OpenVPN IPCop and Vista

Long story short...it works...pretty well.

Actually fairly simply.

Ok for those scratching their heads...By having IPCop as my router on my home network, and OpenVPN running on my laptop, I am able to create a secure tunnel between my laptop anywhere in the world, and my home network. I can browse files, etc. through a secure tube.

First I followed this instruction. (and the info in these 5 pages)
...the IPCop setup matched what I had done previously but had not worked...
...The OpenVPN GUI looked like the solution...so I installed it...it logged into my IPCop router...but I couldn't connect to the network...
...Log entry={ERROR: Windows route add command failed [adaptive]: returned error code 1}

Second, I found this post that said I just needed to install the latest version of OpenVPN...
...ah...the latest version of OpenVPN INCLUDES the GUI now...
...and I made sure I ran the program as administrator...
...but I still couldn't connect to my network...
...Log entry={ROUTE: route addition failed using CreateIpForwardEntry:}

Third, I found this other post that added two lines to the end of the {VPN-TO-IPCop.ovpn} file generated during the first instruction.

route-method exe
route-delay 2

Those two lines fixed my problem.

So using my laptop tethered to my HTC Touch, I was able to access my home network.

Note at the top I said it works...it does...but I cannot browse the network...it is probably normal, but unexpected...however I can map a network drive by adding the IP address {192.168.1.x} and browse the shares there and connect to then...from that point they are like any mapped network shares.

Interesting note...since I can access all the IP addresses on my network...all my IP devices (cameras, printer, NAS) can my administered using the same stored URLs I would use at home...in fact, I can print on the home printer this way. (as long as you use the IP address to access the computer...and not the automatic printer install I originally used)