If your modem exchanges information with the remote system but can't log on, a problem might exist with the username, password, or domain you're using. You need to use the username and password of the remote system you're logging on to rather than the username and password of your local system. Some systems ignore the domain field; others require it to be blank.
Tips and Tricks
After you dial in, by default, Win2K Pro stays connected until the remote system hangs up, which might be expensive. To change the maximum connection time, right-click your connection's icon in Network and Dial-Up Connections, then select Properties. Select the Options tab, and specify the connection time in the Idle time before hanging up text box. I set my maximum connection time to 5 minutes.
Win2K Pro also has a command-line function for making dial-up connections, a tool that's useful when you write batch files. The command syntax is
rasdial "entry-name" "username" password
where entry-name is the connection's name, and username and password are the terms you use to log on to the remote system. The command accepts one switch, /disconnect, which ends a call. The following example illustrates a batch file that uses the dial-up command:
rasdial "ainet" "jruley" password
net use S: \\server1\users\jruley
xcopy E:\newscol\current S:\newscol\current
net use S: /delete
rasdial /disconnect
The computer automatically dials in to AiNET (my ISP), connects to a shared directory on server1, copies a local directory's contents to the server, disconnects from the shared directory, and logs off. You can also use the rasdial command-line syntax with Win2K Pro's command-line scheduler. For example, the following script will execute the batch file at midnight:
At 12:00am "backup.bat"
Win2K Pro's RAS and DUN implementation is powerful, and now that I've used it for a few months, I find the UI more intuitive than the NT 4.0 version. Most users will welcome the changes they find in Win2K Pro's remote-access capabilities.