Running WIN XP on laptops... need to install and support multiple VPN
clients but my IT guy is freaking out.  We use the NT VPN client as
default but every customer seems to run something different. We?ve had
problems trying to install additional VPNs where it trashes the
machine. How do I avoid hardware or set up conflict yet run multiple
VPN clients (not for simultaneous usage but the ability to start and
use as needed for remote access to changing network points)?

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Request for Question Clarification by answerguru-ga on 02 Jul 2004 08:22 PDT

Hi there,

Could you please provide the basic system specs for the machines you
would like to do this on? There are a couple workarounds, and they
depend on the capabilities of your machine.

Also, the comment made by forge-ga is completely incorrect. Running
multiple VPNs will result in potential corruption and at least
dysfunctional results.

answerguru-ga

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Clarification of Question by mdorama-ga on 02 Jul 2004 09:59 PDT

The client machines are laptops... Dell Latitude D600s Pentium M
running XP. The units on the far end will be various head end units
(depending upong the VPN) and then finally connecting to SUN boxes
running Solaris 2.6

Shouldn't be any special trick. Install more than one client, as long
as they aren't different versions of the same client you should be
fine. Although you may run into the issue where different VPN clients
need different versions of the same file. In that case you'll need to
sort that out on your own, like a batch file that copies the correct
version for the client you need to use now etc.

forge

No, my comment is perfectly valid. I have run Cisco and Nortel clients
succesfully on the same XP machine with no issues. I have known about
other people who have run other VPN clients on the same pc with
minimal issues (some manual switching of files or settings prior to
opening each client). Do Cisco and Nortel support that setup? No. Will
it work? Depends on the client versions.

My comment was made out of experience and is perfectly valid. In fact
a quick Google search netted a couple of links verifying my
experience.

http://www.nwc.com/forum/askexp/showReplies.jhtml?sid=1001&fid=30&tid=911