Member Avatar for cargenius42

Ok, I had this question a while ago, and didn't get much results:

Hey everyone. Just noticed a little problem. The computer at my desk is running XP Pro. and my computer in my office is running XP Home. Well, to run a remote shutdown on my XP Pro. computer, I had to go into administrative tools, local security policies, and enable it to be shut down remotely. This worked. I am able to shut down the computer at my desk (XP Pro) from the computer in my office (XP Home) well, when i try remotely shutting down the xp home computer from my xp pro computer, i get a "network path can not be found" message. I am putting the SAME code i use to shut down my computer at my desk: shutdown.exe -s -m \\OFFICE -f

Any ideas as to why XP PRo won't let me shutdown a XP Home edition computer remotely?

P.S. - I HAVE tried typing the IP address of my computer instead of \\OFFICE, doesn't work

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Dani AI

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Short diagnostic summary: the "Network path not found" error usually means the XP Pro machine can't reach the XP Home machine at the SMB/RPC layer, not that the shutdown tool itself is broken. Common root causes are a host firewall blocking SMB ports, File and Printer Sharing or the Server service stopped on the Home PC, or authentication/pass‑through differences that XP Home enforces. As observed, remote-control software (VNC/PC Anywhere) is a practical alternative; has confirmed this is a home/office setup rather than a corporate domain.

Practical checklist to diagnose and resolve:

  • Confirm basic connectivity and name resolution with ping <hostname or IP>. Failure here shows a network-level problem.
  • Force an SMB authentication test (this will reveal credential or share access issues):
net use \\192.168.1.50\IPC$ /user:OfficePC\Administrator MyPassword

Success means SMB and credentials are OK; the resulting error text gives the next clue if it fails.

  • Verify on the XP Home machine that File and Printer Sharing is enabled and that the Server service (LanmanServer) is running and set to Automatic.
  • Check the Windows Firewall (SP2+) or any third‑party firewall and allow File and Printer Sharing (or briefly disable the firewall for testing). SMB uses TCP 139/445 and UDP 137/138.
  • Remember XP Home lacks the Local Security Policy GUI and cannot host Remote Desktop sessions; successful remote shutdown usually requires a local admin account on the Home PC that matches the credentials used from the Pro machine (pass‑through authentication).

When direct SMB/authentication is difficult, an alternative is to run a remote shell with Sysinternals PsExec and execute the local shutdown command from that shell:

psexec \\192.168.1.50 -u Administrator -p MyPassword cmd

Security notes: do not expose SMB directly to the Internet—use a VPN or trusted remote‑control tool for cross‑network access, and be aware Windows XP is unsupported and risky to expose to untrusted networks.

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Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

My guess is that your XP Home machine does not have you authenticated properly... in other words, doesn't know who you are. You might (change that to BETTER) have firewall software running at home, and it may be blocking your commands.

I am also very curious on why you would want to do this sort of thing, and what security-conscious network administrator would allow such a thing. You may have a special relationship with your employer to allow such a setup, but coming from a security minded administrator (me), I would not allow these commands to be effective.

If I had to implement such a thing, I would install PC Anywhere, or get encrypted VNC working, and shut the computer down via the Start Menu.

Christian

Member Avatar for cargenius42

Hello,

I am also very curious on why you would want to do this sort of thing, and what security-conscious network administrator would allow such a thing. You may have a special relationship with your employer to allow such a setup, but coming from a security minded administrator (me), I would not allow these commands to be effective.

If I had to implement such a thing, I would install PC Anywhere, or get encrypted VNC working, and shut the computer down via the Start Menu.

Christian

I'm sorry for the confusion, but I'm talking about my HOME PC that is in my Office at my house, not my work. Sorry for not pointing that out

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