Remote Shutdown...shutdown -i

[Guest]

One of my clients has a bunch of Windows XP Home SP2 PCs. They run
"headless" (no monitor, mouse or kb) and I remote into them via a 3rd party
software since MS was too cheap to include Remote Desktop with the home
release....or I could blame the client for not having me build the PCs --
whatever. Anyway, now and then, they get all screwed up and can't get to
them via my 3rd party remote software. However, I can normally get into a
another PC on the network. I know you can bring up a command prompt and type
out "SHUTDOWN -I" & it will display a GUI window & I can add several PCs to a
list and do a "batch" shutdown. This work great until I actuly do it! It
won't work. It normally says something about not being able to find the PC
however, I can ping the PCs by their computer names & their IPs. I know they
are there! Is there some service that is disabled by default? There is no
domain (just a workgroup) so I don't see any policy problems. What else
could it be?

 

[Chuck]

One of my clients has a bunch of Windows XP Home SP2 PCs. They run
"headless" (no monitor, mouse or kb) and I remote into them via a 3rd party
software since MS was too cheap to include Remote Desktop with the home
release....or I could blame the client for not having me build the PCs --
whatever. Anyway, now and then, they get all screwed up and can't get to
them via my 3rd party remote software. However, I can normally get into a
another PC on the network. I know you can bring up a command prompt and type
out "SHUTDOWN -I" & it will display a GUI window & I can add several PCs to a
list and do a "batch" shutdown. This work great until I actuly do it! It
won't work. It normally says something about not being able to find the PC
however, I can ping the PCs by their computer names & their IPs. I know they
are there! Is there some service that is disabled by default? There is no
domain (just a workgroup) so I don't see any policy problems. What else
could it be?

Tome,

I'm not sure about the wording of the message as "not being able to find the
PC", but I do know that you are likely wasting your time.

Remote Shutdown requires administrative access to the target computer. If the
target computer is running XP Home, you won't have administrative access thru
the network.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html#Guest>

 

[Guest]

Ok, good info. I'm guessing I can't do it even if I'm logged in witht he
same account info on both PCs. Example: I'm working on a PC with the
following profile:
User = User
Pass = password

I'm trying to shut down another PC which is logged in the same way:
User = User
Pass = password

I've used this trick to allow file & printer sharing throughout a workgroup.
Should I assume it won't allow me to do a remote shutdown/reboot?

10-8-05
2017 EDT
Tome

 

[Chuck]

Ok, good info. I'm guessing I can't do it even if I'm logged in witht he
same account info on both PCs. Example: I'm working on a PC with the
following profile:
User = User
Pass = password

I'm trying to shut down another PC which is logged in the same way:
User = User
Pass = password

I've used this trick to allow file & printer sharing throughout a workgroup.
Should I assume it won't allow me to do a remote shutdown/reboot?

10-8-05
2017 EDT
Tome

With Windows XP Home, the only thing that matters for network access is the
Guest account, which gives limited authority. The account used to login locally
is not relevant here. And Remote Shutdown requires administrative authority.
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...db-aef8-4bef-925e-7ac9be791028&DisplayLang=en>
Connecting When Simple File Sharing is Being Used
For simple file sharing, which includes access to the Shared Documents folder,
the set of credentials sent by the connecting client are essentially ignored.
All access is based on the status of the Guest account on the computer running
Windows XP. The Guest account is enabled by default; however, you cannot use it
to logon to the computer. As long as the Guest account is enabled as an account,
client computers can access shared folders using simple file sharing.

 

[Guest]

Ok, more good info... I suppose I'll just have to deal with it & have them
reboot the PCs now and then. I make sure the Guest accounts are disabled as
I don't like to have any accounts without passwords. Nonetheless, it seems
you're right -- I'm wasting my time.