First, you will notice that the dialog box contains a Connection Settings tab. Upon doing so, you will be presented with a dialog box like the one shown below that prompts you for the server name (although you can use an IP address instead), username, password, and domain.Īlthough this dialog box seems simple enough, there are a couple of things that are worth pointing out. To establish your first RDP session, go to the Session menu and choose the Connect To option. The reason why so much of the interface is empty is because the empty space is reserved for RDP sessions. When you launch Remote Desktop Connection Manager for the first time, you will be presented with a very sparse interface, as shown below. Setting up the tool involves using a standard Setup wizard that basically just asks you to accept a license agreement and click Next a few times. The download is tiny and should complete within a matter of a couple of seconds. It’s an add-on tool that you can download for free from Microsoft. How to get Remote Desktop Connection ManagerĪs previously noted, Remote Desktop Connection Manager is not a part of the Windows operating system. It also does a good job of organizing RDP connections. Remote Desktop Connection Manager can clean up the clutter by acting as a central connection point for remote servers. Like many admins, I have an overabundance of RDP files that I use to remotely connect to various Windows servers. Remote Desktop Connection Manager is designed to solve a simple problem: RDP session overload. One such tool, Remote Desktop Connection Manager, has been making my life a lot easier lately, so I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about this tool for benefit of anyone who might not be familiar with it. I’m not talking about add-on products like System Center, but rather free tools you can download from the Microsoft Web site. Although it seems kind of counterintuitive, some of Microsoft’s best tools for managing Windows are not actually included in the Windows operating system.

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