Enabling Remote Desktop Connections
In XP, you have Remote Desktop Connection / Terminal Sessions, disabled by default.
You can enable them with a simple registry edit.
The XML for WPKG will look like this:
<package
id="remotedesktop"
name="Remote Desktop"
revision="1"
reboot="false"
priority="0">
<check type="registry" condition="equals" path="HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\fDenyTSConnections" value="0" />
<install cmd='reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f' />
<upgrade include="install" />
<remove cmd='reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f' />
</package>
This will allow you to log on as Administrator (either domain or local) using Terminal Sessions.
A more complex scenario exists if the Terminal Service itself had been disabled; in which case the following is more suitable.
<package id="rdp" name="Remote Desktop" revision="3" reboot="true" priority="5">
<check type="logical" condition="or">
<check type="registry" condition="equals" path="HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\fDenyTSConnections" value="0" />
<check type="registry" condition="equals" path="HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermService\Start" value="2" />
</check>
<install cmd='reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f' />
<install cmd='sc config termservice start= auto' />
<upgrade include="install" />
<remove cmd='reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f' />
<remove cmd='sc config termservice start= disabled' />
</package>
I'm using this on Win10 Pro
<package id="RemoteDesktop"
name="Remote Desktop"
revision="8"
execute="once"
reboot="false"
priority="500">
<check type="logical" condition="or">
<check type="registry" condition="equals" path="HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\fDenyTSConnections" value="0" />
<check type="registry" condition="equals" path="HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermService\Start" value="2" />
</check>
<install cmd='reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f' />
<install cmd='reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp" /v SecurityLayer /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f' />
<install cmd='reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp" /v UserAuthentication /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f' />
<install cmd='netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=â€Assistência Remota†new enable=yes' />
<install cmd='sc config termservice start= auto' />
<!--MAYBE It's NEED TO USE : reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v TSEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f -->
<upgrade include="install" />
<remove cmd='reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f' />
<remove cmd='sc config termservice start= disabled' />
<remove cmd='netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=â€Assistência Remota†new enable=no' />
</package>
Question: how to enable Terminal Sessions for other, non-Administrator users?
Answer: That would involve adding those users to the Remote Desktop Users group. This cannot be done in the registry, but with the command net group "Remote Desktop Users" /add usernamehere.