3 Ways to Enable Remote Desktop In Windows Vista And Windows 7

October 4 2009 by Sanix in Microsoft, Windows |5 Comments

Windows Remote Desktop enables us to connect to our systems remotely through the network or internet. It’s very useful if we are connected to a network and we want to use several computers. We can open the desktops or screens of all the computers and do whatever we want to do.

In Windows XP, enabling Windows Remote Desktop was simple. But it’s a little different in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Here I list down three methods that can be used to enable Remote Desktop in Windows Vista an Windows 7.

1- Using Graphical User Interface

This is the simplest of methods. To enable Windows Remote Desktop graphically, do the following:

Start Run by pressing Windows Key + R

Write the following command in the Run dialog box: systempropertiesremote

Windows Remote Desktop Connection Properties will come up. Under Desktop box, Select one of the following:

Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop.
Allow connections from computers running Remote Desktop with network level authentication.

This will enable Remote Desktop in Windows Vista and also in Windows 7.

2- Using Registry

Windows Remote Desktop can also be enabled or disabled from the registry. This method is specially useful when you want to enable Remote Desktop remotely. You can connect to the registry of the remote computer through remote registry and make changes accordingly.

To enable Remote Desktop through registry, do the following:

Go to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlTerminal Server

In the right hand pane, find the key fDenyTSConnections and make the value to 0 to enable Remote Desktop

If you want to enable Network Level Authentication, then do the following:

Go to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlTerminal ServerWinStationsRDP-Tcp

In the right hand pane, find the key UserAuthentication and change the value to 1.

3- Using Group Policy

To enable Remote Desktop from the group policy, do the following:

Open Group Policy editor by going to Run and typing gpedit.msc

In the group policy editor, go to the following thread:

Computer Configuration Administrative Templates Windows Components Terminal Services Terminal Server Connections

In the right hand pane enable to following:

Allow users to connect remotely using Terminal Services

5 Comments

registry key for remote desktop | REGISTRY says:

October 29, 2009 at 9:21 am

[...] 3 Ways to Enable Remote Desktop In Windows Vista And Windows 7 … [...]
registry key to enable remote desktop | REGISTRY says:

October 29, 2009 at 9:01 pm

[...] 3 Ways to Enable Remote Desktop In Windows Vista And Windows 7 … [...]
Venkatx5 says:

November 6, 2009 at 2:31 pm

For Me the second option to select any computer was disabled. Then I fixed with group policy editor..
1. Fix the with group policy editor..
Start -> type policy > select “Edit Group policy” -> Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Remote Desktop Services -> Remote Desktop Session Host -> Security -> Require user authentication for remote desktop connections by using Network Level Authentication -> Change setting to Not Configured.
2. Right on My Computer -> Properties -> Remote Settings -> Under Remote Desktop select 2nd option. Now you can connect to Windows 7 via Win XP.
foobar says:

November 13, 2009 at 11:17 pm

Um… these arnt valid option in Win7 home premium.. I’m guessing you mean the Ultimate version.
Sanix technize.com says:

November 14, 2009 at 2:08 am

@foobar
I don’t think Windows 7 Home Edition includes RDC. Correct me if I’m wrong.

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