How to Access Multiple Remote Desktops Simultaneously

Toonjunkie | Jul 4, 2011 |

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Accessing Multiple Remote Desktops with Remote Desktop Connection Manager

Installing Remote Desktop Connection Manager

Open your Internet browser, and connect to Microsoft's download site for Remote Desktop Connection Manager.
Click the Download button to begin downloading the installation file (RDCMan.msi).
Save the installation file to your desktop.
Double-click the downloaded file to begin the installation.
If prompted with a security warning, click Run.
Browse the license terms, and click I agree and Next.
If desired, change the installation directory. Click Next.
Click Next to start the installation of Remote Desktop Connection Manager to your computer.
Click Close when the installation completes.

Configure Remote Desktop Connection Manager

On your computer, click Start | [All] Programs | Remote Desktop Connection Manager.
Click on File | New to create a new RDCMan settings file. This file will store the configuration of all the computers you wish to access simultaneously.
In the dialog box, browse to the directory (such as your "My Documents" folder) where you wish to keep your RDCMan settings file. Enter a name for the file (such as "Desktops") and click Save. You will see the name of your file is now listed on the left-hand side of the RDCMan window.
Right-click the name of your file and select Add Group. You will be shown a window where you can create a group of servers you will manage with RDCMan (such as "database servers," "web servers," "file servers," etc).
Enter the name for the group ("Group name") and a comment (optional), and click Add to add the group to your Remote Desktop Connection Manager.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each grouping of computers you'll be adding.
Right-click on the name of a newly created group and click Add Server.
On the "Server Settings" tab, enter the server name (a.k.a. the "Computer Name"), a display name (if desired), and click Add.
Repeat steps 7 and 8 for each server you wish to add into one of the groups.
Save your Remote Desktop Connection Manager configuration file by clicking File | Save .

Access Multiple Remote Desktops

Now that Remote Desktop Connection Manager has been installed and configured, you can use it to simultaneously access remote desktops. To access remote desktops:

Right-click on any server name and click Connect Server in order to initiate a remote desktop connection to that server.
Right-click any group name and click Connect Group. RDCMan will simultaneously initiate a remote desktop connection with every server in the group.

Additional Tips for Using RDCMan

There are a number of ways you can customize your experience using RDCMan. Some ideas of how you can make RDCMan work for you:

You can specify logon credentials for an entire group and/or individual server. By doing this, RDCMan can automatically log you into the remote desktop.
You can specify the display dimensions for any remote desktop connection on the "Remote Desktop Settings" tab for any group or individual connection.
You can easily log-in, log-off, and disconnect from an entire group of servers by right-clicking the group and selecting the appropriate option.