Here are answers to some common questions about Remote Desktop settings.
Yes, you can. This is called redirecting a device or resource (for example, a printer or drive). Here's how to redirect:
Open Remote Desktop Connection by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, and then clicking Remote Desktop Connection.
Click Options, and then click the Local Resources tab.
Under Local devices and resources, select the devices or resources you want to redirect. To see additional devices, click More.
If you are connecting to a computer running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, and you want to copy and paste files, follow the steps above to redirect the drive on this computer that contains your temporary folder. In most cases, this will be drive C.
Due to security restrictions, you cannot copy a file from a remote computer to the root folder of a drive on this computer unless you are logged on using the default computer administrator account.
Redirection has been enhanced and expanded in this version of Windows. Now you can redirect media players based on the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) and digital cameras based on the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP).
Click Options, click the Local Resources tab, and then click More.
Under Local devices and resources, click the plus sign (+) next to Supported Plug and Play devices.
The Plug and Play devices that support redirection and are currently plugged in appear in this list. If the device that you have plugged in is not in the list, it is currently not a supported device for redirection.
Select the check box next to each device that you want to redirect.
You can't transfer digital rights management (DRM) protected content from redirected media players.
Redirection of Plug and Play devices is available only in Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Vista Ultimate when connecting to a remote computer running Windows Vista.
Plug and Play device redirection is not supported over cascaded Remote Desktop connections. (When you're connected remotely to one computer, and from within that session you connect to another computer, the second connection is cascaded.) For example, you can redirect and use a Plug and Play device attached to your local computer when you connect to a remote computer. However, if you connect to a second remote computer from the first one, you can't redirect and use the Plug and Play device with the second computer.
When you follow the steps above, you can also choose to automatically redirect drives or devices that you plug in or connect to in the future.
Under Local devices and resources, click the plus sign next to Drives, and then click Drives that I connect to later.– or –Click the plus sign (+) next to Supported Plug and Play devices, and then click Devices that I plug in later.
In Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Vista Ultimate, you can also redirect Microsoft Point of Service for .NET devices. To enable redirection for these devices, you must edit the Remote Desktop protocol (.rdp) file, since these devices are not listed under Local devices and resources.
The default .rdp file is a hidden file located in your Documents folder. To make it visible, see Show hidden files.
Open the .rdp file in a text editor such as Notepad.
Add or change the following line:
If value = 0 Microsoft Point of Service for .NET device redirection is disabled.
If value = 1 Microsoft Point of Service for .NET device redirection is enabled.
Open Notepad by clicking the Start button , clicking Programs, clicking Accessories, and then clicking Notepad.
For more information about editing .rdp files, go to Remote Desktop Protocol settings in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows XP on the Microsoft website.
Remote Desktop is set to "bring" sounds from the remote computer to the computer you are using by default. If you can't hear sounds from a remote computer, follow these steps to restore the default setting:
Click Options, and then click Local Resources.
Under Remote computer sound, click Bring to this computer.
You might need to change the connection speed settings, or use fewer visual effects on the remote computer.
Click Options, and then click Experience.
Choose the appropriate connection speed, if necessary.
Select or clear the check boxes for the visual effects you want to use or show. In general, the fewer effects you select, the faster the connection will be. But selecting Bitmap caching will improve connection speed.
Yes. Follow these steps:
Click Options, select the settings you want to save, and then, on the General tab, click Save or Save As.
To open a settings file, click the General tab, click Open, and then select the file.
You can temporarily disconnect from a session by clicking the Close button on the connection bar (the horizontal bar at the top of your screen). This leaves your programs running so that, next time you connect, you can continue where you left off.
In the Remote Desktop Connection window, click the Start button , click the arrow next to the Lock button , and then click Log Off.
Connect to the remote computer as you normally would. The next time you connect to the same remote computer, Remote Desktop Connection automatically reconnects to the session that was in progress (if the remote computer is set up to allow reconnecting of disconnected sessions).
Yes. There are two ways to do this. You can set up the remote computer to recognize Windows keyboard shortcuts that you type (for example, ALT+TAB), or you can use Terminal Server keyboard shortcuts.
To use Windows keyboard shortcuts, follow these steps:
Under Keyboard, select On the remote computer to make the remote computer recognize the Windows keyboard shortcuts that you type. (You can also choose In full screen mode only to get the same result as long as you use Remote Desktop Connection in full-screen mode. This is the default setting.)
To use Terminal Server shortcuts, refer to the following table:
Shortcut
Description
ALT+PAGE UP
Switches between programs from left to right.
ALT+PAGE DOWN
Switches between programs from right to left.
ALT+INSERT
Cycles through programs in the order that they were started in.
ALT+HOME
Displays the Start menu.
CTRL+ALT+BREAK
Switches between a window and full screen.
CTRL+ALT+END
Displays the Windows Security dialog box.
ALT+DELETE
Displays the Windows menu.
CTRL+ALT+MINUS SIGN (-) on the numeric keypad
Places a copy of the active window, within the client, on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer).
CTRL+ALT+PLUS SIGN (+) on the numeric keypad
Places a copy of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer).
CTRL+ALT+RIGHT ARROW
Enables you to “tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.
CTRL+ALT+LEFT ARROW
CTRL+ALT+BREAK and CTRL+ALT+END are available in all Remote Desktop sessions, even when you've set up the remote computer to recognize Windows keyboard shortcuts.
, clicking Programs, clicking Accessories, and then clicking Notepad.
