How can I set up Windows 2000 professional to accept log-ins from a networked 
Windows 98 machine, similar to Windows Terminal Services?

Hello jimyeti!

As others have stated here, Windows 2000 Professional does not have
Terminal Services capabilities.  So you will not be able to have
multiple users logging into your machine at once.  You do, however,
have a few options if you want to remotely access your PC.

Before I begin, please note that all of these options (with the
exception of using Windows XP and 2000 server) have some security
disadvantages.  They are limited to the logged in user, so I would
suggest creating a user account without administrative priviliges for
this application.  With the exception of the Windows 2000 server
route, each of the software options listed below allows only one user
to access the machine.  In addition, most of these solutions require
that the user be logged into the desktop machine.

Completely free of charge is VNC.  VNC is an open source remote
display application that will accomplish what you're looking for.  It
won't be as fast as going the Terminal Services route, but it will do
the trick.  One advantage of VNC is that client applications are
available for a variety of platforms.  It'll even install a tiny
webserver which serves up a Java client.  You can find VNC here:

http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/index.html

A second option is to use Microsoft Netmeeting's remote desktop
sharing feature.  NetMeeting is included free of charge with your
Windows 2000 professional installation, and includes remote access
features.  You can find more information (including installation
instructions) on this feature here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/NetMeeting/Home/DeskShare/default.ASP

You should also ensure you have the latest version installed on your
PC.  The homepage for NetMeeting is here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/NetMeeting/default.ASP

Note that NetMeeting is not easily routed through firewalls and
internet sharing devices, so it may require a bit of tweaking to get
working from remote locations.  If your PC has a dedicated IP, it
shouldn't be a problem.

A third option is to use the ubiquitous PCAnywhere.  Like our other
options it won't be as fast as terminal services, but it should fit
the bill nicely.  It's a mature product designed for remote access,
and you should love all of the various options it provides.  You can
find out more here:

http://www.symantec.com/pcanywhere/Consumer/index.html

Symantec used to offer a free 30 day demo, but now they will sell you
a '30 day license' for $20.  The $20 will roll into your purchase of
the full licensed version.  So much for free trials!

If you're into monthly or annual software subscriptions, GoToMyPC is
for you.  Their personal plan runs at $179.40 per year, or $20 a
month.  There are other options for multiple PC, corporate
configurations, etc.

For an indepedent review of GotToMyPC vs. PCAnywhere, you can read a
review of the two packages on PC Magazine's website here:

http://www.pcmag.com/article/0,2997,s=1470&a=1828,00.asp

The last option I will suggest is moving the PC in question to
WindowsXP Professional.  Note that the home version DOES NOT feature
terminal services capabilities, so you will need to purchse the
slightly more expensive professional edition.  There's a great
'how-to' article on Microsoft's website that will help in getting this
feature installed:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gomobile/remotedesktop/default.asp

What I like about the XP solution is its ability to accept your
various installed users, and is not limited to the currently active
desktop user.  Like our other options listed above, you can only have
one user in at any given time.

If you're really serious about having a terminal server, and need
multiple people logged in at the same time, you have two options.

The first is to install Windows 2000 Server.  It's pricey, but it will
accomplish the task of multiple remote users on one machine.  You will
also need to purchase additional client access licenses for every
connecting machine running an operating system other than Windows 2000
or XP.  In other words, in addition to purchasing the 2000 server
software, you also need to purchase a license for your windows 98
workstations that are calling in.  Windows 2000 clients have a 'built
in license' and do not require additional license purchases.

Another product from Citrix will work with a Windows 2000 server to
provide a more rhobust terminal services solution.  Since it requires
Windows 2000 server, this will likely start to eat up your IT budget,
but I figured it's worth knowing about :).  Citrix makes a product
called Metaframe, which offers better performance and more features
over plain vanilla terminal services.  There also client applications
available for many more platforms (Microsoft limites you to just
Windows and PocketPC clients).

You can find out more about Citrix here:

http://www.citrix.com/products/metaframexp/

I did a search at Download.com for 'remote access' and found a number
of products:

http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=remote+access&tg=dl-2001

Try searching similar keywords at other download websites such as
tucows.com, and other related download sites:

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&num=10&q=related:www.tucows.com/

I hope that my answer has provided you with a good overview of your
available options.  There are likely hundreds of other applications
that you may stumble upon that will also do the trick.

Best of luck!!

-Nishka-ga

Excellent answer, though I would have preferred "possible" to "impossible".

A computer running Windows Terminal Services is actually acting as a multi-user 
operating system.

The nature of Windows Professional is that this is not possible.

If you want to control the desktops of the Windows 2000 Prefessional machines, 
however, you can do this is a variety of ways by using a desktop control 
package such as Netmeeting, running in desktop sharing mode, or by using VNC, 
the home page of which is at: http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/

If you really need multi-user operation, you will have to install Windows 2000 
server and run it in Terminal Server application server mode, but this will 
required the creation of an Active Directory.

"required the creation of an Active Directory"


That statement is not true. In order to do it legally you will need to buy a 
windows 2000 server, and you have to purchase terminal server licenses. That is 
quite expensive, but you do not have to create Active directory.


A cheaper solution is 

vnc
remote anything
remote anyware
pc anywhere

if you will type these terms into Google, with the 'i feel lucky' button, you 
will  be redirected to homepages of these programs. Feel free to download a 30 
day trial, and watch if you like its properties. If not, just try another.

Personally I prefer Remote anything the most.

It sounds to me like you simply want to share a drive or 2 of your windows 2000 
machine with another workstation.  In explorer, right click on the drive or 
folder you want to share, select properties, and click the sharing tab. read 
the help files for sharing on widows, that ought to take you through it.

Windows XP Professional includes Windows Terminal Server functionality, so if 
you upgraded, you'd be able to do it pretty easily....

ddsg

This is true for 95, and I'm assuming 98 is similar...

In order to connecting to the Win2K shares easily, you want the usernames _and_ 
passwords to be the same on the Win98 box.

Use windows networking as the primary login on the Win98 box, and log in using 
the credentials that you have set up on the Win2K box.  If you have been using 
passwords on the Win98 box previously, the will be stored in the PWL files, and 
you'll need to delete those files / reset the passwords to have access to 
custom desktops / start menus on the Win98 box.

On the Win2K box, I find it easiest to set the passwords to never expire -- use 
advanced settings: Control Panel -> Users and Passwords -> Advanced Tab -> 
Advanced Button.  If they expire, you won't be able to access files from the 98 
machine until the assword is reset via 2K machine.  Of course, it's only been 
home networks that I've done this, where security isn't a big issue.