Solved Windows 7 RDP shortcuts

[Norwood]

In XP, I was able to create a shortcut to the many computers on a daily basis onto which I need to RDP.

This was done by simply creating a shortcut with:

mstsc.exe /v:server-name

Clicking on that shortcut would simply open the connection and ask me for my credentials.

On Windows 7, however, it works - but there's an extra step in the process. The shortcut is created the same way yet when clicking it I am asked "Do you want to open this file?"

Obviously I'd like to get rid of the extra mouse click/space bar tap in order to get to the remote machine so has anyone else done this? Is the shortcut created a different way somehow?

 

[Brink]

Hello Norwood,

You might check to see if you may just need to unblock the RDP shortcut using the tutorial below if you had copied or moved the shortcut to your computer from an outside source.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/124367-open-file-security-warning-unblock-file.html


If this is what you are seeing instead, then you would need to check the box to stop it from showing.



Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Norwood]

I wish it were that, but it isn't.

Here's some pics to better explain what I mean.

I created the shortcut the same way I did on my Windows XP machine: Add Links Toolbar > Open Folder > New Shortcut enter the information. And it shows up exactly how I want it:

I press that link, and on my XP machine it would give me the window you have above, but I checked it for each computer...I have about 3 dozen that I connect to on a daily basis. So once I checked that it simply connected.

Here's the properties of the link on the Win 7 machine:

And once I click it I'm faced with the following:

No matter how many times I agree to "Open It" it does the same thing each time.

Can anyone duplicate this? Or perhaps show me a way to create a proper RDP shortcut without this other stuff?

Thanks!

 

[Norwood]

A little more digging and I came across this post here.

While that seems like a completely logical way to fix this I'm left with two questions.

1. I'm sure this opens some kind of security risk, .lnk files must be able to be exploited
2. My first question to a user when something doesn't work anymore is always "What's changed?" They love to tell me "Nothing, I did nothing I swear"...and I always know it's BS. Here's the thing...nothing's changed, I swear! This is a fresh install of Windows 7 Professional on my work laptop, which was why I was recreating shortcuts etc.

 

[Brink]

If you click on the General tab of it's properties page, do you have a Unblock button available?

 

[Norwood]

No, it's not there. The file didn't come from another computer...I simply made it by hand.

One thing I noticed is that if I run it as administrator it connects to the remote server immediately...simply clicking it gives me the above warning.

 

[Brink]

Strange, are you logged in an administrator account while using the shortcut?

As a workaround, you could use OPTION THREE with Compatibility Mode in the tutorial below to set the shortcut to always use "Run as administrator".

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11841-run-administrator.html

 

[Norwood]

I'm logged in as a Domain Admin.

So, to test it today while not in the office...I'm simply VPN'ed into the office where I still have access to all network resources as I normally do as a Domain Admin.

But the same behavior was happening yesterday while at work.

Anyway...I think I've found the solution. I right clicked the shortcut, and all the options under "Compatibility" were greyed out (yes, 64-bit OS), so I simply clicked the "Shortcut" Tab and hit advanced, then checked off "Run as admin".

Very strange little problem here. But, it's working.

 

[Brink]

May be some sort of domain/permission issue, but I'm happy to hear that the workaround worked for you.

 

[Norwood]

Thanks for the help...sometimes just voicing stuff helps one work something out.

 

[Brink]

Anytime mate.