Saturday, December 6, 2014

Windows 8 Pro and multiple simultaneous logins

If you have Windows 8 Pro then Remote Desktop is available for you to log in remotely. Great! However with the version of RDP that comes with Win 8 Pro, only one login is allowed at a time. If someone is using the PC and someone else logs in remotely, the console user (and any other remotely logged in users) will get kicked off.

Enabling multiple simultaneous logins involves updating a system file, which also means changing file security so you can work with the file. I had to refer to a few different sources to figure out how to achieve this.

So for next time these are my consolidated steps for this:

  1. Bring up the Task Manager and stop Terminal Services (may also need to stop UMRDPService)
  2. In the Start menu, type File Explorer, and when it comes up, right-click and Run As Administrator. Say OK to any dialog boxes that pop up
  3. Find termsrv.dll in the c:\windows\system32 folder, right-click and select properties
  4. Select the Security tab, click the Advanced button
  5. Next to Owner, click Change
  6. Type Administrators in the text box and click Check Names. Your local administrators group should be found (named YourPC\Administrators). Click OK
  7. Click the Auditing tab, click Add then click Select a Principal
  8. Type Administrators in the text box and click Check Names. Your local administrators group should be found (named YourPC\Administrators). Click OK
  9. For Basic permissions, tick Full Control and click OK in all dialog boxes until you're back to File Explorer
  10. Right-click termsrv.dll again, select properties, click the Security tab and click Edit
  11. In the Groups or User Names box, make sure you have Administrators selected then click Full Control and click OK until you're back to File Explorer
  12. Copy termsrv.dll to a backup location. Can't be too careful!
  13. Download zip file from http://cdn.nextofwindows.com/download/win81rdp.zip
  14. Now you need to figure out which file to use. If your Windows is 32 bit then you want to use 32_termsrv.dll, otherwise 64_termsrv.dll. If you're not sure then compare the size of your existing file with these two - you want to use the one that's the same size (or nearly). Extract the dll you want from the zip and remove the prefix so the name is termsrv.dll.
  15. Copy the new file into c:\system\windows32
  16. Restart Terminal Services (and also UMRDPService if you have it)


References:

Kent Chen's info about the replacement dll
http://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-allow-multiple-concurrent-users-log-in-windows-8-through-remote-desktop/

Usman Javaid's info about changing system file permissions
http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/take-ownership-of-files-folder-and-change-permissions-in-windows-8/

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