Cant remote desktop by name to windows machines

Hello all, I recently got a 15" Macbook Pro i7. Love the thing but have 1 issue, i cant Remote Desktop to my windows machines (Server 2008, Win 7 & XP) by name I can only reach them through their IP Address. I am using Microsoft's Remote Desktop Mac version

I have disabled all the firewalls & antivirus software on all my machines. I still cant RDP from my mac to my windows machines using their name, only reachable through IP.

I have no issues using RDP from windows to windows

I have been trying to figure this out for the past few days, can anybody help me out!!!

Try either by FQDN, or if you're using netbios names, try name.local - so if the machine is called fredcomp try fredcomp.local - it doesn't work for *everyone* but for many it has.

thanks for the suggestion but still no luck

if you can reach it by ip and not by name it's a DNS problem
try adding it to the hosts file on the mac and then try again

open terminal, and type

sudo nano /etc/hosts/
type your password and add it, save the file and then try connecting using the name

HAHA i finally got it, i had to edit the host file. The command i used was sudo nano /private/etc/hosts then added my IP & pc name and RDP worked.

Heres the how to i used:
How to edit the hosts file in Mac OS X – Leopard Decoding the Web

thanks for the help guys!!!