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If you’re like me, you have many computers that you connect to remotely when away from work, or home, using RDP.

The easiest way to connect to all of these computers (aside from setting up a VPN) is to change the default port on which Windows will accept RDP connections.

Since things have changed a bit in Microsoft Windows Vista, here is how to change that port:
Click on the Start button, and navigate to accessories. From there, clik on the Run icon. Once the Run applet has started, we’ll enter the good ole regedit command. It still works like a charm!

Within the registry editor, navigate to:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\
Terminal Server\WinStations\EH-Tcp

We want to change the registry key PortNumber in order to modify the default port. The default port is 3390, and I normally use ports in the 338x range, so double click on the key, check the decimal setting, the set the “Value data” to 3389.

Click OK, then close Regedit, and connect from a remote PC.

Note: you may want to create a firewall rule for port 3389 in order to allow connections.

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Here are screenshots from the upcoming Micorosoft RDP 6 client for Windows (Vista and XP), and explanations for each feature so that you can get started with your testing now and stay ahead of the game.

The options screen to the new RDP 6 client is very similar to that in version 5, but as you can see, it does not have input regions for login name and password. This is now done when you connect, and yes it can still be stored. Also note that just like in previous versions, if you would like to save the settings you will need to return to this tab as Microsoft still seems to think that saving options should not be done from all tabs for some reason. If you would like to make the options that you changed or reconfigured global, you would save the file as default.rdp in your “My Documents” folder. In Vista this is simply called “Documents” to make things easier. Yes, they have gotten rid of the “My” prefix now.

We have all of three options here: Remote Desktop Size, Colors and the Option to diplay the connection bar when in full screen mode. Remote desktop size: whether you want to display your remote desktop connection in full screen mode or not. This does work fer very large monitors, including those widescreen suckers. It will scale down to many other sizes depending on what you maximum resolution is. The amount of colors has now increased to 32bit in the newest version of the Remote Desktop Connection 6 client (RDP 6). This means getting accurate color from applications such as Adobe Photoshop is much easier now, though you will still need to do proper calibration.

The local resources tab controls the way your remote computer or terminal connects to your Longhorn or Windows 2003 R2 Terminal Server. For sound, you have the option to play sound locally, to leave the sound on the remote computer (host) or to ignore sound completely. I have noticed that the sound quality seems tobe much better in the new RDP client, but that it depends on the connection you are using. For example when using a Wifi-B connection, the sound quality appeared to be roughly the same as the previous client iteration. When I then connected the laptop to a wired (LAN) connection, the difference was apparent when switching back and forth between RDP 5 and RDP 6. I should probably be more precise here - what I mean by sound quality appears to affect times when multiple sounds play at once, as well as when sound are triggered by alerts or login notifications, the sounds appear to play faster, having less latency than in the RDP 5 client.

The keyboard menu here allows you to specify whether actions such as alt-tab will always be recognized by the remote computer even when in windowed mode, or if the host should accept them - the host being your computer in this case. I think the default is fine for most people - meaning keep it set to only accept these commands when in full-screen mode.

Local Devices and Resources: RDC 6 supports using local devices will logged into a remote computer provided that the proper driver exists on the remote host. Microsoft will be writing generic drivers for many devices, and currently things like smart cards, serial ports and hard drives are already supported, but the list will be growing.

The programs tab allows you to specify applications to run on connection to a remote host. You can specify the path of the application to run, as well as input information regarding the folder to start the program in.

The experience tab allows you to tweak the connection settings in order to get a less latent (slow updating) connection to your remote host. When people complain about this to me it typically involves things like typing speed not being fast enough in RDP sessions, and screen refreshes being very slow. If you are using a connection to a remote computer in a local network that runs at 100mbit or up, I have found that you can safely have all of the experience options turned on. On a wireless B connection (11mbps), you may want to turn all of the settings off. If you are connecting remotely, I would highly recommend turning all of them off.

There is also an option on the screen that has always looked out of place to me - and I think it should be on the general page as it seems to be a general option. At any rate, you can also specify whether or not to reconnection after your connection is dropped by checking this checkbox. I typically have this checked.

Lastly, we have the advanced tab, which allows you to set so-called “advanced” options. Basically this involves two things.

The first is server authentication. This allows you to confirm if you are connecting to the proper remote computer. In practice, I have found that this simply does not work in Windows XP, and now have it set to not warn me if the authentication fails, because it will always fail, without a doubt. If you use Vista or Windows Server Codename Longhorn, this does in fact work, so you can leave it set to default (”Warn me if authentication fails”).

The second option dubbed “Connect from anywhere” only works with gateway servers, like the new Terminal Services in Longhorn. At this point, you are unable to use the function on Windows XP. You are able to turn it on in Windows Vista, and can play with the settings provided you have a Terminal Services Gateway Server in your network.

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Here is my collection of all of the Windows XP commands that you can start from the Start -> Run dialog box in order to manage a Windows XP (SP2) workstation.

1. Accessibility Controls - access.cpl
2. Accessibility Wizard - accwiz
3. Add Hardware Wizard - hdwwiz.cpl
4. Add/Remove Programs - appwiz.cpl
5. Administrative Tools - control admintools
6. Automatic Updates - wuaucpl.cpl
7. Bluetooth Transfer Wizard - fsquirt
8. Certificate Manager - certmgr.msc
9. Character Map - charmap
10. Check Disk Utility - chkdsk
11. Clipboard Viewer - clipbrd
12. Command Prompt - cmd
13. Component Services - dcomcnfg
14. Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
15. Control Panel - control
16. Date and Time Properties - timedate.cpl
17. DDE Shares - ddeshare
18. Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
19. Direct X Troubleshooter - dxdiag
20. Disk Cleanup Utility - cleanmgr
21. Disk Defragment - dfrg.msc
22. Disk Management - diskmgmt.msc
23. Disk Partition Manager - diskpart
24. Display Properties - desk.cpl
25. Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility - drwtsn32
26. Driver Verifier Utility - verifier
27. Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
28. Files and Settings Transfer Tool - migwiz
29. File Signature Verification Tool - sigverif
30. Findfast - findfast.cpl
31. Folders Properties - control folders
32. Fonts - control fonts
33. Game Controllers - joy.cpl
34. Group Policy Editor - gpedit.msc
35. Help and Support - helpctr
36. HyperTerminal - hypertrm
37. Iexpress Wizard - iexpress
38. Indexing Service - ciadv.msc
39. Internet Connection Wizard - icwconn1
40. Internet Explorer - iexplore
41. Internet Properties - inetcpl.cpl
42. Keyboard Properties - control keyboard
43. Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
44. Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
45. Logoff Windows - logoff
46. Malicious Software Removal Tool - mrt
47. Microsoft Chat - winchat
48. Microsoft Syncronization Tool - mobsync
49. Mouse Properties - control mouse
50. Netmeeting - conf
51. Network Connections - control netconnections
52. Network Connections - ncpa.cpl
53. Network Setup Wizard - netsetup.cpl
54. Object Packager - packager
55. ODBC Data Source Administrator - odbccp32.cpl
56. On Screen Keyboard - osk
57. Outlook Express - msimn
58. Password Properties - password.cpl
59. Performance Monitor - perfmon
60. Phone and Modem Options - telephon.cpl
61. Power Configuration - powercfg.cpl
62. Printers and Faxes - control printers
63. Regional Settings - intl.cpl
64. Registry Editor - regedit32
65. Remote Access Phonebook - rasphone
66. Remote Desktop - mstsc
67. Removable Storage - ntmsmgr.msc
68. Removable Storage Operator Requests - ntmsoprq.msc
69. Resultant Set of Policy - rsop.msc
70. Scanners and Cameras - sticpl.cpl
71. Scheduled Tasks - control schedtasks
72. Security Center - wscui.cpl
73. Services - services.msc
74. Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
75. Shutdown Windows - shutdown
76. Sounds and Audio - mmsys.cpl
77. SQL Client Configuration - cliconfg
78. System Configuration Editor - sysedit
79. System Configuration Utility - msconfig
80. System Information - msinfo32
81. System Properties - sysdm.cpl
82. Task Manager - taskmgr
83. TCP Tester - tcptest
84. Telnet Client - telnet
85. User Account Management - nusrmgr.cpl
86. Utility Manager - utilman
87. Windows Address Book - wab
88. Windows Address Book Import Utility - wabmig
89. Windows Explorer - explorer
90. Windows Firewall - firewall.cpl
91. Windows Management Infrastructure - wmimgmt.msc
92. Windows System Security Tool - syskey
93. Windows Update - wupdmgr
94. Windows Version - winver

Also to note: any executables found in PATH folders, for example “Program Files” can also be run from the Start -> Run dialog as well. This means to start VMWare Sever, you can type in “vmware” and it will start for you!

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UPDATE! The newest client found in the release candidate of Vista does not require MUI files at all. There is some speculation that this may in fact end up as the Windows XP RDP 6 client. Download RDP 6 Client for Windows XP using this link.

I’ve been trying to get the Remote Desktop Connection v6.0 client from Vista to run on Windows XP for months now. Microsoft has announced many times that it’s available tobeta testers through the Connect site, but try as I may I still can’t find it (I’m not alone). So I went ahead and popped the new RDP 6 client from Vista onto Windows XP and tried everything from dependency walking to regsitry hacks to get it going but to no avail. So i kept testing, and set up a Google alert to let me know if anyone had found a method or any information that I could use to get this done.

I got results from the hook today, and what a big fish it was. It seems that I had probably fixed it early on, but hadn’t followed the proper procedure of changing one setting, testing, then moving to the next. I had simply set up all the hacks I thought were needed and plowed ahead. This is what happens when you test with a bottle in hand.

So here is what I found out today: originally from a thread by Caelum over at AtomicPC, this quick hack allows you to install the Microsoft Vista RDP v6 client on a Windows XP computer. Caelum was trying to get widescreen working in RDP on XP, and most of you know that works fine already. But Caelum, you’ve solved another problem in the process!

The 6th iteration of the MSTSC binary has a bunch of outstanding feautures. The biggest one for me is better support for sound and video over terminal services, but also includes ClearType support for those with LCD monitors so fonts look much nicer now.

Let’s get cracking.

1. Download this MSTSC zip(1.3MB)

2. Unpack the ZIP file to a folder

3. Run the “Install.cmd” file

4. Once the installation has completed, press any key to close the window

5. The script does everything but copy the MUI files to SYSTEM32, so we’ll do that now: open your Windows folder, then SYSTEM32, and then en-US. Copy the *.MUI files from your unzipped folder to the en-US folder

6. Run your remote desktop connection application the same way you normally would

Note: If you use Windows XP 64bit Edition you’ll want to grab the 64bit bit files from a 64bit version of Vista.

Now we can connect to Vista and Longhorn Terminal Server using the most up to date client and test the new features offered by Remote Desktop Client 6. I’ve tested this out on both using my VMWare Server virtual machines and the results are very favorable so far - it’s faster than before!

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