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Concurrent Remote Desktop Sessions in Windows XP SP2

vishnu, Tue, 2004-11-09 09:35

I mentioned before that Windows XP does not allow concurrent sessions for its Remote Desktop feature. What this means is that if a user is logged on at the local console, a remote user has to kick him off (and ironically, this can be done even without his permission) before starting work on the box. This is irritating and removes much of the productivity that Remote Desktop brings to Windows. Read on to learn how to remove that limitation in Windows XP SP2

A much touted feature in SP2 (Service Pack 2) since then removed was the ability to do just this, have a user logged on locally while another connects to the terminal remotely. Microsoft however removed the feature in the final build. The reason probably is that the EULA (End User License Agreement) allows only a single user to use a computer at a time. This is (IMHO) a silly reason to curtail Remote Desktop's functionality, so we'll have a workaround.

Microsoft did try out the feature in earlier builds of Service Pack 2 and it is this that we're going to exploit here. We're going to replace termserv.dll (The Terminal Server) with one from an earlier build (2055).

To get Concurrent Sessions in Remote Desktop working, follow the steps below exactly:

  1. Download the termserv.zip file below and extract it somewhere. (You have to be registered to see the file)
  2. Reboot into Safe Mode. This is necessary to remove Windows File Protection.
  3. Copy the termserv.dll in the zip to %windir%\System32 and %windir%\ServicePackFiles\i386. If the second folder doesn't exist, don't copy it there. Delete termserv.dll from the dllcache folder: %windir%\system32\dllcache
  4. Merge the contents of Concurrent Sessions SP2.reg file into the registry.
  5. Make sure Fast User Switching is turned on. Go Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Change the way users log on or off and turn on Fast User Switching.
  6. Open up the Group Policy Editor: Start Menu > Run > 'gpedit.msc'. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Terminal Services. Enable 'Limit Number of Connections' and set the number of connections to 3 (or more). This enables you to have more than one person remotely logged on.
  7. Now reboot back into normal Windows and try out whether Concurrent Sessions in Remote Desktop works. It should!

If anything goes wrong, the termserv_sp2.dll is the original file you replaced. Just rename it to termserv.dll, reboot into safe mode and copy it back.

The termserv.dl_ file is provided in the zip is for you slipstreamers out there. Just replace that file with the corresponding file in the Windows installation disks.

I've added in extra information from the comments below... thanks for all who researched! :-)

Other links of interest:

If anything doesn't work with my procedure above though, post a comment here and I'll try to help!

AttachmentSize
termserv.zip357.92 KB
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Hi Sreekanth, im not
Submitted by tian55 on Thu, 2005-09-08 04:14.
Hi Sreekanth, im not entirely sure, what info you're looking for, but here's a basic summary of my current setup:

I've got a Server runing Win Server 2003 Standard Edition that is the domain, Then I've got three client PC's logging onto it using Roaming Profiles. Then I've got another three, rather slow Win98 PC's (They're to slow for XP) that i want to use to connect to one of the WinXP PC's using Remote Desktop and having concurrent sessions, because buying terminal services access licences for server are too expencive for me at the moment.

In genaral I follow all those suggestions you mentioned above, exept that I must be able to log on at the local console using normal domain users aswell because I need as many terminals as possible.

Here's a screenshot of the error message I get every time i try to log into the WinXP PC, whehter i try to log on two RDP sessions or one RDP session and one local, it's the same error. Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Like I said yesterday, I had it working perfectly untill I restarted the WinXP PC, when it worked I loged in using a whole lot of different users, local and domain, and I logged in three users without any problems. I since then, I've tried everything I can think of. After having no success, I took one of the other XP PC's and tried setting it up to work this way, but I had no luck then, I even took the last XP PC and tried setting it up EXACTLY as it's described on this site. But I had no luck.

All three of the PC's are newly setup using Microsoft's OEM Pre-installation Kit, and all have the newest Windows Updates. The only other applications I've installed are MS OfficeXP and Encarta.

I know this might be asking a lot, but if possible could you next time maybe post like a guide to install the Patch on PC's that are on domains, with like details on what policies must be set and what Registry keys must be changed, because there might be something that I'm forgetting and thats causing this whole mess.

Once again thanks A LOT for your help!!!

Tian
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