Question : MSG command giving Error 5 to domain admin

I'm trying to identify the location of some misnamed machines on my domain.

Some research indicates that net send has been discontinued with Vista so the msg command looks like the sole solution for sending a message to a desktop to ask them to contact the help desk.

I'm using a domain admin account on a Windows 7 box to send the message.  The unknown box will either be running Vista Business or XP Pro and should be connected to the domain.

I have tried several varieties of the following command:
msg /server:unknownhostname * "Please contact the help desk on extension 545"
(I have used *, 1, and console as the user name switch)
All attempts result in "Error 5 getting session names"

When replacing the unknown host name with my local host name all three varieties result in the expected pop up.

Any suggestions on how to correct this error, or an other work around are appreciated.

Answer : MSG command giving Error 5 to domain admin

Setting the DWORD value AllowRemoteRPC to 1 under registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server will allow Vista Business machines to receive pop-ups from MSG.EXE.

You could push out this change using Group Policy Preferences (if Client Side Extensions are installed) or with a Startup script.