Remote Desktop Connection

Once you are connected to either an RDC host or a TS server, you can do almost everything that you could do if you were sitting in front of the host. You can run programs, access data, and perform most management and other functions you could otherwise perform. In addition, the RDC toolbar, or "connection bar," allows you to close the RDC window without logging out, so your programs will keep running; to minimize the window, so you can see the actual machine you are sitting at; and to maximize the window. Also, there is a push-pin icon that determines whether the connection bar is always on the desktop or is there only when you move the mouse to the top center of the screen.

Set Up Remote Desktop Connection

RDC gives you the capability of transferring information between the host computer and the local client computer you are using. This means that you can print to a local printer connected to the client (the default), work with files on both the remote host and the local client in the same window (not the default), and cut and paste between both computers and documents on either one (also not the default). The local client resources that are available in an RDC session are controlled by the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box options. Use the following steps to explore what you can do with these settings:

1. On any Windows computer running RTC 6.0 that will be the client, click Start | All Programs | Accessories | Remote Desktop Connection. The Remote Desktop Connection dialog box opens. Click Options and the box expands to give you a number of controls for Remote Desktop in six tabs.
2. Click the Display tab. The default for a LAN is to use Full Screen and up to Highest Quality (32 bit) if your computer can handle it, and to display the connection bar. If your LAN has particularly heavy traffic and is slow, you might want to lower the screen size and colors.
3. Click the Local Resources tab. Here you can determine if you want sound brought to the client and the ability to use shortcut keys. Again, if you have a slow network, you might not want to do either of these. If you want to transfer a small amount of information between the two computers with cut and paste, leave the default Clipboard selection; if you want to print on the printer attached to the local client, leave the default Printers selection; and if you want to transfer a sizable amount of information between the computers, click More and click Drives.
4. If you want to start a program when you open RDC, click the Programs tab, click the check box, and enter the path and filename of the program and the starting folder to use.
5. Click the Experience tab and select the connection speed you are using. This will determine which of the items below the drop-down list box are checked. You can change the individual items if you want.
6. Click the Advanced tab and under Authentication Options open the dropdown list. The default, Warn Me If Authentication Fails, is a good middle ground. If you are connecting to a Windows Server 2008 TS server with TS Gateway installed, click Settings. The default Automatically Detect TS Gateway Server Settings is recommended. Click OK if you went into the Gateway Server Settings dialog box.
7. Click the General tab and enter the name of the host computer. If you will use several settings, save the ones you just made by clicking Save As, entering a name, and clicking Save.
8. Finally, click Connect, enter your password, and click OK. If you have said that you want the local disk drives available, you will get a message saying that you should proceed only if you trust the computer you are connecting to. Click Yes or No.
9. Depending on the security on the host, you may have to enter your username and password again as you are logging onto the host. The host desktop will open on the client's desktop, maybe filling the screen if that was the choice.
10. Move the mouse pointer to the center top of the window and the RDC connection bar will appear. If you want to keep the connection bar on the screen, click the push-pin on the left.
11. At this point you can do anything on the host that you have permission to do. When you are done using RDC, leave it by:
    • Clicking the Close button in the connection bar. This leaves you logged on, and any programs you have running will remain that way. If you restart Remote Desktop Connection with the host computer and no one else has logged on locally, you will return to the same session you left.
    • Clicking Start | Log Off. This terminates your Remote Desktop session, and all programs are stopped. If you restart Remote Desktop Connection with the host computer, you will begin a new session.

Use Remote Desktop

Most of what you can do in the Remote Desktop or Terminal Server window is obvious; it is the same as directly using Windows. There are two functions, though, that are unique to this environment. An example will show how they work.

Saving to a Local Disk With the default settings, all files and folders referenced during an RDC or TS session are on the host or server computer. If you reference a folder on disk C:, it is by default disk C: on the host or server. If you specified that you wanted the local disk drives available in the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, then you can use either the disks on the host/server or those on the local computer. For example, if after turning on the local disk drives when you connected, you are working in a program on the host/server and click Save As, the disk drives you save to are both the host and the client.

You do have to be careful about the terminology. You should know the names that have been given to the client and host computers and their various drives. Normally the host or server disks are listed first and, if unnamed, will be called "Local Disk (C:)," meaning "local" to the desktop you have open, the host or server. The disks on the client will be called "C on client," where client is the name of the client computer. You can see how easy it is to use either drive.

Printing to a Local Printer Using the default settings, all printing is directed to the default printer on the client. For example, if you open the Print dialog box from a program running on the host, you will get the client default printer.

If you want to use a different printer, you have three alternatives:

• Install another printer in Windows during the RDC or TS session by clicking, if in Windows Vista, Start | Control Panel and double-clicking Printers.
• Select a different printer as the default printer in the client computer before starting the RDC or TS session.
• Turn off the use of the local printer in the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box as you are logging on. This will then allow you to use the default printer on the host/server.