rdp

Changing the RDP port on Windows Server 2008

I have always been able to change the port number with Windows Server 2003/XP/Vista by editing the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\PortNumber

With Server 2008 however this does not seem to work. Does anyone know what else you need to do to make this work? See below!

On Server 2008, in addition to changing the registry key above, you also need to create a new Inbound TCP rule in your windows firewall to allow connections on your new port.  You can then disable the existing remote desktop inbound rule (which is hardcoded to port 3389)

For home systems, i usually disable the firewall anyways, but this may apply for Windows 7 installations as well.

-NS

Windows 7 and RDP Color Depth Setting

With Windows 7 comes Remote Desktop v6.1.7600.

I have seen a lot of posts where people want to reduce the color depth to 256 colors, which is not allowed via the Display Tab - Colors. Doing some research i found that if you have a “saved” rdp connection, you can open it in notepad and modify a specific field to allow you to run in 256 colors or 8-bit.  See below for the example text, the rest is easy

Here is an unmodified RDP File, i only included the first 4 lines, as that is all that is relevant.

screen mode id:i:1
desktopwidth:i:1152
desktopheight:i:864
session bpp:i:15

Notice the session bpp:i:15, change the 15 to an 8(as below) and save the file. Re-run the RDP connection and you will now be in 256 colors or 8-bit.

screen mode id:i:2
use multimon:i:0
desktopwidth:i:1152
desktopheight:i:864
session bpp:i:8

DynDNS.com

Does it bother you when your home IP changes or you just can’t remember what it is and you want to connect to your router, RDP, or FTP. What can you do? Not much until you get home and check whatismyip.com…

Well there is something you can do, its called DynDNS.com they offer something called Dynamic DNS Free, just create an account, pick a hostname, ie nathantheitguy.homeip.net (this doesn’t exist btw), and save it. Now you only have to remember the name you created, this wont stop the IP from changing and you would have to continue to update it from time to time, unless you have a router like my Linksys which has a section in the setup where you can specify a DYNdns username and account, when the external IP changes, the router logs into DYNdns and changes the IP for you, sweet! Now all you ever need is just your name, nathantheitguy.homeip.net.

I will warn you though that DYNdns is free and as such you must login from the web once a month to confirm that there is a human managing the account. failing to do so and DYNdns deletes your account. The router login does not actually hit the website. A paid account, 15$ US, will eliminate the need for you to login, Dynamic DNS Pro adds a variety of enhancements and additional features to Dynamic DNS Free which are detailed on the Dynamic DNS Pro page. Please check out the links for full details, they have alot to offer.