11. If you wish to connect to this VPN server from Internet by going through the router, then you need to enable port forwarding and allow PPTP passthrough options on the router. Note: Since PPTP VPN uses port TCP-1723, you need to do port forwarding on TCP-1723.