Re: "So he edited its autoexec.bat file"
So why not just edit it back and reboot the machine remotely
From TFA, this is Windows For Workgroups, so one of Windows 3.1{,1}. These versions of windows run over DOS, providing a UI and SMB over NetBIOS for sharing. He had edited the autoexec.bat to display a message on the screen, and a "Press any key to continue". autoexec.bat is run by DOS, and so the (probably keyboard-less) machine was stuck in DOS displaying a message, therefore no SMB.
I think more interesting is that there was a 36" screen combined with a Windows 3.1 machine, so presumably a CRT as a display screen?! Display screens only really took off when we had large flat screens, and then we didn't have Windows 3.11.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
