CoE Home | computing | personal |

Connect to the Windows Terminal Server from a Windows computer

The College of Engineering provides Windows-based terminal servers for student use. This provides users with a full Windows environment and the latest software in use by the College of Engineering for Windows, Mac and Linux computers from on or off campus. The following document details how to connect to the terminal servers from a Windows machine.

Connecting:

Microsoft provides a program called "Remote Desktop Connection". It is available for Windows XP and later (and possibly earlier versions). The current version is 6.0, recently released by Microsoft (Dec 8, 2006, available through Windows Update). There are some minor differences between the last two versions. The version numbers will be noted in Bold and in some cases, there will be different screen captures. You can find your version number by right-clicking on the title bar and selecting About.

Note: If you are connecting from an off-campus computer, we encourage you to install and run the VPN service.

  1. You will need to navigate to the either Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Communications folder (5.0) or Start -> All Programs -> Accessories folder (6.0) where you will find Remote Desktop Connection. Open this Program. You may also open Start -> Run and type “mstsc”.
  2. You will be prompted with a window that has space to put in a server name. The address you are going to want to use is windows.engr.oregonstate.edu
    Start Screen
  3. Before you connect, you may want to configure some of the options to your preferences. To do that click the button titled “Options”.
  4. There should now be several tabs. The two tabs you want to take special note of are the “Display” tab and the “Experience” tab.
  5. Specify how big you want your desktop and how many colors in the Display tab. If you want it full screen, drag the size slider all the way to the right.
    Display
  6. Specify how fast your connection is to the terminal server in the Performance tab.
    Experience
  7. (5.0): In the General tab, you can set your username, domain and password settings. Only save the password if you're on a secure personal computer.
    General
  8. Once you are satisfied with the options click Connect.
  9. (6.0 Windows XP): You will be prompted with a user logon screen. You must type “engineering\” before you type in your engr name or it will not authenticate.
    Logon
  10. (6.0 Windows Vista): You will be prompted with a user logon screen. You must type “engineering\” before you type in your engr name or it will not authenticate.
    Logon
  11. (6.0 Windows Vista): After giving your logon information, you will get a verification warning. We hope to address this soon, but for now, just click Yes. You will then be connected to the server.
    Logon
  12. (5.0): If you did not provide the username and password in the General tab, you will be brought to a logon screen. Provide your engr username and password and make sure the domain is set to ENGINEERING.
  13. Once you are logged into the terminal server it should resemble an engineering lab machine on campus.

Using the Terminal Server:

For information on using the terminal server, see this link.

Useful Tips:

  1. Inside a remote desktop on a windows machine the “end” key will act like the “delete” key does only for key combinations. So if you need to use a command such as Ctrl-Alt-Delete, you will have to type in Ctrl-Alt-End.

Related Articles:

What software is on Windows.Engr Terminal server
Obtain software for your personal computer or laptop
Get free Microsoft software (MSDNAA)
Use Windows Terminal Server
Connect to the Windows Terminal Server from an OS X computer

Article Information:

Date Created: Dec 20, 2006
Last Modified: Thu, Oct 16, 2008 4:43 PM
Views: 8213