Reset Remote Desktop Connections

Being able to connect to the desktop of another server is an essential part of most developers working day. Whether it is to configure IIS or to kick of a deployment, starting up the Remote Desktop Connection client is often the quickest way to complete the task.

Unfortunately the basic configuration only allows for three connections at any one time. Also, if someone just closes the client, their connection is not cleared. It will hang around in a disconnected state until someone connects to the physical machine to clear any unused connections.

There are two DOS commands which solve this problem. The oddly named; QWINSTA and RWINSTA.

qwinsta /server:SuperServer

The displayed list will include the session Id which you can use with the next command, rwinsta, to reset the sessions. Type the following to reset session 1 on SuperServer:

rwinsta 1 /server:SuperServer

Be sure to pick sessions with the state “Disc” as connections marked as “Active” my really be active.

Often the simplest tools yield the biggest gains. The discovery of these two commands has saved many hours of work. I no longer have to go through the IT support process and have an engineer go to the physical machine.