This could apply to desktops, laptops, and especially servers. When you connect to a Windows server via RDP, it creates a session where you can see the desktop and interact with it When you disconnect from RDP, that user's desktop screen will no longer work. The user session will continue to run along with all the programs.
I found a way to keep the desktop interactive part alive for a user. You create a separate user account (user2), logon to user2, and then launch an RDP connection to user1. Then you can disconnect RDP from yourself to user2, and the user1's desktop screen is still kept on with the user2 >> user1 RDP connection. Then you can use other means to connect to the user1 session's desktop and interact with it just like RDP (teamviewer, Ammyy Admin, Splashtop, etc and any program that requires a desktop input like screen recording or streaming software).
See this youtube video that demonstrates the process:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoybUfW0VdYThe drawback to this method is that 1) the user2 >> user1 RDP connection can occasionally fail. There is no way that I know to automatically re-launch it. No big deal as I just relaunch it manually, but automated redundancy is obviously a problem here. 2) you use up 1 RDP connection in order to keep the user1 desktop alive. Microsoft typically gives you a maximum of 2 RDP connections per OS instance for free.
So is there anyway to force a desktop screen to remain 'always on' on a server, without using an RDP connection? I would love an app that could create some sort of fake vga monitor on demand that would operate just like a real monitor, whether a physical monitor is attached to the computer or not. Any ideas?
