I can ssh to the server but it wont allow me edit files, even though I have basic text editors like gedit and notepad installed on my windows computer. Anyone have an idea what the problem is? (I get an error message like this-(gedit:23978): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display Thanks in any case

When you ssh to a remote server, you are actually running the editor from the remote server. Because you do not have an X-windows (the GUI) connection, the editor cannot put up its graphical user interface, which is why you get a warning.

The easiest alternative would be a non-GUI editor such as nano. Many users prefer vi or emacs, but there is a learning curve if you have not used them before.

In order to run a GUI program on the remote computer, you would need an X server on your own computer, and will require additional flags to ssh (to tell it to forward the X connection). There are X servers for Windows such as Xming.

i dunno' about windows -> linux but with linux -> linux the command should be:please tell us what ssh client you are using ?

man ssh for more info.

Thanks neonsignal. I downloaded Xming and Nano, and both are working as good solutions. Thanks Again!