You must configure Windows 98 correctly in order to use remote administration. In particular, the administrative and target workstations must meet the following requirements in order for you to administer the target computer remotely:

• Network Protocol
  Both the target and administrative computer must use at least one common network protocol. Both computers can use TCP/IP, for example, or both can use IPX/SPX. This requirement doesn't prevent you from installing additional protocols, however, that might not be common. You install network protocols using the Network dialog box, which you open from the Control Panel. Click the Add button to display the Select Network Component Type dialog box, choose Protocol from the list, and click Add. Choose the manufacturer from the list on the left and the protocol from the list on the right. Click OK to install the protocol.

• User-Level Security
  Even though some tools don't require user-level security, most do. In particular, you can't use the Registry Editor or System Policy Editor to edit a remote computer's Registry without it. You'll learn how to configure user-level security later in this chapter.

• Remote Administration
  You enable remote administration in the Passwords Properties dialog box, which you open in the Control Panel. Enabling remote administration lets you specify which users or groups have the right to administer the workstation. You'll learn more about enabling remote administration later in this chapter.

• Microsoft Remote Registry Service
  This service provides RPC support for the Registry, which allows the Registry Editor on the administrative computer to make calls to the Registry API on the remote computer. You'll learn how to install this service, which is at the heart of remote administration when it involves the Registry, later in this chapter.

• File and Printer Sharing Service
  This is not an absolute requirement for remote administration, but some tools won't work without it. Note that you must install the File and Printer Sharing Service for Microsoft Networks or the File and Printer Sharing Service for NetWare Networks, whichever is appropriate. Installing the File and Printer Sharing service is easier than installing a protocol. Open the Network dialog box from the Control Panel and click the File and Printer Sharing button. Select whether you want to share files and whether you want to share printers. Click OK to save your changes.

  Remote Administration
  To enable remote administration on a computer, follow these steps on that computer:

  1. Open the Passwords Properties dialog box from the Control Panel, and click the Remote Administration tab. You'll see the dialog box shown in Figure 13.1.

  Figure 13.1
  
  You'll see a different dialog box if this computer is using share-level security.

  When you enable user-level security, Windows 98 automatically enables remote administration and adds the Domain Admins group to the list of administrators on a Windows NT network or the Admin account on a NetWare 4.0 network. Thus computers using user-level security probably already have remote administration enabled for the network's administrators. Note that user-level security requires either an NT or NetWare server to validate credentials.

  2. Select Enable remote administration of this server to enable remote administration. This enables the remaining controls in the dialog box, which are different depending on whether the computer uses user-level or share-level security:

  • User-Level Windows 98 gives the Domain Admins group on a Windows NT network or the Admin account on a NetWare network initial rights to administer the computer. To add a new group or users to the list, click Add.

  • Share-Level In the space provided, type a password that an administrator must know before Windows 98 allows him to administer the computer remotely.

  3. Close the Passwords Properties dialog box to save your changes. Windows 98 doesn't require you to restart the computer.

  When you enable user-level security, Windows 98 automatically enables remote administration and adds the Domain Admins group to the list of administrators on a Windows NT network or the Admin account on a NetWare 4.0 network. Thus, computers using user-level security probably already have remote administration enabled for the network's administrators. Note that user-level security requires either an NT or NetWare server to validate credentials.

  After setting up remote administration on a computer, you'll notice a few special, hidden shares. You can access any of the following shares by launching the UNC path to the share from the Run dialog box:

  C$, D$, and so on: Provides shares for each non-removable drive on the workstation's computer. You can browse these with Explorer.

  ADMIN$: Gives full access to the folder in which Windows 98 is installed.

  IPC$: Provides a channel for inter-process communication between two computers. IPC$ remains hidden, and you can't browse it.

  Shares whose names end with a dollar sign ($) are invisible. That is, they don't show up in Network Neighborhood. You can create hidden shares, which other users can connect to only if they know the exact name, by appending a dollar sign to the end of any share when you name it using the Share dialog box.

  Microsoft Remote Registry Service
  Enabling the Microsoft Remote Registry service is different from enabling remote administration. Remote administration is useful to inspect the files and shares on a remote computer, but it doesn't give you access to the other computer's Registry. Access to the Registry is required if you want to use tools such as the Registry Editor, System Monitor, or System Policy Editor. You must enable Remote Administration before you can use the Microsoft Remote Registry service, though, so I hope you didn't skip the preceding section. The Microsoft Remote Registry service has a few requirements before you can enable it:

  • The network must have a security provider: NT domains and NetWare servers are equally suitable.

  • Both your computer and the computer you're administering must have remote administration enabled. The preceding section describes how to enable it on each workstation.

  • Both computers must use user-level security.

  You have to install the Microsoft Remote Registry service on both the target and administrative computers. The following steps describe how to do so:

  1. Open the Network dialog from the Control Panel.

  2. Click Add to display the list of network components. Select Service from this list, and click Add. Windows 98 may pause a bit while it builds the driver information database. Then you'll see the Select Network Service dialog box.

  3. Click Have Disk to locate the Microsoft Remote Registry service on your Windows 98 CD-ROM. The Remote Registry service isn't a part of the Windows 98 source files; thus you'll point Windows 98 to a different folder on the CD-ROM.

  4. In the space provided in the Copy Manufacturer's Files From dialog box, type d:\tools\reskit\netadmin\remotreg, where d is the drive letter representing the CD-ROM. Click OK to continue. You see the Select Network Service dialog box, shown in Figure 13.2.

  Figure 13.2
  
  
  The contents of this dialog box come from the INF file contained in the folder that you pointed Windows 98 to in the previous step.

  5. Select Microsoft Remote Registry from the list, and click OK.

  6. Close the Network dialog box. Windows 98 copies the appropriate files to your computer. Restart your computer when prompted.

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