Here’s a hack to unlock the single user limitation and enable multiple concurrent remote desktop connection sessions support in Windows XP Professional and Media Center Edition, using a either a patched termserv.dll or old patched cracked termserv.dll build version version 5.1.2600.2055, so that unlimited users can simultaneously connect to a computer via Remote Desktop.

1. Download a copy of patched termsrv.dll (in ZIP file) which has the Remote Desktop connection limitation deactivated for your version of Windows XP:

   Windows XP RTM, SP1 and SP2: termsrv.dll (version 5.1.2600.2055)
   Windows XP SP2: termsrv.dll (version 5.1.2600.2180)
   Windows XP SP3: termsrv.dll (version 5.1.2600.5512)

   For information, the termsrv.dll patch normally has the following HEX code bits overwritten with following value:

   00022A17: 74 75
   00022A69: 7F 90
   00022A6A: 16 90

2. Restart the computer and boot info Safe Mode by pressing F8 during initial boot up and select Safe Mode. This step is only required if you’re currently running Windows Terminal Services or Remote Desktop service, and System File Protection has to be skipped and bypassed, else it will prompt the following error message to restore the original termsrv.dll.
3. Go to %windir%\System32 and make a backup copy (or rename) the termsrv.dll.
4. Rename or delete the termserv.dll in the %windir%\System32\dllcache folder.
5. Copy the downloaded termsrv.dll into %windir%\System32, %windir%\ServicePackFiles\i386 (if exist) and %windir%\System32\dllcache.
6. Then download and run the ts_multiple_sessions.bat (in ZIP file) to merge the registry value into registery, or you can run Registry Editor to manually add the following registry value:

   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Terminal Server\Licensing Core]
   “EnableConcurrentSessions”=dword:00000001

   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
   “EnableConcurrentSessions”=dword:00000001

   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
   “AllowMultipleTSSessions”=dword:00000001

7. Click on Start Menu -> Run command and type gpedit.msc, follow by Enter to open up the Group Policy Editor.
8. Navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Terminal Services.
9. Enable Limit Number of Connections and set the number of connections to 3 (or more). The setting allows more than one users to use the computer and logged on at the same time.
10. Ensure the Remote Desktop is enabled in System Properties’ Remote tab by selecting the radio button for Allow users to connect remotely to this computer.
11. Enable and turn on Fast User Switching in Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Change the way users log on or off.
12. Restart the computer normally.

Note that if you cannot replace or overwrite termserv.dll with access denied or file in use error, turn off the “Termine Services” in “Services” control panel of “Administrator Tools”. Besides, each connecting physical connections must have their own user account in the target host, and must authenticate with corresponding own user name and password credential.

To uninstall and revert back to original termsrv.dll, simply delete the patched version, and rename the backup copy back to “termsrv.dll”. You probably have to do it in Safe Mode if the Terminal Services is enabled and running.

If the Windows XP computer is connected to a domain on local networks, Windows will set the value of the regkey “AllowMultipleTSSessions” to “0″ every time the computer is restarted. To ensure that multiple or unlimited Remote Desktop connection sessions is allowed in AD domain environment, the value data for “AllowMultipleTSSessions” has to be set to “1″ on each system startup. To change the value, simply rerun the ts_multiple_sessions.bat every time the computer is started. Alternatively, put the ts_multiple_sessions.bat at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup folder so that it will be automatically run on first user with administrative privileges that logs on to the desktop. Another workaround is to install additional service or define a sub-key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run registry branch that run the registry batch file automatically on boot up, and this is useful if the computer won’t be logged on by anybody, but still requires the hack to allow unlimited Remote Desktop users to work.

Another issue is that if user closes the remote connection instead of logging off, when he or she tries to log back in, an error message related to TCP/IP event ID 4226 may occur. To resolve the issue, download and apply the Windows XP TCP/IP connection limit and Event ID 4226 patch, and set the connections to at least 50.

How to Change the Listening Port for Remote Desktop

Microsoft has a Knowledge Base article KB306759 that details how to modify and change the Remote Desktop listening port by changing registry value.

1. Start Registry Editor by clicking on Start -> Run, and type in regedit in the Run text box, and then press Enter or click OK.
2. Navigate to the following registry branch/subkey:

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

3. Locate the registry entry PortNumber in the right pane.
4. Right click on PortNumber and choose Modify (or select PortNumber, then click on Edit menu and select Modify).
5. On the Edit DWORD Value window, click on Decimal.
6. Type in the new port number on the Value Data text box.
7. Click OK when done.

If you don’t want to mess or modify in the Windows registry yourself, IntelliAdmin has a small free utility tool Remote Desktop Port Change (RDPRemotePortChange.exe) that allows users to change the Remote Desktop listening port on local computer or on remote computer across the LAN.

To change listening port for Remote Desktop for local PC (the computer that you’re using now), simply select Local System, or select Remote Computer for other computer and key in the desired computer name or IP plus authentication user name and password to change the listening port. Configure the required settings i.e. the new port number for Remote Desktop, and whether to reboot the PC after the change, and simply press Submit.

Note that Remote Assistance feature in Microsoft Windows XP may not work correctly if the the listening port of Remote Desktop has been changed. Beside, when want to connect or remote control this particular computer with non standard listing port by using the Remote Desktop connection from remote computer, the port number must be specifed together with computer host name or IP address ( ie hostname:3389) to connect to that specific port.

1. Download Security Configuration Manager Tool (x86 (Intel version) is SCESP4I.EXE) from Microsoft.
2. Double click the SCESP4I.EXE and extract the contents to a folder on your hard disk.
3. Go to the folder where the SCESP4I.exe contents are extracted, locate the Setup.inf (Setup Information) file.
4. Right click on Setup.inf and select Install.
5. Reboot computer after installation finished.

You can now see the security tab when you view the properties for the drive, file or folder. Warning though, misconfigured permissions will make your drives, files and folders inaccessible to everybody, including Administrator account will also be locked out from the resources. Beside, some advice on permissions setting is that Deny Permissions take precedence over Allow Permissions, regardless of your group membership, and Administrators are members of the User’s group, by default. So if you deny access to the User’s group, Administrators won’t be able to access too. So, try to Uncheck Allow, rather than using Deny.

1. Launch Windows Explorer or My Computer.
2. Click on the Tools at the menu bar, then click on Folder Options.
3. Click on View tab.
4. In the Advanced Settings section at the bottom of the list, uncheck and unselect (clear the tick) on the “Use simple file sharing (Recommended)” check box.
5. Click OK.

Security tab is available only to Administrator or users with administrative rights. So make sure you login as one. And security can only be set in an NTFS partition. If you’re still having problem to reveal or display the Security tab on files or folder properties, check out the following registry hack and set the value to 0 or simply delete the key:

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Name: Nosecuritytab
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

If you’re using a Windows XP Professional system that is installed in a Workgroup, the Security tab is also hidden by default because in Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional, guests are forced to log on to a workgroup. Follow the instruction and information on Microsoft Knowledge Base where you need to set the value for ForceGuest registry key.