You’ve
probably used the Computer Management console to manage devices, user accounts
and groups, and several other aspects of Windows 2000. The Computer Management
console, which you open by right-clicking My Computer and choosing Manage,
combines several Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins
under a single interface. Under Computer Management, you’ll find the Device
Manager, Local Users And Groups, Disk Management, and
other handy snap-ins.

The
Computer Management console isn’t just for managing your local computer. You
can also use it to manage other computers across the network. For example,
perhaps you work in a peer-to-peer network and need to help other users create
user accounts or groups on their computers that they can use for sharing local
folders. You can save yourself a trip to your coworkers’ offices by connecting your own Computer Management console to the users’ computers. Or perhaps
you need to format drives or perform other tasks on a remote computer. You can
perform almost any task on a remote computer that you can perform locally.

In
order to connect to and manage another computer through the Computer Management
console, you must log on to your local computer using account credentials that
match an account on the remote system with administrator privileges. For
example, if the administrator account credentials are the same on both
computers, you shouldn’t have a problem connecting and managing the remote
system. If not, have the remote user add an account on the remote system that
matches your local logon account, and make the account a member of the
administrators group on the remote computer.

When
you’re ready to manage the remote system, open the Computer Management console.
Right-click Computer Management in the left pane and choose Connect To Another Computer. Enter the name of the computer or
browse the network for it, and then click OK to connect.

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