Enable the Telnet Server Service

Updated: March 24, 2010

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista

Telnet Server is a network service. When you install Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, the files that make up the Telnet Server service are copied to your computer, but they are not yet operational. The Telnet service is disabled at first. You must enable the service by configuring the service to start when you need it. On a Telnet server that is regularly used, you might want to configure the service to start automatically every time Windows starts. You can also configure the Telnet Server service to start only when you start it manually.

Membership in the local Administrators group, or the equivalent, is the minimum required to complete these procedures.

Start or Stop Telnet Server

To complete this task, perform the following procedures:

Enable Telnet Server and start or stop it from the Windows interface
Start Telnet Server at a command prompt

To enable Telnet Server and start or stop it from the Windows interface

Open the Services MMC snap-in. Click Start, and then type services.msc in the Start Search box.
If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
Right-click Telnet, and then click Properties.
In the Startup type list, select one of the following:
- Automatic (Delayed Start) to start Telnet Server after Windows starts and all boot processes have finished
- Automatic to start Telnet Server when Windows starts
- Manual to allow Telnet Server to be started and stopped when needed
- Disabled to prevent Telnet Server from running
To start or stop the service, on the Telnet Properties dialog box, click Start or Stop. You can also start or stop the service on the main Services page by selecting Telnet in the list, and then using the start (triangle) and stop (square) icon buttons on the toolbar at the top of the page.

To start or stop Telnet Server at a command prompt

Open an elevated command prompt. Right-click a Command Prompt shortcut, and then click Run as administrator.
If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
Type one of the following commands:
- To start Telnet Server, type net start telnet.
- To stop Telnet Server, type net stop telnet.

Additional considerations

If the Telnet Server fails to start, the most common reasons are:

System Error 5. Access Denied. This occurs when you run the command from a non-elevated command prompt.
System Error 1058. This error occurs when the service is marked Disabled in the Services snap-in. Follow the steps in Enable Telnet Server and start or stop it from the Windows interface to fix this error.
Firewall software. Ensure that your firewall software is configured to allow Telnet traffic in and out of the computer onto the network.

For more information on employing a more secure command-line alternative to Telnet such as those which support Secure Shell (SSH) and other options, see the following documents:

•Using Terminal Concentrators for Remote Management (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=102609)

•Selecting Remote Management Tools (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=102612)

•HyperTerminal overview (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=29890)

You can also start or stop the Telnet Service by using the following command:

tlntadmn [ \\servername ] {start | stop}

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