Terminal Services Frequently Asked Questions
How do I install Office 2000 on a Terminal Server?
The following links are useful for this; basically, you need to use a custom installer transform.
Installing Office 2000 on a Terminal Server: http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2000/two/30t3.htm
Access Runtime transform for Terminal Server: http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2000/journ/AccessRT.htm
The transforms are in the ORK core, currently available at: http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2000/download/ORKTools.exe
How Do I Configure Automatic Logon for a Terminal Server?
See this MSKB article: (MSKB:Q260711) - How to Configure Automatic Logon to a Terminal Server
Note that if you have set DontDisplayLastUserName?, this will not work. The article covers steps for backing out of such a change.
How Do I Temporarily Disable Remote Logons?
Issue the following command from a command prompt: change logon /disable
Anyone attempting to connect will see a popup message instead of a winlogon box, that just:
“Remote logons are currently disabled.”
You can even do this remotely. Just to ensure you aren’t locked out in case your connection dies, I would enable telnet connections first - that way you can go in and re-enable logon via a telnet connection.
To re-enable logons, you use the command: change logon /enable
Running TSAdmin shows on the task bar but not on the screen!
Make sure NO sessions are logged in currently under your account (this will ensure that a “bad” position does not get saved back to the account’s registry key when they exit). Log in as you usually do. Run Regedit and navigate to the following key:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion?\Terminal Server\TSADMIN
Under that key, look for the “Placement” value, and delete it completely.
When you bring it back up, it should default to a viewable location.
How do I move my licenses from one licensing server to another?
Back up your Terminal Services licensing server regularly by using the Windows Backup tool or similar. This will help protect your licensing data from accidental loss if your system experiences hardware or storage failure. When backing up a Terminal Server License Server, back up both the System State data and the folder in which the Terminal Server License Server is installed. This ensures that data in both the registry and the Terminal Services licensing server database is backed up. If you restore the System State data and the database to the original Terminal Services licensing server computer, any unissued licenses are restored correctly as long as you have not replaced the operating system on the computer. Otherwise any unissued licenses are not restored and an event will appear in the system log providing the unissued count. You can still restore the unissued licenses by using the TS License Manager tool with the Telephone activation mechanism, and requesting the licenses back. You can switch to the Telephone mechanism by right clicking on the server in TS License Manager, and selecting properties from the menu.
What is the Performance Impact from Running Terminal Services in Admin Mode?
Q243213 (MSKB:Q243213) documents the baseline impact of Win2K TS in Admin mode. The standard footprint is:
85K non-paged pool memory 175K paged-pool memory 2.25MB overall memory commit
One of the more significant potential causes of performance degradation on a Terminal Server - compatibility code in tsappcmp.dll which is loaded at boot for application servers and which is used to wrap all applications that are not TS-aware - is not an issue since it does not get loaded for Remote Admin mode at all.
How Do I Allow Normal Users To View Everyone’s Tasks In Task Manager?
- Log in as Administrator (or a user in Administrators)
- Start TaskMgr?, enable the `Show processes from all users� checkbox, then close the TaskMgr? window
- Open RegExit?, navigate to `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion?\TaskManager?� and export (File => Export…) that key to a file (e.g. ‘taskmgr.reg’)
- Copy the file created in step 3 to a location accesssible to the ordinary user
- Log off the Administrator
- Log on as the ordinary user
- Start the file copied in step 4 and click `Yes� at the confirmation prompt
Finding the owning process using a port
This may be of use for various kinds of troubleshooting for custom port use with Remote Desktop on XP and Windows 2003. You can use netstat’s new ‘-o’ option and Task Manager to find the owning process easily.
(1) run netstat -a -n -o to show all network processes (including listeners) with their owners and the port they are using.
(2) Look for the PID associated with the port of interest - in this case, when I just checked 3389 the owning process was 664.
(3) Look up the PID in TASK Manager’s processes; it will show you the process name.
Keyboard layout and input-language settings do not match
When a Terminal Server client connects to a Terminal Server computer, the keyboard layout is retained but the input-language setting may not match that of the client.
For example, if your client is configured with an input-language setting of French and a keyboard layout setting of French (Canada), the Terminal Server session defaults to an input-language setting of English and a keyboard layout setting of French (Canada).
Start Registry Editor. Locate and then click the following key in the registry: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet?\Control\Keyboard Layout
On the Edit menu, click: Add Value, and then add the following registry value: Value name: IgnoreRemoteKeyboardLayout? Data type: REG_DWORD Value data: 1 Quit Registry Editor.
Photo Editor fails to open gif/jpg/jpeg files
Symptoms: When a user tries to open a gif/jpg/jpeg file, the following message comes up: “No file format information can be found in the registry”, then “unknown file format”. Photo Editor starts but does not open the file.
Cause: A registry permission problem on key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Graphics Filters.
Solution: Described in detail in KB article Q260151 OFF2000: “No File Format Information Can Be Found in the Registry” Error Message When You Start Photo Editor at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q260151
Why can’t I stop and restart the Terminal Services Service?
This is by design; stop/restart of the service can do unpredictable things to your system environment on TS.
If you want to be able to disable remote logon, simply issue the following command from a console prompt:
change logon /disable
To enable logon again, you can issue the change logon /enable command.
This has the added advantage of not doing anything to your current connection.
Can I get more than 256 colors in a Windows Terminal Services Session?
No. You need to use Citrix for this functionality. XP Remote Assistance supports higher color depths, as will Windows 2003 server.
What ports does Windows Terminal Services Use?
3389. If you are using the Web client, you need to access the web page hosting the interface via port 80 by default, and still need direct access to port 3389 on the Terminal Server also.
Blue screen with STOP 0×50
You most likely have a buggy printer driver. Go with the simplest, plain vanilla ones available. Also, if you have HP 5 drivers, you may find that switching to an HP 4 series driver makes crashes go away. The bottom line for printer drivers on Terminal Servers is: use the Microsoft-provided drivers. They aren’t glamorous, they just work.
Error message when attempting to log on: The local policy of this system does not permit you to logon interactively
There are 2 likely causes of this error:
(1) You don’t have “Allow logon to terminal server” checked in the user’s profile.
(2) The Terminal Server is functioning as a domain controller. Default domain policies prohibit interactive logon to DCs by normal users for very good reasons. The best resolution is to demote the TS to a member server role.
Redirecting COM ports on TS
This capability is only introduced with the Windows 2003 server.
Improving Internet Explorer Performance on TS
The single most important thing you can do to lessen the impact of IE use and to make it better is to use policies. There are several key issues which can be completely avoided with this, including the burgeoning Internet caches.
Another setting I prefer for aging TS systems is to completely disable features such as scripting and ActiveX? and Java support. Although this gives users a less “full” Internet experience, it massively reduces the memory and CPU footprint of a Terminal Services session.
For bad performance with animations, there are 2 options. The first is to simply turn off animations and video playback.
How do I shadow a user’s session?
(1) Both the user shadowing and the user being shadowed need to be remotely logged in to regular Terminal Services sessions.
(2) Run the Terminal Services Manager applet.
(3) Right-click the user you want to shadow and select “Remote Control”.
(4) If your options are grayed out (and neither of you is using the console session, nor are you clicking on yourself <g>) you may need to enable remote control. Run the Terminal Services Configuration applet, open the Connections folder, right-click RDP-Tcp and choose properties. Enable remote control with the “Remote Control” tab.
(5) You can also adjust this per-user. To do so, go into AD Users and Computers if in an AD domain, or run the “Computer Management” applet for standalone/non-AD 2000 systems. Users have a “Remote Control” property sheet you can use to configure individual settings.
What Are the Licensing Requirements for Windows 2000 Terminal Server CALs?
See the Microsoft Terminal Services Licensing FAQ for up-to-date details:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/pricing/tsfaq.asp
Cannot load illegal module D:\Winnt\System32\Rdpwsx.dll
See MSKB Article Q312030 (MSKB:Q312030)
How do I allow users to cache the password in their saved connections?
Run TSCC.MSC /S on the TS and go to RDP-Tcp. Uncheck the check box ‘Always prompt for password’.
This will only work for NT/2000/XP clients; Win9x operating systems will not cache the password since they are not secure.
Why is NTVDM using 100% of my CPU?
You are running an older DOS application; most likely it is a database app, many of your users have it, and it has not been updated recently.
The early networked DOS database apps used horribly unfriendly methods for doing some things; the most common issue is that they would run in a loop that listened for keyboard input continually. As a result, the faster your system is, the harder it listens.
How do I make the USB printer on my client PC work in a Terminal Server Session?
1. install the printer on the server - the printer does not need to be present.
2. Tell the server the printer is on the local LPT1 when it asks for the port.
3. Once the printer is installed, delete it immediately. During the deletion process, tell it to NOT delete the files.
4. If everything goes right and this is one of the drivers which does not produce BSODs on Windows 2000 Terminal Server, it should work fine. It will only appear while you are connected to the Terminal Server.
Which HP LaserJet printers are supported in a TS environment?
http://www.hp.com/cposupport/printers/support_doc/bpl10248.html offers a list of supported printers, driver versions and installation recommendations.
How Do I Change the Terminal Services Listening Port?
See the article How to Change Terminal Server’s Listening Port (MSKB:Q187623) in the MSKB.
How Do I Find a “Black Hole” Router?
Black hole routers may dump packets above a certain size when you are trying to traverse a path to a server. Here’s a method for looking for a black hole router, and figuring out the size of the “bottleneck”.
Try a normal ping of the server; this sends a “minimal” packet of 32 bytes.
If the remote system drops all ping requests (possible for some secured systems), do a traceroute, and start your ping with the next-to-last system. Make sure you have a “plain” ping working.
Now try pinging with fixed-size packets that are set to not fragment. Normally the largest size possible is 1472 bytes. This is done like this: ping -l -f For example, to ping 169.3.65.254 with a packetsize of 1472, do this:
ping -l 1472 -f 169.3.65.254
If the largest packet is rejected, determine size by bisection; drop to about 736; if that works, try about 1100 or so, until you find about the largest size that will work.Subtract an extra 32 from this number for safety and this is probably a good max MTU size.
If this does indeed work, you have two possible resolutions. One is to try finding the black hole and getting the administrators of the system to fix it. This requires doing a traceroute to the Terminal Server and then checking the intervening systems for fragmentation as we did here. More realistically, you may want to set the Terminal Server to use packets small enough to get through. Note that you should not use the Microsoft Windows 2000 TCP/IP Protocols and Services Technical Reference to set the MTU key location - it’s wrong. Instead, see the appropriate article before and look up “MTU” in it.
TCP/IP and NBT Configuration Parameters for Windows 2000 or Windows NT MSKB:Q120642 TCP/IP and NBT Configuration Parameters for Windows XP MSKB:Q314053
How do I allow non-Admin users to log on to a Windows 2003 TS which is a domain controller?
There are two basic steps, it appears.
First, add the users to the Remote Desktop Users group if you have not done so already.
Next, grant those users the right to log on via TS through the security policies. Here’s the path to the setting: Console Root\Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\User Rights Assignment\Allow log on through Terminal Services
Can I install TS from the command line?
Yes; use the following command (all one line) to install in remote admin mode:
%SystemRoot?%\System32\rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection? TerminalServices?.FreshInstall? 128 %SystemRoot?%\inf\tsoc.inf
This suppresses the reboot prompt so end users don’t get any nasty surprises; you will need to reboot before Terminal Services will be functional.
If you don’t have GUI access, make sure that the source files are accessible and that Windows knows where to find them; otherwise you will have a GUI dialog sitting on the console asking where the files are.
One other issue: if you go into Windows Components after doing this, Terminal Services will NOT show up as being installed.
What Commandline Tools Are Built Into Terminal Services?
Here’s a list of the standard ones I was able to identify on an activated Windows 2000 Terminal Server in Application mode:
change, chglogon, chgport, chgusr, flattemp, licmgr, logoff, qappsrv, qprocess, query, quser, qwinsta, regini, reset, rsnotify, rwinsta, shadow, tsadmin, tscon, tsdiscon, tskill, tsprof, tsshutdn
Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Clients
Where Can I Download the Official Terminal Services Client?
Note that if you have Windows XP or have downloaded a recent version of the client, it is already on your system even though not in the same menu location. You can run it with Start | Run | mstsc.
Here are some of the platform downloads:
Full Win32 Client: http://microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/rdclientdl.asp
Where do I find a Macintosh Terminal Services Client?
Microsoft now has a client which works with OS X:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/DOWNLOAD/MISC/RDC.asp
Where do I find a Linux/UNIX Terminal Services Client?
There is no Microsoft terminal services client for Linux/UNIX, but Matt Chapman has developed one:
Terminal ServicesTerminal Services
Filed under: Terminal Services
One Response to “Terminal Services Frequently Asked Questions”
Leave a Reply