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Collection of "Remote
Desktop" Tips and Tricks
Windows XP: Get Started
Using Remote Desktop
How to Make Shortcuts
to Different RDCs for Your Desktop Manually
Shutting Down or
Rebooting a Remote_PC
Not all the Windows
Shortcut Keys work as you would expect them to in a RDC_Session
How to change the
listening port for Remote Desktop
How to Access Your Home
PC Using RDC form a Linux Box
Configuring RDC for
Maximizing Multiple Monitors
Mute Remote Machine
Sounds
How to Shrink the
Remote Display
Optimize For Slow
Connections
Decrease Lag Time
How to Configure Remote
Desktop Connection Utility for File Transfers
When you get the error
Terminal server has exceeded the maximum number of allowed
connections
Did you know that you
can Remote Desktop to a localhost.
Did you also know that
you can Remote desktop to Virtual Machine Appliances!
Windows Server Hacks:
Remotely Enable Remote Desktop
Some Home Routers May
need the Port Forwarding set to allow RDC to Pass through
The Open Port Check
tool
Or Using Telnet to Test
Port 3389 Functionality
Verify the PC is
listening on TCP Port 3389
Troubleshooting RD
Connectivity Issues
Verify that Terminal
Services is running on the XP Pro desktop
The Port Reporter tool
Logging Remote Desktop
connection information
Windows XP:
Get Started Using Remote Desktop
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/remoteintro.mspx
Or go here for a nice
description with pictures:
http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/2622
How to Make Shortcuts to Different RDCs for Your Desktop Manually
mstsc.exe /v:[computer's
Ip address here] /w:[remote
computer's screen width] /h:[remote
computer's screen height]
-
/v:<computername>--specifies
the name of
the computer
to connect
to.
-
/f--starts
the
connection
in a full
screen.
-
/w:<width>--specifies
the width of
the remote
desktop
screen.
-
/h:<height>--specifies
the height
of the
remote
desktop
screen.
For example, to
remotely connect
to a computer
named Kaltec in
a 640 x 480
remote desktop
screen, you
would
use the
following
command:
mstsc /v:
remote_pc /w:640
/h:480
Shutting Down or Rebooting a Remote PC
You may
have noticed that if you connect
remotely to a computer running Windows
XP, you are prompted to log
off or
disconnect instead of shutdown. This is
fine and will prevent people from
accidently rebooting the computer,
but what do
you do if you need to shutdown or reboot
that Windows XP computer using Remote
Desktop?
Ctrl+Alt+End
- This key combination opens the
Microsoft Windows security dialog box
“shutdown
-f” to shutdown
“shutdown -r -f” to reboot
“shutdown -i -f” to get a GUI
“shutdown -l -f” to logoff
OR
Ctrl+Shift+Esc to get the Task Manager
on the remote machine.
Not all the Windows Shortcut Keys work as you would expect them to
in a RDC Session
How to
change the listening port for Remote Desktop
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306759
How
to Access Your Home PC Using RDC form a Linux Box
rdesktop: A
Remote Desktop Protocol client
Configuring RDC for Maximizing Multiple Monitors
The easiest way to open
a local Remote Desktop window with 2560-by-1024
dimensions (remote system must support the choosen
resolution) is to open the run dialog box and type
type “mstsc /w:2560 /h:1024″. The mstsc.exe is the
Remote Desktop client in the \system32\ folder and
the flags attempt to force the remote system to send
screen data at the settings specified. Don’t overdo
the resolution requests. If a remote system’s video
driver isn’t capable of the requested resolution it
steps-down to the closest single-monitor settings.
Likewise, beware of where icons are placed on the
remote system, as the forced high-res leaves them at
the same x:y points and hides them from users
logging into a local desktop session.
To save both resolution
and connection settings Mstsc.exe commands can be
saved to .LNK shortcuts:
-
Right-click on the
desktop or a folder and choose New > Shortcut.
-
In the “Item
location…” field add the command-line from
earlier, with an additional location flag:
-
“mstsc /w:2560
/h:1024 /v:10.10.10.10:9999″. Replace
10.10.10.10:9999 with your IP, a colon,
-
and the port # of
your RDC connection. Leave the colon and port #
off if using the default RDC port # 3389.
-
Click Next, name
the shortcut, and click Finish.
Mute Remote
Machine Sounds
Tired
of hearing sounds on the remote machine whenever you
execute a remote desktop connection? To mute the
sounds for a particular session, first open the
Windows XP Remote Desktop Connection tool. Click the
"Options" button to access advanced options. Click
"Open" if you wish to modify an existing session
name.
Now, click the "Local Resources" tab. Underneath
"Remote Desktop Sound", click on the pull-down and
choose "Do not Play" to mute the sounds on the
remote and local (your) machine, or "Leave at remote
computer" to play the sounds on the remote machine
but mute them on your own. Then, click the "General"
tab. Click "Save As" to re-save your connection with
the new settings, or just go ahead and access a
computer remotely by clicking the "Options" menu to
hide the advanced settings, then enter the computer
name and click "Connect".
Shrink the Display
When you use the
Windows XP Remote Desktop Connection tool, does the size of the
remote desktop window take up too much room on your actual desktop?
If so, you can try shrinking the size of the window, though remote
machine options may override your settings. But ... it's worth a
short.
Access Remote Desktop Connection. Click the "Options" button to
access advanced options. Click "Open" if you wish to modify an
existing session name.
Click the "Display" tab. Underneath "Remote Desktop size", move the
slider to the left to shrink the display of the remote desktop
window. Click on the "Colors" pull-down to raise or shrink the
colors visible on the remote desktop (a smaller color palette may
speed up the connection, but some of the remote desktop's colors may
look odd).
When you have the desired settings, click the "General" tab. Click
"Save As" to re-save your session with the new settings, or just go
ahead and access a computer remotely by clicking the "Options" menu
to hide the advanced settings, then enter the computer name and
click "Connect".
Optimize For Slow
Connections
Access the Windows XP
Remote Desktop Connection tool. Click the "Options" button to access
advanced options. Click "Open" if you wish to modify an existing
session name.
Click the "Experience" tab. Now, underneath "Choose your connection
speed to optimize performance", click the pull-down to choose the
speed with which you are able to connect to the Internet. Here's a
tip: If you don't mind colors that are a little off or don't care to
see the remote desktop's backdrop, choose a connection speed that is
slower than your actual connection.
Optionally, you can uncheck the boxes to disable the following: the
remote desktop background, window contents while dragging, menu and
window animation, themes, and the desktop background. Personally, I
would turn all of these options off unless I had a really fast and
stable network connection.
When you are done with your settings, click the "General" tab. Click
"Save As" to re-save your session with the new settings, or just go
ahead and access a computer remotely by clicking the "Options" menu
to hide the advanced settings, then enter the computer name and
click "Connect".
Decrease Lag Time
Here are some general
recommendations for decreasing the lag time when using the Windows
XP Remote Desktop Connection. These tips should make your remote
desktop seem more responsive. Your results may vary.
* If you are not
remotely accessing software that needs true color representation
(like a photo editor), turn the color depth to 16-bit or 256 colors.
This can make a huge impact on the transfer speeds, resulting in
connections that respond better to your keyboard clicks and mouse
movements.
* Use the DOS prompt when possible, bypassing Windows Explorer. If
you know how to use DOS commands, opening up a window should result
in much faster connections. DOS prompt windows are usually only two
colors; that of the window background and that of the text, meaning
the display compresses well and refreshes are sent faster from the
remote machine to yours. This also can improve response time.
* If you have to have multiple programs open at once, try to keep
only one program's window visible and the rest minimized. The less
movement and changes on the remote desktop's machine, the less
visual information that has to be transferred to your machine, and
the less lag time you will experience.
* You don't need the remote desktop's background graphic, or silly
menu animations, and if you're trying to do some work with a slow
connection, themes can just get in the way.
* While connected to a remote server, try not to run any programs on
your own computer that are Internet or processor-intensive. If you
run other software that requires the Internet, the bandwidth
available to the Remote Desktop Connection will decrease. Likewise,
if you run processor-intensive applications on your system, your
computer may not be able to process updates from the
remote machine as fast
as possible.
How to Configure Remote Desktop Connection Utility for File
Transfers
1. Open
Start>>Run and type
mstsc
2. Now click on
options
and again click on
Local Resources
Tab.
3. Under
Local Devices
and Resources you will see a checkbox
as
Local Drives
4. Check the
Checkbox "drives"
in the newly opened window.
When you get the error "Terminal server has exceeded the maximum
number of allowed connections"
it is still possible to connect to the
console session of the machine:
Open a command
prompt and enter the following,
inserting the relevant servername or ip adress where indicated:
mstsc /v:<server> /console
Use this connection to disconnect the
running sessions, and then log off
and connect in the normal way, to
prevent problems with accessing the machine locally.
Did you know that you can
Remote
Desktop to a localhost.
Its very useful when testing stuff on a
machine with different users. I do this all the time.
Did you also know that you can Remote
desktop to Virtual Machine
Appliances!
Windows Server Hacks: Remotely Enable Remote Desktop
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/05/04/serverhacks_remote.html
Some Home Routers May need the Port Forwarding set to allow RDC to
Pass through
Access to a Windows XP Professional
desktop PC running Remote Desktop that is behind a firewall, NAT or
router is fairly
easy to
configure if the user can forward TCP ports to the target PC's
private LAN IP addresses. Port forwarding of
TCP Port 3389 through any
firewall/NAT/router is required if the user needs to access a
Windows XP Professional Remote
Desktop from a remote location. The
Windows XP SP2 Windows Firewall can be configured to allow Remote
Desktop by simply checking a checkbox in the
Exceptions tab.
You'll also may need to access your
router's settings to allow that port # to pass through.
This section is usually found in the
gaming section to allow online play.
The CanYouSeeMe.org site Open
Port Check tool can quickly tell you if port forwarding through
local firewall/NAT/router devices is proper configured and working
correctly. You can use this site to help troubleshoot Remote Desktop
connectivity issues. Note that you should run this test from the
Remote Desktop host PC.
http://www.canyouseeme.org/
Or Using
Telnet to Test Port 3389 Functionality
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q187628
Verify the PC
is listening on TCP Port 3389
From the Windows XP desktop Start |
Run command window execute the cmd command. At the
command line prompt type the command netstat -a and verify
the PC is listening on TCP Port 3389.
Troubleshooting RD
Connectivity Issues
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832919
This utility reports the port status of
target TCP and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports on a local
computer or on a remote computer. PortQry version 2.0 also provides
detailed information about the local computer's port usage. PortQry
version 2.0 runs on all the following operating systems:
Verify that Terminal Services is running on the XP Pro desktop
The user can verify if the Terminal
Services is running on the desktop PC by executing the
services.msc command
from the Windows XP Start | Run command window. The server
status should be Started
The Port Reporter tool
The Port Reporter tool runs as a
service on computers that are running Windows Server 2003, Windows
XP, and Windows 2000. The tool logs TCP and UDP port activity. This
article contains information about how to obtain and install the
tool. When you install
the
tool, the Setup program creates the appropriate registry entries and
installs the Port Reporter service.
Availability and description of the
Port Reporter tool
Logging
Remote Desktop connection information
Windows XP Security Event Viewer Log
An Audit Policy may be configured using
the Group Policy editor to track logon success and failures.
From the Start | Run command window
type gpedit.msc. Navigate to Local Computer Policy | Computer
Configuration | Windows Settings | Security Settings | Local
Policies | Audit Policy | Audit logon events. Highlight and
right-click and select properties. Configure as desired.
How To Turn On Remote
Desktop Automatic Logon in Windows XP
Microsoft TechNet
Enhanced Search Remote Desktop
Now for the best Tip of
All. Use LogMeIn !!!!!
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