Rodney Fletcher’s Blog

When you remotely connect to a computer on a slow link, the last thing you want is a high res vendor background, which takes minutes to load. Dell, HP, Compaq, etc all seem to do this.

Oddly enough, this background is unlikely to be related to the actual user’s own background so removing it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s also easy to do. Here’s how:

Step 1: Connect to the remote computer’s registry. You can either do this by logging into the computer, if you have to or if you are on the same network, as below:
1. Open regedit by clicking Start > Run, then typing Regedit.
2. Go to file and select Connect Network Registry.
3. Type in the PC name.

Step 2: Modify the following registry key:
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
by clearing the entry that is currently there.

That’s it. Now when you RDP to the computer, you won’t be slowed down by an overly large image.

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Sometimes you find yourself on a server (probably one you have RDP’d to yourself), with the need to then RDP on to a client PC. However sometimes, the client has not enabled the “Allow Remote Desktop Connections” flag on their PC, so this poses a problem. We need to enable it remotely.

Firstly, there are two roadblocks to overcome. One is remotely enabling RDP on the PC and the second is getting around the Windows Firewall, assuming it is enabled.

The Windows Firewall
Let’s assume the Windows Firewall is enabled on the remote machine and we need to get past it. Well, we could push out a new Group Policy (which will take time and ideally, some planning) or we could simply turn it off, temporarily (assuming it’s safe to do so in your environment). This is easiest done as follows.

1. Right click on My Computer and select Manage.
2. Right click on the top of the menu you now see Computer Management (local) and pick Connect to another computer.
3. Type the name of the computer you wish to connect to.
4. Expand the menu, look in Service and Applications for the service called Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) and stop it.


Leave the above open so you can easily turn the Windows Firewall back on, when you’re done. Now we’re ready to remotely enable RDP and use it.

Remotely enabling RDP
To enable RDP remotely, we simply edit the registry of the remote PC. It’s quick and easy.
1. Open regedit by clicking Start > Run, then typing Regedit.
2. Go to file and select Connect Network Registry.
3. Type in the PC name.
4. On the remote PC, expand the HKLM hive and go to this key:
hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\terminal server\FdenyTSConnection=1
5. Change it from 1 to 0 (Hex - not that it matters).


That’s it. You should now be able to remotely connect to the other computer via RDP.

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Recently, a client of mine who has a single Windows SBS server, had the urgent need for a SPAM filter to be installed. Having had lots of fantastic experience with ESVA in the past, coupled with knowing they had a very limited IT budget, I suggested firing up a VMWare appliance on their server (which is insanely over-powered for its task and can easily handle an ESVA VM session).

Installation went smoothly and would you believe in 4 days, the ESVA appliance has blocked… wait for it… 1,137,381 SPAM emails. A frikkin’ million! That’s over 250,000 a day!

After a day, however, people who work off site started to report they could no longer VPN in. It turns out that VMWare breaks Windows ICS, which in turn breaks RRAS (VPN).

I Googled around for a solution and went through the VMware forums but to no avail. Long story short – mail filter: good. VMWare on a SBS Domain Controller trying to run RRAS VPN: bad.

So tonight I decided I was going to resolve this one. And it turns out, a little trial and error was all it took. It’s actually very easy. Here’s how to get RRAS VPN working again, on a SBS 2003 Domain Controller, after installing VMWare Server 2.

1. Open the RRAS MMC Snap in.
Admin Tools > Routing and Remote Access

2. Right click on the server name and select properties.

3. Select the IP Tab

4. Go to the adapter and change it from:
Allow RAS to select adapter
to the adapter which you require the VPN connections to be made to.

The problem is, with the VMWare virtual adapters created by VMWare for use with Host Only Networking, the RRAS server is trying to connect people to these adapters. Of course, they’re in virtual (and false) subnets, so they go nowhere. Forcing the connection to the correct adapter takes the guess work out of the equation and resolves this issue.

Hope that helps!

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