Remotely Administer Workgroup Computers

Question

At work, I can remotely administer other computers by first adding my domain account as a local admistrator on another computer. After that, I can use remote registry, computer management, and file sharing (\\computer\c$).

How can I setup a remote user to be a local administrator on a simple home network without a domain (just a workgroup)?

Answer 1

It's worth noting that if the username and password that is on your local machine is also exactly duplicated on the remote machine, a mechanism called "passthrough authentication" takes place. It works even in workgroups, even though the documentation only mentions domains. It's a cheap and somewhat laborious way to make a "Domain Admin" on a workgroup network.

Answer 2

This question is better suited for Superuser, as it concerns the operation of a single PC.

Administrative shares differ in performance slightly between Windows versions.

In Windows XP, any local user with administrative privileges can access them. In Vista/7, they are disabled to local users per default.