How to have RDP work right after rebooting?

I have a Windows machine which I run headless (no monitor or keyboard). I control it by Remote Desktop. But whenever it reboots (for Windows updates and such), the RDP won't work until I log in physically. It's annoying; any way to have the RDP client (or whatever is necessary to enable remote login) start immediately on boot-up? Another option is to have it log me in as a user automatically, and I may do that (the computer is in my home and so under physical control) but it's not ideal - would be safer I guess to just have it run RDP and force the user to present credentials, rather than simply logging in into an account. How to make that happen?

6

1 Answer

Set the service "Remote Desktop Services" startup type to automatic ?

For Automatic Login you can set directly in the registry:

Navigate to or create this folder:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Create 3 REG_SZ keys

 - AutoAdminLogon set to 1 - DefaultUserName set to <username> - DefaultPassword set to <password>

You may need DefaultDomainName set if it's on a domain.

If you have enterprise you can set these in Group Policy objects here:

Computer Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Registry

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google Sign up using Facebook Sign up using Email and Password Submit

Post as a guest

Post Your Answer Discard

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy