[HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 - Page 4

dustyw · December 27th, 2004

Originally Posted by _kC_

One thing i am very annoyed about with SP2 is why they have added (in build 2055) and then taken away in the final Build (2180) Concurrent remote dektop and a physical user logged into the same machine....

so if you are now running the SP2 final, and would like too use this feature.. heres what you must do..

Attached is a zip with 3 files
1. termsrv.dl_ (in case you want too add to a Slipstreamed CD)
2. termsrv.dll
3. Concurrent Remote sessions SP2.reg

Ok, so heres what to do

1. extract the zip...
2. Right click on the reg file and press merge, (Click yes when it asks you)
3. Reboot in safe mode (press F8)
4. copy the termserv.dll too these 2 folders

a) C:\WINDOWS\system32
b) C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386

(either make a copy of your original or rename the old one too .bak)

Then reboot back into normal windows... Now you can have a 2nd user physicaly logged into their account, while you can use your account via remote desktop BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!!

i cant believe MS removed this feature from the final build of SP2

the termserv here is from build 2055, if anyone knows any newer builds that this feature still worked, please let me know!

cheers

oh and if you want too add this too a slipstreamed SP2 CD, then simply copy the termsrv.dl_ too the i386 dir on the CD, then add the reg file to your regtweaks

I'm still have a problem getting two concurrent connections after trying the fix .. Any suggestions .. Runing XP pro with service pk 2 ...

dustyw · December 27th, 2004

Help , I'm trying to get two concurent users to work with XP pro via XP remote?? I've tried the fix above, however don't see any changes . I log in locally and then connect remotely with another PC and it logs the first user off line .. ANy suggestions ???

**fitz** · December 27th, 2004

It should be added that I've only gotten it to work if you turn on fast user switching and use the welcome screen...

raza · January 4th, 2005

Is it possible to connect more than two users at the same time?
This feature is provided by WinconnectXP Server www.thinsoftinc.com where WinXp can be used as a Terminal Server to establish upto 21 concurrent connections.
So anyone out there with any ideas......!!!

allfather · January 9th, 2005

I had one user: thomas.
I created another one: media:
I turned on fast switch and welcome screen.
I then started the registry file by double clicking on it, and pushing ok on install.
Rebooted into safmode, renamed the file into .bak and copied the "new" file into both folders.

I then rebooted and the machine logged into xp automatically (thomas account whitch is main account with mediasoftware installed has pass, but the settings are so that you do not need to enter password).

I then went back to computer 2, the controll box, and added a new connection with pc 1 and user: media.

I then ran rc but the warning came up that if i did proceed the user thomas would be logged out from the computer. if i proceed, he logs out and i login.
When i log off he is back at login screen where he must enter a password.

Any sollutions?

camell0ndosequis · January 10th, 2005

i reg'd for this forum specifically cuz of this tweak.

last friday, i updated my machine to SP2. dowloaded the .zip and moved to the appropriate directories, merged the .reg file ... all according to the directions.

didn't work.

I then read about editing the .reg file to correct it with the right setting. It worked! My administrator profile stayed logged on while another administrator profile could log on. However, I couldn't get my kids profile (limited) to do it.

I'm so very happy to have this working now. thanks a bunch!

btw, I already had Fast User Switching on ... as well as Use Welcome Screen

ravimodi · January 25th, 2005

I have succesfully connected two concurrent users in WIN-XP but cannot connect more than two machines. Is it possible to connect more then two simultaneous users/Machines in WIN-XP.

_kC_ · January 25th, 2005

as far as i know its only 2 user

Ididntdoit · January 29th, 2005

Ok, now that I've gone through this entire thread, I'd like to sum
up and make a suggestion:

1) Follow _kC_'s original instructions, but with arra's modification:
"CurrentControlSet" is the correct thing to use, always.

2) In addition to the original instructions, Fast User Switching
and the Welcome Screen must both be enabled.

3) This will only allow one user with a local machine account to
connect via Remote Desktop to a machine with a different
user already logged in to a local machine account.

4) If you read #2 & #3 closely, and you know about life with a
domain server, you'll know that you're out of luck: This will not
work on a machine that is a member of a network domain,
period. BUMMER!
(Why? Because Fast User Switching and the Welcome Screen
are not available on such a machine. It says so in the 1st
paragraph of the Help for each of those capabilities....)

FYI: I have empirically tested all of the above: #1 AND #2 are
both necessary; #4 is clearly a no-go case, and #3 is the
cold hard truth about the limitation of this tweak. (Although
if I could use it within my domain I would, since even given
the limitaion of two simultaneous users it'd open up some
great new administrative opportunities!)

As for my suggestion: _kC_: please go back and edit your
original post with this info so that it's all in one place at
the front of the thread! It was a pain to have to pour
through the entire thread to scavenge out the necessary
pieces from all the rest of the discussion. (TiA, _kC_, and
thanks for finding & posting this great tweak! I just wish
that I could use it in my domain environment!

.)

**NetRyder** · January 29th, 2005

I like the suggestion.

_kC_ · January 29th, 2005

im sure people will read through to your post

nice one

sierranova · January 30th, 2005

Well done KC, does wot it says on the tin!
this will help me a great deal in my work & gain me a few brownie points from colleagues who i may tell where it came from (eventually!).

Hope I can return the favour one day.

bigtweety · February 3rd, 2005

Ok, the info i found on this thread helped me out quite a bit, so i decided to contribute a little. Since i see there are fixes spread-out in several posts, i centralized it all in one zip file (updated.regfile and automated batch install / removal).
See the readme.txt (from the zip file or the one directly attached) for instructions on how to use the files.

cheers
BigT

jmarr · February 5th, 2005

this worked for me, however, this doesn't make XP's Remote Desktop function like Win2K's Terminal Services.

You *can't* have the *same user* logged in twice like you can with Win2k.

any idea how to enable *that* functionality?

**fitz** · February 7th, 2005

Yes.. go buy win2k server or win2k3 server..

As far as I know, this is not possible. XP was never really designed for multiple concurrent sessions..

werty_10000 · February 11th, 2005

Originally Posted by dustyw

Help , I'm trying to get two concurent users to work with XP pro via XP remote?? I've tried the fix above, however don't see any changes . I log in locally and then connect remotely with another PC and it logs the first user off line .. ANy suggestions ???

have you merged entry given in file "Concurrent Remote sessions SP2.reg"?????

change entry in following registry also
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Micorsoft\WINDOWSNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

change value of key AllowMultipleTSsessions to '1'

hopefully it will work after that.. i was also having same problem

aka · February 17th, 2005

Well I found a few problems that might say why MS didn't put this feature (although they are not that serious).
For instance I had a user logged which didn't have rights to login remotely (gpedit.msc), I logged on remotely, and after that connected to the session of the user which didn't have rights for remote logins, after that winlogon crashed.

A thing I observed, also by switching between users in the same terminal window, is that if I switch to another user(user1), and then I switch back to user2 and I try to logoff user1 it logged out user2.... (this may not be that acurate though--there might have been other causes for that, although i can't think of anything)

Another thing is that if you try to remote control a user's session, and that user doesn't allow you to control it, It crashes windows... I mean a total FREEZE.

So take care, or maybe there are some other things I should do to make things work like they should?

Anyway it is a great thing what you did here guys, thumbs up.

spring96 · February 17th, 2005

hello need help

any one know how i can change the concurrent sessions on win xp sp 2 for enable 2 users on domain user with not to change it to fast user switching???

rhinoman · March 4th, 2005

I originally did this hack a month or 2 ago to one machine and it worked fine, the second machine was my server and it wouldn't work.

Having read the last few posts I have now set my server to "use the welocme screen" and it now works fine, I didn't need to reapply the hack, I did need to reboot though.

I have offline files enabled on all of my machines and concurrent session works fine though.

Sam12345 · March 16th, 2005

You can try a program called NTSWITCH.

http://217.22.74.45/lijst/progs/

This program exploits the fact that Windows XXXX Server is basically the same as Windows XXXX Workstation except for some registry settings (and different apps on the CD).

Because XP has terminal services built in, you should be able to turn it into a "server" by running NTSWITCH.

PROS:

Multiple users logged in.

No software theft since terminal services are already included in XP. (but it's a license violation for sure)

CONS:

The Login screen will change to show "Server"

Hotfixes will not install unless you switch the OS back, install them, and then switch back to server.

Doing this is a license violation.

Never, ever do this on a domain controller. Active directory will not survive the transition.

As an FYI..... I recall that if you turned Windows 2000 workstation into a server, added terminal services from an original windows 2000 Server CD, and then turned the machine back into a workstation, you'd get Windows 2000 workstation with terminal services like you do in XP. Microsoft held back that feature so they could sell people on XP as an upgrade when it came out.

December 27th, 2004	Top \| #61
dustyw OSNN Junior Addict Joined: December 2004 Posts: 2 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Originally Posted by _kC_ One thing i am very annoyed about with SP2 is why they have added (in build 2055) and then taken away in the final Build (2180) Concurrent remote dektop and a physical user logged into the same machine.... so if you are now running the SP2 final, and would like too use this feature.. heres what you must do.. Attached is a zip with 3 files 1. termsrv.dl_ (in case you want too add to a Slipstreamed CD) 2. termsrv.dll 3. Concurrent Remote sessions SP2.reg Ok, so heres what to do 1. extract the zip... 2. Right click on the reg file and press merge, (Click yes when it asks you) 3. Reboot in safe mode (press F8) 4. copy the termserv.dll too these 2 folders a) C:\WINDOWS\system32 b) C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386 (either make a copy of your original or rename the old one too .bak) Then reboot back into normal windows... Now you can have a 2nd user physicaly logged into their account, while you can use your account via remote desktop BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!! i cant believe MS removed this feature from the final build of SP2 the termserv here is from build 2055, if anyone knows any newer builds that this feature still worked, please let me know! cheers oh and if you want too add this too a slipstreamed SP2 CD, then simply copy the termsrv.dl_ too the i386 dir on the CD, then add the reg file to your regtweaks I'm still have a problem getting two concurrent connections after trying the fix .. Any suggestions .. Runing XP pro with service pk 2 ...

January 4th, 2005	Top \| #64
raza OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: December 2004 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	WinXp used as a Terminal sErver Is it possible to connect more than two users at the same time? This feature is provided by WinconnectXP Server www.thinsoftinc.com where WinXp can be used as a Terminal Server to establish upto 21 concurrent connections. So anyone out there with any ideas......!!!

January 25th, 2005	Top \| #67
ravimodi OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: January 2005 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 I have succesfully connected two concurrent users in WIN-XP but cannot connect more than two machines. Is it possible to connect more then two simultaneous users/Machines in WIN-XP.

January 25th, 2005	Top \| #68
_kC_ OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2004 Posts: 514 Reputation: 270 Power: 106	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 as far as i know its only 2 user

January 29th, 2005	Top \| #69
Ididntdoit OSNN noob Joined: January 2005 Posts: 9 Reputation: 0 Power: 86	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 Ok, now that I've gone through this entire thread, I'd like to sum up and make a suggestion: 1) Follow _kC_'s original instructions, but with arra's modification: "CurrentControlSet" is the correct thing to use, always. 2) In addition to the original instructions, Fast User Switching *and the Welcome Screen* must both be enabled*. 3) This will only allow one user with a local machine account* to connect via Remote Desktop to a machine with a different user already logged in to a local machine account. 4) If you read #2 & #3 closely, and you know about life with a domain server, you'll know that you're out of luck: This will not work on a machine that is a member of a network domain, period. BUMMER! (Why? Because Fast User Switching and the Welcome Screen are not available on such a machine. It says so in the 1st paragraph of the Help for each of those capabilities....) FYI: I have empirically tested all of the above: #1 AND #2 are both necessary; #4 is clearly a no-go case, and #3 is the cold hard truth about the limitation of this tweak. (Although if I could use it within my domain I would, since even given the limitaion of two simultaneous users it'd open up some great new administrative opportunities!) As for my suggestion: _kC_: please go back and edit your original post with this info so that it's all in one place at the front of the thread! It was a pain to have to pour through the entire thread to scavenge out the necessary pieces from all the rest of the discussion. (TiA, _kC_, and thanks for finding & posting this great tweak! I just wish that I could use it in my domain environment! .)

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December 27th, 2004	Top \| #62
dustyw OSNN Junior Addict Joined: December 2004 Posts: 2 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Help , I'm trying to get two concurent users to work with XP pro via XP remote?? I've tried the fix above, however don't see any changes . I log in locally and then connect remotely with another PC and it logs the first user off line .. ANy suggestions ???

December 27th, 2004	Top \| #63
fitz *XPista7eopardix Joined: April 2004 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 4,014 Reputation: 2947 Power: 164**	It should be added that I've only gotten it to work if you turn on fast user switching and use the welcome screen...

January 9th, 2005	Top \| #65
allfather OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: January 2005 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	I had one user: thomas. I created another one: media: I turned on fast switch and welcome screen. I then started the registry file by double clicking on it, and pushing ok on install. Rebooted into safmode, renamed the file into .bak and copied the "new" file into both folders. I then rebooted and the machine logged into xp automatically (thomas account whitch is main account with mediasoftware installed has pass, but the settings are so that you do not need to enter password). I then went back to computer 2, the controll box, and added a new connection with pc 1 and user: media. I then ran rc but the warning came up that if i did proceed the user thomas would be logged out from the computer. if i proceed, he logs out and i login. When i log off he is back at login screen where he must enter a password. Any sollutions?

January 10th, 2005	Top \| #66
camell0ndosequis OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: January 2005 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	i reg'd for this forum specifically cuz of this tweak. last friday, i updated my machine to SP2. dowloaded the .zip and moved to the appropriate directories, merged the .reg file ... all according to the directions. didn't work. I then read about editing the .reg file to correct it with the right setting. It worked! My administrator profile stayed logged on while another administrator profile could log on. However, I couldn't get my kids profile (limited) to do it. I'm so very happy to have this working now. thanks a bunch! btw, I already had Fast User Switching on ... as well as Use Welcome Screen

January 29th, 2005	Top \| #70
NetRyder Tech Junkie Joined: April 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 13,256 Reputation: 4260 Power: 294	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 I like the suggestion. http://kunal.kundaje.net

January 29th, 2005	Top \| #71
_kC_ OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2004 Posts: 514 Reputation: 270 Power: 106	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 im sure people will read through to your post nice one

January 30th, 2005	Top \| #72
sierranova OSNN Junior Addict Joined: January 2005 Posts: 2 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 Well done KC, does wot it says on the tin! this will help me a great deal in my work & gain me a few brownie points from colleagues who i may tell where it came from (eventually!). Hope I can return the favour one day.

February 5th, 2005	Top \| #74
jmarr OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: February 2005 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 this worked for me, however, this doesn't make XP's Remote Desktop function like Win2K's Terminal Services. You can't have the same user logged in twice like you can with Win2k. any idea how to enable that functionality?

February 7th, 2005	Top \| #75
fitz *XPista7eopardix Joined: April 2004 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 4,014 Reputation: 2947 Power: 164**	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 Yes.. go buy win2k server or win2k3 server.. As far as I know, this is not possible. XP was never really designed for multiple concurrent sessions..

February 11th, 2005	Top \| #76
werty_10000 OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: February 2005 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 Originally Posted by dustyw Help , I'm trying to get two concurent users to work with XP pro via XP remote?? I've tried the fix above, however don't see any changes . I log in locally and then connect remotely with another PC and it logs the first user off line .. ANy suggestions ??? have you merged entry given in file "Concurrent Remote sessions SP2.reg"????? change entry in following registry also HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Micorsoft\WINDOWSNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon change value of key AllowMultipleTSsessions to '1' hopefully it will work after that.. i was also having same problem

February 17th, 2005	Top \| #77
aka OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: February 2005 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 Well I found a few problems that might say why MS didn't put this feature (although they are not that serious). For instance I had a user logged which didn't have rights to login remotely (gpedit.msc), I logged on remotely, and after that connected to the session of the user which didn't have rights for remote logins, after that winlogon crashed. A thing I observed, also by switching between users in the same terminal window, is that if I switch to another user(user1), and then I switch back to user2 and I try to logoff user1 it logged out user2.... (this may not be that acurate though--there might have been other causes for that, although i can't think of anything) Another thing is that if you try to remote control a user's session, and that user doesn't allow you to control it, It crashes windows... I mean a total FREEZE. So take care, or maybe there are some other things I should do to make things work like they should? Anyway it is a great thing what you did here guys, thumbs up.

February 17th, 2005	Top \| #78
spring96 OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: February 2005 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 hello need help any one know how i can change the concurrent sessions on win xp sp 2 for enable 2 users on domain user with not to change it to fast user switching???

March 4th, 2005	Top \| #79
rhinoman OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: November 2004 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 I originally did this hack a month or 2 ago to one machine and it worked fine, the second machine was my server and it wouldn't work. Having read the last few posts I have now set my server to "use the welocme screen" and it now works fine, I didn't need to reapply the hack, I did need to reboot though. I have offline files enabled on all of my machines and concurrent session works fine though.

March 16th, 2005	Top \| #80
Sam12345 OSNN One Post Wonder Joined: March 2005 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Power: 0	Re: [HOW TO] Concurrent Remote Desktop in SP2 You can try a program called NTSWITCH. http://217.22.74.45/lijst/progs/ This program exploits the fact that Windows XXXX Server is basically the same as Windows XXXX Workstation except for some registry settings (and different apps on the CD). Because XP has terminal services built in, you should be able to turn it into a "server" by running NTSWITCH. PROS: Multiple users logged in. No software theft since terminal services are already included in XP. (but it's a license violation for sure) CONS: The Login screen will change to show "Server" Hotfixes will not install unless you switch the OS back, install them, and then switch back to server. Doing this is a license violation. Never, ever do this on a domain controller. Active directory will not survive the transition. As an FYI..... I recall that if you turned Windows 2000 workstation into a server, added terminal services from an original windows 2000 Server CD, and then turned the machine back into a workstation, you'd get Windows 2000 workstation with terminal services like you do in XP. Microsoft held back that feature so they could sell people on XP as an upgrade when it came out.

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