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Fast User Switching on Windows XP with VNC?

Posted by Cliff on from the why-doesn't-it-work dept.

A not-so Anonymous Coward asks: "I have searched the web for links on how to make VNC work with Windows XP fast user switching, and all I have seen is people saying that they cannot get it to work. I would now like to ask the Slashdot community to give it their shot, and see if they cannot find a way to make your standard VNC utilities cooperate with Windows XP fast user switching. For those who don't know what the problem is; when using fast user switching, if you switch users (without logging out) from the first user to log on then VNC comes up with a blank screen. Hopefully someone can come up with a fix for this." It sounds like (and I might be way off base here)Windows isn't necessarily running multiple desktops for its fast user switching, and once the switch occurs from the user running the VNC process, that VNC then somehow loses rights to the desktop. It would be interesting to note if VNC sessions will work once the desktop is switched back. Has anyone else tried getting this to work? Have you run into the same problems, or were you able to find a solution?

24 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Makes me wonder by $exyNerdie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Makes me wonder if I can load VNC on PocketPC yet... cause if I can, I would be able to use WinXP wirelessly from:

    Windows in your hands

    1. Re:Makes me wonder by donutz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Makes me wonder if I can load VNC on PocketPC yet...

      YES: http://www.cs.utah.edu/~midgley/wince/vnc.html

    2. Re:Makes me wonder by pocopoco · · Score: 4, Informative

      There is VNC for PPC, but if your connecting to a WinXP box it's better to use Microsoft's own Terminal Services Client for PPC instead. It's significantly faster, although not cross platform, of course.

    3. Re:Makes me wonder by dead_penguin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ...it's better to use Microsoft's own Terminal Services Client for PPC instead. It's significantly faster, although not cross platform, of course.

      Maybe Microsoft's client isn't cross-platform, but there are alternatives: www.rdesktop.org.

      Earlier versions (1.1) gave me some problems with random crashes, but 1.2 seems to be rock solid. Makes life at work a lot easier, especially with the new 'tsclient' GUI front-end for it that comes with KDE.

      --

      It's only software!
  2. Lastest Version by Deleted · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was having the same problem on one of my WindowsXP machines. Upgrading to the latest realvnc seemed to fix it up just fine though.

    Maybe you should upgrade your software before you whine to /. about it..

    1. Re:Lastest Version by reynaert · · Score: 4, Informative

      No, on my system the latest version of RealVNC (3.3.7) still has this problem. Maybe you're using a different VNC server?

    2. Re:Lastest Version by chrismg2003 · · Score: 3, Informative

      This machine was using the latest version. my guess is that you were logging out and not using fast user switching. If you check the help site for RealVNC you will find that they expressly state that RealVNC does not work with fast user switching. Thus far the only app I have been able to find that works with fast user switching is PCAnywhere and that program is too bloated for my tastes (not to mention it is not free).

      --

      Red Hat is for people who hate Windows, FreeBSD is for people who love Unix.

      www.putertech.net

  3. I don't use XP, but... by GiMP · · Score: 3, Informative

    couldn't this be done via a service? In NT you could configure VNC server as a service and you could even login via VNC.

    1. Re:I don't use XP, but... by HereAllNight · · Score: 5, Informative

      I concur with this.

      As I understand it, Fast User Switching simply keeps other users' processes alive (but suspended) while a user at the console starts up his/her own processes. If you're running vncserver manually, from the Start Menu or as a "Run" item in the Registry, going back to the Welcome Screen will cause vncserver to be suspended. Therefore, vncserver must be run as a service. Most VNC distros make it very easy to do this.

      The big problem is the Welcome Screen, which must be enabled in order to use Fast User Switching. We know that VNC works fine with the Explorer shell, but my guess is that the Welcome Screen does something to thwart non-MS remote utilities. It could be a matter of permissions; that everybody (including the vncserver service) must have the same priveleges or be in the same group as the Welcome Screen process.

      Personally, I use RemotelyAnywhere and GoToMyPC to access Windows machines over the Internet. If you're doing this only on a private network, then no worries. But if this goes across any public networks like the Internet, I strongly suggest finding a solution that provides more secure authentication at the very least.

      Since XP does offer RDP, I'd tend to use RDP before I tried VNC. Is there any reason why n-sAC must use VNC?

    2. Re:I don't use XP, but... by cdrudge · · Score: 2, Informative
      As I understand it, Fast User Switching simply keeps other users' processes alive (but suspended) while a user at the console starts up his/her own processes.
      Actually, the process are not suspended. They continue to run in the backgroud. The unix eqivilent would be just opening up a different console shell.

      I quite often will leave a video encoder running in the background and switch over users to my wife's account. If I don't set the encoding process at a low priority, her session drags.
    3. Re:I don't use XP, but... by HereAllNight · · Score: 2, Informative

      Looks like you're correct in the context of applications, but there's more to that. After looking through one of my 1000+ page books, I noticed that while the other users' processes may continue to run, they are unable to run "interactively". Thus a program like vncserver that runs interactively is likely to find itself in limbo when the 1st user loses his/her desktop.

  4. Why not use in the built-in Remote Desktop? by jpsowin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In XP Pro, Remote Desktop is built in--which is a lot faster and smoother than VNC, plus it just works good.

    And if you're using VNC because you want to access the XP machine from linux, then just emulate the Windows98 Remote Desktop software M$ offers for free with WINE or Crossover Office (which I have had great success with in general).

    1. Re:Why not use in the built-in Remote Desktop? by Rayban · · Score: 4, Informative

      Or use rdesktop:

      http://www.rdesktop.org/

      --
      æeee!
    2. Re:Why not use in the built-in Remote Desktop? by wonkamaster · · Score: 3, Informative

      Another program that doesn't require WINE or Crossover Office (both of which I have experienced trouble with when using the M$ client) is Rdesktop. It works very well on every platform I've ever used it on (although fonts can be a bit weird on PPC platforms).

      Another benefit is that it can emulate a Windows 2000 client when connecting to a M$ server, keeping you from burning a license.

    3. Re:Why not use in the built-in Remote Desktop? by Echnin · · Score: 3, Informative
      Remote Desktop IS faster and simpler than VNC, yes. However, note that the "ask slashdot"-er is talking about fast user switching; he probably wants to have multiple persons using it at once. The Windows XP license does not allow this with remote desktop, and will not allow anyone to connect remotely if there is a person sitting at the computer, or someone is already connected. To have more people connected, you need to run Windows 2000 Terminal Server. Wonder if someone can hack Windows XP to allow multiple users. That'd be kewl. But obviously useless for most people, who only use it to access their own computer when they are away.

      Oh, and by the way, there are also native Linux Windows Remote Desktop clients. My brother uses it at his job, and it's also bundled with probably multiple distros... I believe Mandrake 9.1 has it.

      --
      Lalala
    4. Re:Why not use in the built-in Remote Desktop? by wonkamaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually it could very well be in compliance with Microsoft licensing. Consider the situation in which you dual-boot, the PC is licensed but there is no way of transferring that license to the Linux partition (or even to another Windows computer should you decommission the PC for that matter).

      Considering that TS CAL licensing is based on user (but enforced per computer) if you have a license for a Windows computer you are licensed for Linux. There's just no way of telling the Terminal server that you are. With rdesktop there is. Can it be used to "pirate"? Sure. But since M$ doesn't provide a way of transferring the licenses (without calling their support and pleading your case anyway) and provides no way of indicating that you're licensed on multiple desktops even with recent service packs, I for one am quite glad that rdesktop includes the capability.

    5. Re:Why not use in the built-in Remote Desktop? by jsse · · Score: 4, Informative

      Oh, and by the way, there are also native Linux Windows Remote Desktop clients. My brother uses it at his job, and it's also bundled with probably multiple distros... I believe Mandrake 9.1 has it.

      It's called tsclient.

      In Debian:
      apt-get install tsclient

      In Gentoo:
      emerge tsclient

      Mandrake and Redhat has it in their distro, too.

      The downside is that you must install Terminal Server in the XP, but it works exactly the same as Windows' terminal client and performs much better than VNC.

    6. Re:Why not use in the built-in Remote Desktop? by BlueLightning · · Score: 3, Informative

      Cite your source. Here's mine (under "Removal of the Operating System Equivalency Provision"):
      New Options for Microsoft Server Licensing - Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services

      What I meant was clients no longer automatically get a CAL just because they are running Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP Pro. This policy is now gone, so you have to buy more CALs for the same number of clients if you upgrade to Windows Server 2003.

    7. Re:Why not use in the built-in Remote Desktop? by computer_chacham · · Score: 2, Informative

      >>Wonder if someone can hack Windows XP to allow multiple users.

      That feature is supposed to be in SP2. (Up to two simultaneous users.)

  5. XP EULA Violation by jebx · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think you need to pay more attention to /. VNC appears to violate XP's EULA
    Link to Slashdot article

  6. Isn't Fast Switching With VPN A Security Exposure by xsbellx · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I currently use Cisco Systems VPN Client Version 3.5.2 for connecting to the office. During installation, the client explicitly disables user switching. I asked the same question about user switching in XP of the VPN guys and had it explained this way:

    Three people share the XP system, each with their own user profile. I logon and connect to the office. With fast switching enabled, the kids come along and decide to do some nasty things on the corporate network (maybe by accident, maybe not). If I was willing to personally accept all responsiblity (in other words, pay the bills for any fallout) for all the other users of the system, they would provide a patched version of the client to allow fast switching.

    As much as I hate bureaucracy, I have to side with the VPN guys on this one.

    --
    If VISTA is the answer, you didn't understand the question
  7. Oi, get a clue by Chibi+Merrow · · Score: 3, Informative

    NT/2000 had the same problem if you started VNC as a User Process while logged in, then had to hit Alt+Ctrl+Del to do something or you logged out. Starting VNC as a SERVICE made it start BEFORE any users were logged in, meaning yes, exactly, it displays exactly what you see on the monitor. Which is what the author of the story wants. If he wanted a fresh desktop, he'd simply use terminal services. Now, starting it as a service still MAY NOT WORK but flaming the guy saying he has no clue what he's talking about and then making it seem in your article that YOU don't know what you're talking about has me a bit perturbed.

    --
    Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
    Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
  8. Service or an App by RedWolves2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Are you running VNC as a service or in App mode? We run VNC on servers at work and if we have it set up as a service I can login to the box using VNC as soon as the box reboots...If I have VNC running as APP mode I can only login when the box is logged in as a user then I get kicked out if I log out.

    Try running it as a service there is a Administrative tool in the VNC Programs folder that will install it for you.

    HTH

  9. Re:Fast User Switching in a Domain? by Foolhardy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I currently have it setup to use the 'classic' Win2k style logon dialog, with fast user switcing enabled.
    1. Get SP1.
    2. Set the logon screen choice in 'User Accounts' to classic.
    3. Set "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\AllowMultipleTSSessions " to 1.
    4. Use Task manager to switch users; disconnect the current user to go back to the logon screen (to start new sessions) without logging off, and connect to switch directly. You can also go back to the logon screen and type the name of an existing session's user to switch to it.
    I have heard that MS might allow one console and one remote session, concurrently active with SP2.