Accessing a Windows 7 System via Remote Desktop
I needed to access a Windows 7 Professional system from a Windows Server
2003 Small Business Server (SBS) using Remote Desktop. I was initially
unable to establish the connection, so I went to the Windows 7 system
and enabled Remote Desktop support on that system by the following
procedure. Note: this doesn't work for Windows 7 Home Edition, since Microsoft
removed that capability as part of its marketing strategy
for forcing business users to purchase more expensive Professional, Business,
or Ultimate versions of Windows.
Enable Remote Desktop on Windows 7 Systems
- Right-click the Computer icon and choose properties.
- Click on Remote settings.
- Check the box next to Allow Remote Assistance connections to
this computer and select "Allow connections from computers running
any version of Remote Desktop (less secure)", if you will need to
access the system from systems running operating systems other than
Windows 7 or Vista. If you will only be accessing the system from systems
running one of those operating systems, you can choose "Allow connections
only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication
(more secure)."
- Click on OK
Don't worry about setting up firewall rules, Vista or Windows 7 does
that for you automatically.
After I took the above steps, when I tried connecting to the system
via remote desktop from the domain controller, which is a Windows
Server 2003 for Small Business Server (SBS) system, I saw the following
message:
To log on to this computer, you must be granted the Allow log on through
Terminal Services right. By default, members for the Remote Desktop Users
group have this right. If you are not a member of the Remote Desktop Users
group or another group that has this right or if the Remote Desktop Users
group does not have this right, you must be granted this right manually.
To grant the account I was attempting to use for the remote login the
appropriate privilege to the system, I took the following steps on the
domain controller:
- Open "Server Management" by clicking on Start, All
Programs, Administrative Tools, then Server Management.
- Click on Computer Management.
- Click on Action.
- Select Connect to another computer.
- Put the name of the other computer in the Another computer
field and click on OK.
- Under System Tools, select Local Users and Groups.
- Double-click on Groups.
- Double-click on Remote Desktop Users in the right pane.
- Click on the Add button to add a new user to the Remote Desktop
Users group.
- In the "Enter the object names to select" field, place the user's domain
account. Put the domain name followed by a "\" and then the account name. E.g.
Acme\jdoe. Or you can use the form jdoe@acme.com.
- Click on Check Names to verify the account.
- Click on OK.
- Click on OK again to close the "Remote Desktop Users
Properties" window.
- Close the Computer Management window.
References:
-
Turn on Remote Desktop in Windows 7 or Vista
Date: January 13, 2007
How-To Geek - Computer Help from
your Friendly How-To Geek
-
Account Acces Via Remote Web Workplace
Date: July 25, 2006
MoonPoint Support
Created: October 3, 2010
