Enable Remote Management for Windows 7

Windows 7 is more secure than Windows XP. That is a good thing. However, it's also annoying when you want to remotely manage a domain joined computer and it's not allowed by default.

Windows Firewall in Windows 7 does not allow remote management even on domain joined computers. You need to create the exceptions that allow remote management of Windows.

You generally want to:

• Allow ping. I'd like to see if the computer is up or not.
• Connect with Remote Desktop. It's nice to fix up desktop computers without going on site.
• Connect with Computer Management. Nice to see event logs remotely without logging on.
• Connect to the registry remotely. Nice to do reg edits without logging on locally and bothering the customer.

In SBS 2011, much of this is done automatically by a Group Policy object created during installation. However, if you are using a normal edition of Windows Server then you need make the Group Policy object yourself.

A blog post (http://skatterbrainz.blogspot.ca/2009/08/enabling-windows-7-remote-management.html) by David Stein provides the details on how to do it. He lists the specific Group Policy settings to enable and configure. And if you are not familiar with the Group Policy Management Console, he also provides some detailed steps on how to use it.