For security reasons, Windows 7 and Windows 8 come without a Telnet client pre-installed. This does not mean that Windows does not contain the Telnet functionality. It just needs to be enabled. Here are two ways to enable the Telnet client in Windows 8.
Enable Telnet using command line
To enable Telnet in Windows 8 using the command line, just follow the instructions below:
Go to Run (WinKey + R) and issue the following command:
pkgmgr /iu:”TelnetClient”
This will automatically enable the Telnet client for you. There will be no confirmation message. It will do the job pretty silently.
To make sure that the client is installed successfully, open the command prompt and type telnet. This should change the prompt to Microsoft Telnet>
A quick tip, you can exit from the telnet prompt by typing ‘quit’ and pressing enter.
Similarly, you can install Telnet server by using the following command:
pkgmgr /iu:”TelnetServer”
If you want to uninstall the Telnet client using command line, issue the following command:
pkgmgr /up:”TelnetClient”
To uninstall the Telnet server, use the following command:
pkgmgr /up:”TelnetServer”
Install Telnet using Programs and Features
Although command line is the easiest way to enable or disable telnet, if you are not comfortable with it, you can install telnet visually using the steps below:
You will need to go to Programs and Features control panel item. In Windows 8, right click the bottom left corner of the screen and select ‘Programs and Features‘ from the menu. You can open the same by using the command control appwiz.cpl from Run (WinKey + R).
On the left hand menu, click on ‘Turn Windows features on or off‘. Find and check ‘Telnet client’ from the list. Click OK. This will install Telnet client in Windows 8. Now you can issue the telnet commands from the command line.
I hope this will be useful for you. Which method do you prefer? command line or visual? Do you use telnet for accessing other machines remotely?
