Network Control Panel Disabled

We have taken over a small office, and we have come to find out that the Win98 workstations tell us the following when going into Network Neighborhood Properties:
“Your System Administrator Disabled the Network Control Panel”
Is there any way around this short of reloading Windows? The network is controlled by a WinNT domain controller located about 500 miles away, and the Admin there is not too cooperative. Thanks in advance for your input!