How to Set Time Limits on a Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop is an application included with the Windows XP operating system. The software is used to remotely control a machine on a local network or over the Internet. Administrators have several configuration options for Remote Desktop. One of these options in a Windows 2008 server environment is to limit the amount of time someone can use a session. This is beneficial in network environments that have multiple people using the connection.

Instructions

1. Click the Windows "Start" button and select "Run." Type "mstsc.exe /console" into the text box to open the policy editor console.

2. Click the "Windows Components" icon, which expands more options. Click "Remote Desktop Services" icon and then select "Remote Desktop Session Host." Finally, click the "Session Time Limits" icon.

3. Right-click the policy labeled "Set time limit for active Remote Desktop Services sessions" and select "Modify." Set a time limit for a remote session. When this limit is set, users have a set amount of time to be on the remote desktop.

4. Right-click the policy labeled "Set time limit for active but idle Remote Desktop Services sessions." Enter a time limit for this policy. This setting logs off users that are idle for the configured amount of time.

5. Close the policy editor and reboot the machine. Once the machine is reboot, the Remote Desktop time limits are set.

References

• Microsoft: Session Time Limits