Tag: Remote Desktop

Awesome Tool and Diagnostic Util

I just found this very useful tool, especially if you are dealing with Azure VMs.

AzureTools

This is the tool used by the Azure Developer Support Team. You can install it while on a VM using Powershell by running the following in a Powershell command window:

md c:\tools; Import-Module bitstransfer; Start-BitsTransfer http://dsazure.blob.core.windows.net/azuretools/AzureTools.exe c:\tools\AzureTools.exe; c:\tools\AzureTools.exe

For more info see https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/kwill/2013/08/26/azuretools-the-diagnostic-utility-used-by-the-windows-azure-developer-support-team/

 

 

How to reset your Remote desktop user account expiry date on your Azure cloud service

If you have not re-deployed your azure cloud service for a while you might just find that your remote access account has expired. Here is a simple way to push out the expiry date without re-deploying.

  1. Login to the Azure Management Console ( https://manage.windowsazure.com ), navigate to you cloud service and select the configure tab
  2. Download the configuration and save to a local temp area.
  3. Open it up in notepad
  4. Find the setting that looks like
    <ns0:Setting name=”Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.RemoteAccess.AccountExpiration” value=”2013-09-07T23:59:59.0000000+01:00″ />
  5. Just change the year to sometime in the future e.g. 2016 and save.
  6. Then from the same configure page in the Azure management console, upload the config file.
  7. Wait a few minutes while the file is process and voila! you can now log in. Of course you must know the original password and usename you used when you last deployed.

Shutdown or Restarting Windows 8 in a Remote Desktop Session

In a remote session the normal shutdown button only allows you to disconnect or log off. After a bit of research I found 2 easy ways of restarting a remote desktop session.

  1. Go to the Desktop
  2. Close all open desktop apps
  3. Type ALT+F4 (this is the shortcut for closing apps and programs too)
  4. Up pop a new ‘Shut Down Windows” Windows 8 dialogue
  5. Then select the command of you desire.

If you are commend line oriented then,

  1. Type Windows logo key+ R to open the ‘Run’ dialog
  2. Type either ‘shutdown /r’ for a restart or ‘shutdown /s’ for a simple shutdown and click OK.
  3. If you want to see a UI or do this remotely, you can always try ‘shutdown /i’ on your local machine and do a remote shutdown.