How to simulate a human-being logon on a PC?

[cfman]

Hi all,

I have a weird software, does not launch itself when it detects the presence
of a MS Remote Desktop (RDP) connection.

Call the remote PC at my office the SERVER, and the local PC at my home the
CLIENT.

Situation 1:

I want to remotely luanch that wierd software on my SERVER via a RDP
connection.

The wierd software detects the ongoing RDP connection, it refused to luanch.

Result: I have to drive a long way to my office to run it.

Situation 2:

Okay! Now let's fool around the wierd software a little bit.

I set a timer on the SERVER, and set it to launch the wierd software after
60 seconds.

Then I close the RDP connection, and have a cup of coffee, and after
sufficiently long time,

I re-connect to my remote SERVER, expecting that the wierd software should
be fooled and it should launch, because at the moment of its initilization,
there is really no RDP connection at all.

(Please note that if I first physically go to my office and launch the wierd
software, and leave it open, and then I come back home to use it, that's
perfectly okay. It works. The only problem lies in if I want to start it
remotely from my home).

Result: It failed. It didn't start. I still have to go to office and run it
manually.

Situation 3:

After I used RDP, I drove to office, and logged in, and launch the weird
software manually.

Result: It runs.

-----------------------------------

In conclusion:

The wierd software SUCCEEDS to luanch if: there is a human-being physically
sitting in front of the computer, logged-in, and click on it and run it
physically.

The wierd software FAILS to launch if: the person used a RDP to connect to
this PC, and he closed the RDP, but this PC is still logged out due to RDP
connection, thus it detects this situation and refuses to launch(even if the
RDP was already disconnected.)

-----------------------------------

So how can I set a timer using RDP, and then disconnect the RDP, and the
timer software does the following:

simulate a person physically takes control from RDP and login into the
system, and launch the software manually,

how can I do this?

Thanks a lot!

 

[matthew breedlove]

So how can I set a timer using RDP, and then disconnect the RDP, and the
timer software does the following:

simulate a person physically takes control from RDP and login into the
system, and launch the software manually,

how can I do this?

You might try installing the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools
Pack
(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...15-c8f4-47ef-a1e4-a8dcbacff8e3&DisplayLang=en)
and using the Remote Desktops MMC to connect to the console (there is a
checkbox for this when you create a new connection). This would allow
you to control the console as if you were sitting in front of the machine.

-Matthew

 

[matthew breedlove]

So how can I set a timer using RDP, and then disconnect the RDP, and the
timer software does the following:

simulate a person physically takes control from RDP and login into the
system, and launch the software manually,

how can I do this?

You might try installing the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools
Pack
(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...15-c8f4-47ef-a1e4-a8dcbacff8e3&DisplayLang=en)
and using the Remote Desktops MMC to connect to the console (there is a
checkbox for this when you create a new connection). This would allow
you to control the console as if you were sitting in front of the machine.

-Matthew

 

[cfman]

You might try installing the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack
(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...15-c8f4-47ef-a1e4-a8dcbacff8e3&DisplayLang=en)
and using the Remote Desktops MMC to connect to the console (there is a
checkbox for this when you create a new connection). This would allow you
to control the console as if you were sitting in front of the machine.

-Matthew

This is very good thought! Thanks a lot!

The only problem is that the remote SERVER PC is actually Windows XP Pro.

I don't have a Windows 2003 server and I won't be able to buy one.

Can the remote server PC with Windows XP Pro work?

 

[matthew breedlove]

This is very good thought! Thanks a lot!

The only problem is that the remote SERVER PC is actually Windows XP Pro.

I don't have a Windows 2003 server and I won't be able to buy one.

Can the remote server PC with Windows XP Pro work?

The Windows 2003 Admin Tools can be installed on XP, and the Remote
Desktops MMC can be used to connect to XP machines.

Unfortunately in your case, if you were connecting to XP Pro via RDP
then you were connecting to the console already and this wouldn't change
anything. My only other idea would be to install and connect using VNC
and then start the app. My preferred server is TightVNC
(http://www.tightvnc.com/).

-Matthew

 

[Slava M. Usov]

I have a weird software, does not launch itself when it detects the
presence of a MS Remote Desktop (RDP) connection.

If running this software remotely is a violation of its licence, you should
not do it. If it is not, you should contact its vendor and have it fixed.

As an interim solution, you can ensure that there is always an interactive
session at the remote machine [this can be easily achieved with the
automatic logon feature]. Then you just need to schedule the software in
this interactive session as required.

S

 

[cfman]

The Windows 2003 Admin Tools can be installed on XP, and the Remote
Desktops MMC can be used to connect to XP machines.

Unfortunately in your case, if you were connecting to XP Pro via RDP then
you were connecting to the console already and this wouldn't change
anything. My only other idea would be to install and connect using VNC
and then start the app. My preferred server is TightVNC
(http://www.tightvnc.com/).

-Matthew

Thanks a lot for the invaluable information.

The headache is the VNC doesnot work along with RDP. If after a clean
reboot, and after I used RDP once, it will block VNC forever until the next
clean reboot.

So let's come back to your original idea:

Does the following senario work?

1. I install the Windows 2003 Server admin tool on XP Pro PC; at this moment
I use RDP to install it on my remote PC SERVER; and do a clean reboot.

2. I shutdown RDP locally. And then use RDP MMC to connect to that remote PC
server.

Will this RDP MMC make the software on that PC SERVER think that there is a
human-being physically using that computer?

 

[cfman]

I have a weird software, does not launch itself when it detects the
presence of a MS Remote Desktop (RDP) connection.

If running this software remotely is a violation of its licence, you
should
not do it. If it is not, you should contact its vendor and have it fixed.

As an interim solution, you can ensure that there is always an interactive
session at the remote machine [this can be easily achieved with the
automatic logon feature]. Then you just need to schedule the software in
this interactive session as required.

S

Great idea. Thank you so much! But that's exactly what I was asking:

How to do a "automatic logon"?

I just need to use RDP set up a timer(and then I close my RDP connection),
and then the timer will automatically logon that machine for me and then
launch that software.

How to do this?

 

[Gary Chanson]

The headache is the VNC doesnot work along with RDP. If after a clean
reboot, and after I used RDP once, it will block VNC forever until the
next clean reboot.

Try UltraVNC. It doesn't have any problem co-existing with RDP on XP.

 

[Slava M. Usov]

[...]

As an interim solution, you can ensure that there is always an
interactive session at the remote machine [this can be easily achieved
with the automatic logon feature]. Then you just need to schedule the
software in this interactive session as required.

S

Great idea. Thank you so much! But that's exactly what I was asking:

How to do a "automatic logon"?

I just need to use RDP set up a timer(and then I close my RDP connection),
and then the timer will automatically logon that machine for me and then
launch that software.

What I said is not exactly what you are asking. Not even close, in fact. I
said "ensure that there is always an interactive session". This can be done
with the AutoAdminLogon feature of winlogon. This has nothing to do with
"the timer will automatically logon".

S

 

[Maxim S. Shatskih]

How to do a "automatic logon"?

Google for AutoAdminLogon

This Windows feature will allow the OS to bypass the logon screen and start
with Explorer for the user account set in the registry.