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Q: I have an error while scanning the network computer. Error is "RPC Server is Unavailable". What has to be done to get the information?

A: This error can appear mostly for two reasons:

• Connection is blocked by a firewall. Try to disable a firewall on remote or local computer temporarily. If the target computer has Windows XP SP2, Vista or Server "Longhorn", see next question.



• Target computer does not have Windows Management Instrumentary service installed. According to Microsoft documentation:
  
  "WMI is preinstalled in Windows Vista, Windows Server "Longhorn", Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows Me, and Windows 2000.
  Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP4 and later: WMI is available through "Add/Remove Windows components" in Control Panel, as WBEM option install. A later, more comprehensive, version is available as an Internet download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads. See "WMI CORE 1.5 (Windows 95/98/NT 4.0)".
  Windows 98/95: WMI CORE 1.5 (Windows 95/98/NT 4.0) is available as an Internet download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads. This download requires Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5 or later."
  
  If this is the case, the mentioned WMI CORE 1.5 components installer can be found in the "WMI" folder within location of Total Network Inventory, for example: "C:\Program Files\Total Network Inventory\WMI\wmicore.exe".
  
  Note: remote interrogation of Windows 98/95 computers is supported partially, because problems with DCOM authentication may be encountered. The solution is to make local (manual or autostart) scanning or domain logon script scanning with the help of standalone audit tool ("tniaudit.exe").

Q: After running remote scans on a few PCs, I realized that the program is unable to scan a PC equipped with Windows XP SP2. I know that this is because of the Windows firewall. Can I get the port number that this product uses to connect?

A: As for the current moment, in order to provide agent-free remote computer interrogation, our application relies on Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). It requires special configuration of Windows Firewall in Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista to allow remote connections. WMI needs to support connection with RPC and DCOM (TCP ports 135 and 445). But it also needs to connect to dynamically assigned ports, so just opening TCP port 135 is not enough. This applies to remote administration of computers using administrative tools such as the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).
According to Microsoft documentation, "when obtaining data from a remote computer, WMI must establish a DCOM connection from the local computer to the remote computer. To establish this connection, both Windows Firewall and DCOM on the remote computer must be configured appropriately. The configuration must be done locally on either by changing the Group Policy settings, by executing NETSH commands, or by executing a script locally. Windows Firewall does not support any remote configuration". (It should added that no support for remote configuration does not mean a necessity to configure Windows Firewall manually for each separate computer - see below).
So the best way (providing that Windows Firewall disabling is unacceptable) is to apply a special Windows Firewall policy which allows remote administration with MMC and WMI.

The step-by-step guide is provided here: "Connecting Through Windows Firewall"

To be short, two major ways are:

• to use a netsh firewall command at the command prompt: netsh firewall set service RemoteAdmin enable.
• or to use the Group Policy editor: Group Policy editor (gpedit.msc) -> Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Network -> Network Connections -> Windows Firewall -> Domain Profile or Standard Profile -> Windows Firewall: Allow remote administration exception -> Action -> Properties -> Enable.

Also consult the following document: "Troubleshooting Windows Firewall settings in Windows XP Service Pack 2" especially the last point "Configuring Windows Firewall Group Policy" and associated document "Deploying Windows Firewall Settings for Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2" which describes how to easily apply firewall settings throughout a local network.

Note: some of the mentioned Microsoft documents refer to asynchronous calls requiring additional firewall setup at the local computer for successful callbacks. Our application does not use such calls, so there is no need to pay attention to this.

Q: Is it possible to scan Windows 95/98/NT machines?

A: Actually, it is. First of all, you should install Microsoft WMI core components for Windows 95/98/NT. WMI CORE 1.5 (Windows 95/98/NT 4.0) is available as an Internet download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads.
It also can be found in the "WMI" folder within location of Total Network Inventory, for example: "C:\Program Files\Total Network Inventory\WMI\wmicore.exe".

Then place a link to "\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WBEM\WinMgmt.exe" to the startup folder and reboot, or start it manually. After this it will be possible to use standalone audit tool "tniaudit.exe" for manual, autorun or domain logon scan.

In order to be able to use remote online scan, you should run a registry file (*.reg) of the following contents on a Windows 95/98 machine:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\OLE]
"EnableDCOM"="Y"
"EnableRemoteConnect"="Y"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WBEM\CIMOM]
"SetupForDCOM"="1"
"AutostartWin9X"="2"
"EnableAnonConnections"="1"

Or you may change these values manually. It would be good idea to restart the computer. After this you should be able to connect remotely using any credentials or as current user.

Please note that support for Windows 95/98/NT is provided "AS IS", because Microsoft has officially stopped support for these operating systems.