Net Send in Windows Vista

You might find yourself looking for "net send" in Vista and wonder where it went?  Before you flip out, there is a solution.  Use MSG.exe

C:\Windows\system32>msg /?
Send a message to a user.

MSG {username | sessionname | sessionid | @filename | *}
[/SERVER:servername] [/TIME:seconds] [/V] [/W] [message]

  username Identifies the specified username.
sessionname The name of the session.
sessionid The ID of the session.
@filename Identifies a file containing a list of usernames,
sessionnames, and sessionids to send the message to.
* Send message to all sessions on specified server.
/SERVER:servername server to contact (default is current).
/TIME:seconds Time delay to wait for receiver to acknowledge msg.
/V Display information about actions being performed.
/W Wait for response from user, useful with /V.
message Message to send. If none specified, prompts for it
or reads from stdin.

C:\msg /server:brad-dc-01 console "You're machine needs to be rebooted."

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Evan, I can research that but I dont know if it would even make it into Windows 7 at this point. If you have a finite list of machines that need the message, you could use msg.exe and use a for loop to send the message out to all the machines. Heck, with a little gumption you could pull the machines names from Active Directory (guessing you have this) and then use msg.exe to loop through the list. Just trying to think of a simple solution.  If you do have a finite list of machines, then click the "ghetto scripting" tag above and you'll find the for loop...

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    It also looks like it doesn't use a service for functionality either. Read more about the syntax of msg.exe here. I am sure "net send *" has resulted in some people losing their jobs over misdirected or inflammatory comments. Nothing beats play

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    /Server is another Windows operating system.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Sarah/Ryan/Jason, the only suggestion I can think of to begin with is to investigate with network monitor. You'll probably be able to garnish some clues from a sniff which will lead you in the right direction.   As for error 5, that's access denied, so make sure you have admin rights on the target.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Hey Gin I dont think Vista Home Edition comes with msg.exe.

  • Anonymous
    August 09, 2007
    Help, why it don't work on windows vista home premium? Thank

  • Anonymous
    September 13, 2007
    I cannot get MSG to work as a NET SEND Replacement.  It cannot find users which are not currently logged onto machine message is sent from.  If I put machine name in using the /server: command it says the machine name is not an active terminal server or some such nonsense.  I do not want to use for Terminal Server clients but for my own network as a net send replacement, any ideas as google doesn't help at all.  example commands which will not work: c:msg username "message" c:msg domain/username "message" c:msg computer.dom.ain "message" c:msg username /server:computername "message" c:msg /server:computername username "message" As I add more Vista machines to my network (no messenger service) my only other alternative is to purchase software such as LANInfo and install it on those machines. Many thanks in advance if you could ellaborate on how MSG should work.

  • Anonymous
    October 12, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 25, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    February 11, 2008
    Hello! help! I have Vista Home Premium, but msg.exe doesn't seem to work on it, any clue? :-) gin

  • Anonymous
    February 20, 2008
    THANK YOU!! The following helps me to SEND MESSAGE TO ALL TERMINAL USERS of one server: msg * /SERVER:server_name Message goes here. And more text here. Best regards! PS: Performed on a Windows Server 2003 R2

  • Anonymous
    March 21, 2008
    Wow!! It's getting better and better. Keep it up man.,

  • Anonymous
    March 30, 2008
    free net send replacement for Vista: http://www.winsent.ru/eng/sent.html

  • Anonymous
    April 23, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 15, 2008
    can someone define 'server', ie does that mean you need a dedicated server running a domain? or can it be a simple gateway router ect?

  • Anonymous
    June 16, 2008
    When I MSG from XP to Vista, I receive the following message: Error opening Terminal server VISTAPC Error [1722]:The RPC server is unavailable. Any advice?

  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2008
    Im also getting Error [1722]:The RPC server is unavailable. just as Sarah is getting. My situation would be: I am remoted into a 2003 terminal server doing remote work, everything is on the domain, and the tserver is also a DC. I need to reboot 2 laptops in the callcenter so i: msg /SERVER:pc11 console "please restart your laptop before you leave, etc...." and I get the 1722 RPC error. (this 1722 RPC error i have ended up getting at different customer's sites for the past 3 years doing tech work, of course every one has to be different, sigh) any solutions for this one? --Ryan

  • Anonymous
    August 14, 2008
    I am getting the RPC error as well as error 5, can't list sessions. Is there something that will let me send messages to specific users or groups on a network without having them install software to receive it?

  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2008
    ight, i have the home premium verison of vista and started getting into cmd and all that, teaching myself, i have the ip of my buddys computer is there some way that i can send him a message even tho i dont have msg.exe instaled on my command prompt. also, off subject, idk if anyone knows about this but the "shutdown -i" command, when i enter the ip and all that its not working it says i have the worng ip and i dont.... help?

  • Anonymous
    November 01, 2008
    Hi Brad. How do I know if I have admin rights on the target computer?  Password protected file sharing is on for all Vista computers in my network and I can access, edit and modify files in the target computer's public folder.  But I get the error getting server names when I try to send a message via msg.exe. And what is the server name?  Is that the computer name of the target computer?  I would really appreciate some help.  Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    February 15, 2009
    How can i not use MSG.EXE in home premium

  • Anonymous
    February 17, 2009
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    July 07, 2009
    It's sad that MS has made Vista administration sooooooo much more difficult in many ways than XP administration.  Every time I turn around, I've lost yet another capability.  Really, if it were up to me, my workplace would NEVER go to Vista.  The "wow" I find is usually "Wow, what were they thinking?"

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2009
    The reasons you cannot use the commands in vista home premium is that it is not able to join a domain and the function is not needed on a home network.

  • Anonymous
    April 08, 2014
    Evan, If need a secure messaging solution with Terminal Services support, take a look at Softros http://messenger.softros.com

  • Anonymous
    April 16, 2014
    lansend can send messages as msg.exe and lansend has GUI. http://lizardsystems.com/lansend/
    Free.

  • Anonymous
    September 18, 2015
    i tried it once it works awesome ;)

    http://www.androidbuddy.net/

  • Anonymous
    December 11, 2015
    Over 25 Sites

    http://www.appsoppc.nl/whatsapp-op-pc/