3 Ways To Enable Remote Desktop Connection In Windows 8

This is a complete guide about how to enable Remote Desktop Connection in Windows 8. We will discuss 3 different ways to enable the RDC settings in Windows 8.

Remote Desktop Connection is one of the most important components of Windows in a networked world. Remote Desktop Connection or simply RDC enables us to login to Windows remotely with a graphical user interface. RDC enables the users to take control of multiple computers simultaneously by using only one computer.

Remote Desktop Connection is not enabled in Windows 8 by default. We have to enable it manually. If you are using an Active Directory setup in your network, you can easily enable RDC on all computers at once by using Active Directory group policy. For a complete guide on how to manage Remote Desktop Management Server in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012, you may follow the steps outlined in this blog post.

1- Using Command Line

To turn on Remote Desktop using command line, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to Run (WinKey + R) –> SystemPropertiesRemote
  2. This will open the System Properties window.
    Remote Desktop Connection system properties
  3. Select “Allow remote connections to this computer” under Remote Desktop.

2- Using Windows Registry

The benefit of using Windows Registry hack to enable Remote Desktop Connection is that it can be done remotely. Yes! you can enable RDC remotely using Windows Registry. All you have to do is add a registry key on the remote system.

If you want to enable Remote Desktop Connection on your local computer using Windows Registry, just open the Registry Editor (Run –> regedit) and go to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlTerminal Server

In the right hand pane, change the value of fDenyTSConnections to 0.

If you are uncomfortable working with the Windows Registry, simply download the following registry file and run it.

[download id=”55″]

If you want to enable Remote Desktop Connection on a remote machine, you will need to connect to  the remote registry. To connect to the remote registry, open the Registry Editor (Run –> regedit). Go to File menu and select “Connect to Network Registry”.

Connecting to remote registry

You will need to change the same registry key as mentioned above.

3- Using Control Panel

This is basically the same as no. 1. We just have to take a visual path through control panel to open the same dialog as we opened before.

  1. Go to Control Panel (WinKey + X + P)
  2. Click on System and Security group and select “Allow remote access” under System.System and Security - Allow Remote Access
  3. This will open the same dialog as in no. 1. You may select “Allow remote connections to this computer” under Remote Desktop to enable Remote Desktop Connection on your Windows 8 computer.

Using Remote Desktop App in Windows 8

One way to open Remote Desktop connection is to go to Run –> mstsc. Microsoft has also provided a Remote Desktop Metro App for Windows 8 which will run in full screen mode and can be used on any Windows 8 device including tablets and smartphones.

Remote Desktop App for Windows 8

The Remote Desktop App for Windows 8 is not installed by default. You can download it from Windows Store and access it from the Start Screen.

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