hi guys, sorry for the noob question. what are the pre-requisite to use the computer management to connect to a remote pc on a network? had tried to use and had this error: any steps that should be done in doing this? computer \\COMPUTERNAME cannot be managed choose Connect to another computer from the Action menu to manage a different computer thanks for any input. :)

This article may help. How to configure Windows Firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2 to allow remote administration tools that use WMI, RPC, or DCOM http://support.microsoft.com/kb/840634 Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft MVP [Windows]

Hi, Please first check whether you can ping the remote computer via IP and Name. If so, please allow Remote Administration inbound connection on the client via Windows Firewall. You can also run the following commands to enable the predefined group Remote Administration on both machines to check the result: Netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=“remote administration” new enable=yes Thanks. NinaThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

thanks for your help guys :)

You're welcome. Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft MVP [Windows]