Enable RDP – Remotely

 

Sometimes you find yourself on a server (probably one you have RDP’d to yourself), with the need to then RDP on to a client PC. However sometimes, the client has not enabled the “Allow Remote Desktop Connections” flag on their PC, so this poses a problem. We need to enable it remotely.
Firstly, there are two roadblocks to overcome. One is remotely enabling RDP on the PC and the second is getting around the Windows Firewall, assuming it is enabled.

The Windows Firewall
Let’s assume the Windows Firewall is enabled on the remote machine and we need to get past it. Well, we could push out a new Group Policy (which will take time and ideally, some planning) or we could simply turn it off, temporarily (assuming it’s safe to do so in your environment). This is easiest done as follows.
1. Right click on My Computer and select Manage.
2. Right click on the top of the menu you now see Computer Management (local) and pick Connect to another computer.
3. Type the name of the computer you wish to connect to.
4. Expand the menu, look in Service and Applications for the service called Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)and stop it.
Leave the above open so you can easily turn the Windows Firewall back on, when you’re done. Now we’re ready to remotely enable RDP and use it.

Remotely enabling RDP
To enable RDP remotely, we simply edit the registry of the remote PC. It’s quick and easy.
1. Open regedit by clicking Start > Run, then typing Regedit.
2. Go to file and select Connect Network Registry.
3. Type in the PC name.
4. On the remote PC, expand the HKLM hive and go to this key:
hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\terminal server\FdenyTSConnection=1
5. Change it from 1 to 0 (Hex - not that it matters).
That’s it. You should now be able to remotely connect to the other computer via RDP.