Mstsc /console switch is replaced in “Windows Xp+sp 3 – Vista+sp1 and Windows 2008 ” by mstsc /admin
Starting from Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 the “mstsc /console” switch was been replaced by “mstsc /admin” In both Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008, the Remote Desktop Program has been updated to version 6.1 (6.0.6001)
Since there is no longer the ability to connect to Session 0, the /console switch is no longer required. But, what if I want to connect to Session 0 on a Windows Server 2003/XP or previously machine making the most of RDP 6.1?
Let’s see how we can do it.
If you use “mstsc /v:servername /console” in a script file then the /console will be ignored (with no warning) and you will be connected to a normal session that is not the server console.
If you specify the /console switch in the RDC GUI connection dialog then it will tell you “an unknown parameter was specified in the computer name field”.
If you want to connect to the old console session in Windows 2008 and Vista SP1 use the “mstsc /admin” switch
Another workaround is to replace the mstsc.exe file with one from older system (Windows XP ) for example.
Example
mstsc /admin savedsession.rdp
on January 6th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Why change the switch? Better yet, why allow the old switch to still work without the desired effect and no error? Someone should be fired.
on February 17th, 2010 at 11:53 am
I was very frustrated when MS took the console option away and been looking for a solution to access session 0. The mstsc /admin switch works in Windows 7 to a Win 2003 server, thanks for posting.