Solved Remote Desktop (TCP-In) Properties Protocols and Ports tab grayed out

[kmfraley]

I want to change the Remote Desktop port (RDP) from the default (3389) to something else. Unfortunately, the entire Protocol and Ports tab is grayed out (see attachment) so I can't change it from there. Searching the web I found a registry entry, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\PortNumber, that can be used to change the port. When I use the registry entry, I see that my Windows 7 Pro SP1 (and also Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP1) begin listening on the new port, but the remote desktop client cannot connect using <ip address>:<new port> syntax. Is there a way to change the RDP port from the default 3389 to something else that really works? Thanks for your help.
-Kris

 

[seth500]

Hi Kris,

Predefined rules are always greyed out you could delete the rule and create a custom rule set I would imagine. You could also use remote desktop software like teamviewer or logmein which are free and are much easier to use and more versatile.

Hope this helps,

Seth

 

[kmfraley]

How might one go about creating a "custom rule set" for RDP?

 

[kmfraley]

Okay, I found my own answer. I created a custom rule for RDP using a different port. One cannot simply copy the existing rule and change it because the copy of the built-in rule cannot be edited just like the original built-in rule. So, I created a brand new rule that looked identical to the built-in rule except it just uses a different port. Then, and this was the key for me, I changed the RDP port number in the registry at ...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\PortNumber

Finally, I rebooted the machine. Now, I can Remote Desktop to <IP-address>:<new-port-number>.