This topic addresses the following scenario:


In Archive Manager, you add a remote computer that is a member of the domain. You are logged on to the Archive Manager server with an account that has permission to connect to the remote computer from the network. After the remote computer is added, you click it and wait for communication to be established. Eventually, a yellow triangle appears in the remote computer icon. An error briefly appears at the bottom of the Archive Manager stating that the network path is not found, or the RPC Server is unavailable. (Note: To view the error again, right-click the computer and refresh.) You do not receive an option in the Actions pane to create a protection plan.


The most likely causes are:


  • Remote Registry service is not running. The Remote Registry service startup type should be set to Automatic and the service should be started. This service is needed to remotely administer the system.


  • Windows firewall may be preventing communication with the Archive Manager server.


  • Other services needed for remote administration of the remote computer may not be running or have proper permissions.



To verify that the Remote Registry service startup type is set to Automatic and the service is running, follow these steps:


  1. Click Start (or the Start icon), right-click My Computer (or Computer), and select Manage.


  1. When Computer Management opens, select and expand the Services section.


  1. Scroll to the Remote Registry service and observe its status (should be Started) and Startup Type (should be Automatic). If necessary, double-click the Remote Registry service and set startup type to Automatic. Click the Start button.


  1. Try to establish communication with the remote computer from Archive Manager again. Right-click the remote computer and select Refresh. If the Create Protection Plan action appears in the Actions pane, start the Create Protection Plan wizard. Otherwise, continue below.



Verify that the firewall is not preventing remote administration of the computer by allowing exceptions.


  1. On the remote computer, click Start, Control Panel.


  1. Add the following exceptions to the firewall. Note: Some of these may not be listed for your firewall because this list was compiled from several different Windows operating systems. If the exception is listed on your computer, then add it as an exception to the firewall. If it is not listed, just continue to the next exception in the list below.


  • File and Printer Sharing
  • Remote Administration
  • Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
  • Core Networking


Note: These may be set at the group policy level. For example, in Group Policy Management select a group policy, right-click and select Edit. Navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Network Connections\Windows Firewall\Domain Profile. Enable Allow remote administration exception for localsubnet. Do the same for Allow file and printer sharing exception. After the policy updates, close and open Archive Manager and attempt to connect again. You can force group policy update with the gpupdate command on both the domain controller and the remote computer. You may manually set the exceptions from the remote computer, as well. File and Printer Sharing is available on the exceptions tab of the firewall settings, unless disabled in group policy. At a command prompt on the remote computer, an administrator may set the Remote Administration exception with: Netsh firewall set service type=remoteadmin mode=enable scope=all profile=all.


  1. Try to establish communication with the remote computer from Archive Manager again. Right-click the remote computer and select Refresh. If the Create Protection Plan action does not appear in the Actions pane, continue with the next step.


  1. Archive Manager uses the credentials of the currently-logged-on account to connect to the remote computer. So, make sure you are logged on with a domain administrator account, and that the remote computer is in the domain.


  1. If still having trouble, you may need to check local group policy settings on the remote computer for log on locally, log on as batch job, and log on as a service.


  1. On the remote computer, verify the following services are started: Remote Procedure Call, Remote registry, and COM. Click Start, Run, type services.msc and click OK. Search for the services and verify they are started.


  1. Test the WMI remote connection with WMI Tester. On the Archive Manager server, click Start, Run, then type WBEMTEST and try to connect to the remote computer by UNC path to the namespace, e.g. \\<computer name>\root\cimv2 and click Connect. If you receive an error message, check that DCOM is running on the remote computer and check DCOM permissions with DCOMCNFG. Go to Start/Run and type dcomcnfg and click OK. In dcomcnfg, navigate to My Computer/Properties/Default Properties and verify DCOM is enabled with Connect and Identify set (any changes require a reboot). Go to COM Security tab and verify Launch and Activation permissions. The account logged in to the Archive Manager server must have Remote Launch and Remote Activation permissions. Add the account and check the permissions, if needed.