How-To Geek
How to Remote Desktop to the Actual Server Console on Windows 2003
Using the Remote Desktop client usually lands you in a seperate session on the windows server. There are times, however, when you might want to be able to connect to the console directly instead of being in a seperate session. This is how.
Start the remote desktop client from the command line or the Start/Run dialog with this command:
mstsc /console
You can now select the server you wish to connect to, and you will connect to the server console session instead of a seperate session.
If you want to see the usage dialog, type mstsc /?
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Comments (12)
Programmer by day, geek by night, The Geek, also known as Lowell Heddings, spends all his free time bringing you fresh geekery on a daily basis. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.
- Published 09/27/06
i use the fullscreen option
If you remote into a console, do not log off if there are programs or services running that need to interact with the desktop. You should disconnect instead. A good example is Icverify, the credit authorization gateway. If you log off the remote console session the app will terminate.
In the OS X version of RDC you hold down the “Command” key while connecting.
Very Useful Thx
When I do this it still shows up as a TCP-RDP session, why does it now show under the console as being logged in?
Since VISTA SP1 /console does no longer work, use /admin instead
If you have installed SP-3, you’ll need to use /admin.
The note about SP3 saved me from unnecessarily purchasing several licenses of a third party program.
@Alex: Very helpful information!!
Thanks!
Trying to remote into another PC and I get a message saying that I am already connected to the console of this computer and that a new console session cannot be established. How do I reset this?
Good info. I use your site a lot and am so glad you provide these basic commands for those of us that don’t use them often enough to remember. Thanks!
The full screen mode is so helpful. I will also utilize the Admin to administer the servers that I connect to. Thanks!