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Remotely Turn On Windows Computer Desktop Server 2003 – RDP Enabler

Handy Freeware Tools For Enabling Remote Desktop On Distant Computer Remotely

Remote Desktop (RD)/ Terminal Services enable you to access the desktop of another computer placed at a distant location and control various programs and applications using mouse and keyboard remotely via network.

It is possible for you to remotely turn on and facilitate Remote Desktop on a distant computer/ server for accepting incoming Remote Desktop Connection (RDC). This can be done by editing the registry of the remote PC manually.

However, some of you might face a problem in opening/editing registry value on remote computer as required. Others might not want to edit remote computer registry manually. In such cases, you may use the below mentioned freeware tools and utilities which will help you enable/ disable distant desktop/PC remotely.

1. Remote Desktop Enabler by IntelliAdmin

This program helps you remotely enable RD feature in Windows XP, 2003 and 2000.

You need to download the Remote Desktop Enabler, i.e. RDPRemoteEnabler_Free.exe.

2. Remote Desktop Enable/ Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) Enable Utility by Acroni

This utility helps you enable RDC on remote PCs/ servers via host name or IP address. It changes port number that Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) listens on. It also allows you to add users to “RD Users Group” on any local server/ workstation.

You need to download the RDP enable utility, i.e. RDPEnable.zip

3. Script to Enable Remote RDP

This command script helps you modify the registry of a remote system to turn on RD for multiple computers and servers in one go. For using this script, just open command prompt, access the folder that contains command batch script and type in the command mentioned below.

RemoteRDPEnable Computer1 Computer2 Computer3 ….. ComputerN

In the command above, Computer1, Computer2, Computer3 and ComputerN basically represent computer name/ host name for which you wish to remotely enable RD.

You need to download the script, i.e. RemoteRDPEnable.cmd

4. RD Enable XP

It allows you to turn on RDC on remote computer which is running Professional Edition of Windows XP. You need to use it as an administrator within domain environment. RD Enable XP forces Windows Firewall to allow RDC client which possesses a PsExec licensed copy.

Just download RD_Enable_XP_v1.zip.

5. PsExec Command for Executing SysInternals PSTools

First download PSTools from the site SysInternals.com (part of Microsoft). Install it and execute the command mentioned below:

psexec \\computername reg add “hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\terminal server” /f /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0

You need to replace “computername” in the above command with the actual name of the computer.

6. Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Command-Line

Run the below mentioned commands in the command prompt:

Incase of Windows Server 2003/ 2008,

wmic /node:”[ComputerName (in FQDN format)]” RDTOGGLE WHERE ServerName=”ComputerName” CALL SetAllowTSConnections 1

Incase of Windows XP SP2/SP3,

wmic /node:”HostName” path win32_terminalservicesetting where servername=”HostName” call SetAllowTSConnections 1

You need to replace ComputerName, HostName, or [ComputerName (in FQDN format)], with actual host name/ computer name.

You need to note that remotely enabled RD feature will work only if you logon to your PC with admin account or the user account having administrative privileges on remote computer.

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Services Start State Backup Script For Windows Server 2003, 2008, Vista And XP

Backup The Startup Type Settings Of Windows Services Using Batch Script On Windows Server 2003, 2008, Vista And XP

Windows operating system comprises of hundreds of services which are set up and run on it. A setting in the Startup type of these services determines whether or not Windows operating system will load and initiate these services when the system starts up.

Before making any changes to these Startup Type settings, it is advisable that you take a backup to save the present Startup Type (start state) of Windows services, so that they can be easily restored to their original value of startup type incase anything in the system goes wrong.

To backup services start state, you need to use a services backup script which is basically a command shell batch script. This script automatically exports and saves Startup Type settings of all Windows services into a new batch script file.

The newly created batch script file contains all necessary commands needed to change services Startup Type settings to the original value (startup type value at the time of creating backup script file). This backup script when run or executed will automatically restore Startup Type settings of all services to original startup type value (as of when backup script file was created).

Follow the below mentioned steps:

  1. You need to Download Services_Start_State_Backup.zip and extract Services_Start_State_Backup.bat from it.
  2. Run “Services_Start_State_Backup.bat” batch script in order to generate a new backup script for services start state. The backup scrip which is generated will be named in the format “Services_Day_DD_MM_YYYY_HH_MM.bat”. This naming convention is followed to prevent accidental overwrites in case the user takes multiple backups.
  3. Anytime you wish to restore the original start state of services, just run the .bat backup script that you have generated. When restoring, you need to run the batch script with elevated administrator rights.

You can use this script with most of the Windows operating systems including Windows Server 2003, XP, Vista and Server 2008.