Port 3389 is a well known port for remote desktop protocol. RDP is encrypted at the outset of communication, but if I was not using a VPN, I would want to change the port on the PC and of course forward that port on the router.

Logmein, etc, is useful, but not for file transfer, if that's an issue, although depending upon the size, you could email it to yourself or use yousendit.com.

A VPN solution is best, second best might be PCanywhere, then after that, the Internet based services.

Also printing files remotely can be tricky. RDP and USB printers, especially multi-function printers can be problematic.

As an aside, it might be useful to have one of these threads set up as a sticky, since remote access is a common question.