Remote desktop control software

http://www.realvnc.com/download.html

Here is a good free one RealVNC
http://www.realvnc.com/

Also, if your computers are behind firewalls you will need to add the appropriate rules to allow access to the needed ports for the remote software.

Also, just to double check, you said you know the IP of your home computer?  I assume you have a DSL or cable connection.... did your ISP give you a Static IP?  If they didn't, then you will have some issues bc your home computer is getting it's IP through DHCP, which means it will change.

Another issue is does your work have a firewall?  If they do, your network admins will have to allow your access to remote through their firewall, which they may not allow.

Not free (sorry), but you don't need a fixed IP or holes in your firewall, is fast, reliable and secure.  To me, those advantages far outweigh the cost involved

www.gotomypc.com

www.logmein.com has a free version that will meet your every need.  Same thing as gotomypc.com, only logmein has a free version.

You can easily get around the variable IP problem by running a DynDNS client on your PC.  see http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/   You sign up for the free service and your PC get's it's own domain name, like "lostmybrain.is-a-geek.com", which dynamically gets redirected to whatever IP address your computer has at the moment.

I use the DynDNS to setup a VPN tunnel between the two machines, which requires only opening the VPN port forwarding in your router.  Then I run Windows Remote desktop over the VPN, without having to open port 3389.     It works great.  No reason to buy anything.  

All windows operating systems have netmeeting installed on them.

To start netmeeting hit Start>Run and type "conf", hit ENTER.

If it's your first time running it, you will have to enter some info, but once it's done you can connect to the computer you want to control by entering it's IP address in the empty box at the top of the main window and pressing the "place call" button.

On the computer you are trying to access, you'll have to activate desktop sharing.  I would recommend password protecting the computer as well.




After that, you will need to fix the computer you want to access to a constant IP.  You can do this by installing http://www.no-ip.com 's NO-IP DUC on the computer, then you will just have to create and IP redirect at NO-IP.com, and point to that redirect from netmeeting to access the computer.

The only real downside to this is that it's in 256color, but if you're not doing graphic design or anything it should work fine.  And hey, it's already installed :)