Ask the Windows 2000 Dev Team
Every other week we put your How-Come-You-Did-That questions to the Windows 2000 development team. Submit your questions here.
Internet Printing Compatibility, Upgrading a Small Domain, Reinstall to Move Domain Controllers
Q: Do I have to run Windows 2000 Server on my desktop computer to use the administration tools for other servers on my network?
A: No. Many of the administration tools included in Windows 2000 are used to manage the operating-system components common to all Windows 2000 computers — such as installed services, hard disks, or event logs — and are installed by default for all versions of Windows 2000. These tools can be used to manage and configure many common operating-system settings on remote Windows 2000 computers. To fully manage remote servers from a computer running Windows 2000 Professional, you can install the Windows 2000 Administration Tools included on the Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server CDs. These tools are MMC snap-ins, used to manage servers. They include Active Directory Users and Computers, Distributed File System, and other snap-ins not available on Windows 2000 Professional.
To install Windows 2000 Administration Tools on a local computer:
In the i386 folder on the Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server CD, double-click the file AdminPak.msi.
Complete the Windows 2000 Administration Tools Setup wizard.
Q: The Administrative Tools folder is missing and I can't find any administration tools on my Windows 2000 Professional computer. Where did they go?
A: Don't worry, they're in there. In Windows 2000 Professional, you'll find the Administrative Tools folder in Control Panel. Through customer feedback, we found that few users of Windows 2000 Professional use the administration tools. So the Administrative Tools folder was moved to Control Panel, where the majority of operating-system configuration and management tools are located.
However, if you miss having the Administrative Tools folder on the Start Menu, you can easily make it reappear there:
Click Start, point to Settings, then click Taskbar and Start Menu.
In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
Under Start Menu Settings, select the Display Administrative Tools check box, then click OK.
Q: I'd like to be able to perform administrative tasks from any computer I am logged on to, including my computer at home. Does that mean I have to install the Windows 2000 Administration Tools on every computer I use?
A: Actually, if you can connect to the computer you want to administer — either via the LAN or a dial-up connection — you can take the administrator's desktop with you. Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server include Terminal Services, a set of software services that provide remote access to the server desktop from a client computer.
Essentially, the server desktop user interface appears in an application window on the client computer; keyboard and mouse clicks are sent to, and processed at, the server. By using the Terminal Services client to connect to a Windows 2000 server or domain controller, you can run any applications — including all administration tools — that reside on the server as easily as if you were logged on while sitting at the server computer.
Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server Release Candidate 2 include the ability to install Terminal Services for Remote Administration only. This special mode allows up to two concurrent Terminal Services client connections to the server and does not require a Terminal Services Licensing server to be installed on the network.
To install Terminal Services for Remote Administration:
In Control Panel, click Add/Remove Programs.
In the dialog box, click Add/Remove Windows Components.
In the Windows Components Wizard, under Components, select the Terminal Services check box, then click Next. You do not need to enable Terminal Services Licensing when enabling Terminal Services in remote administration mode. A maximum of two concurrent connections are automatically allowed on a server running Terminal Services in remote administration mode.
On the Terminal Services Setup page, choose Remote Administration Mode, then click Next.
When prompted, click Finish.
On your client computers, install the appropriate Terminal Services client software to connect to the server. Terminal Services allows you to access a local desktop session on the server from within a window on your client computer. You have access to all of the administrative tools and applications on the server computer, and they function the same as if you were sitting at the local computer.