Connect to console using RDP

If you've ever got the following annoying message when trying to RDP to a remote server:

"The terminal server has exceeded the maximum number of allowed connections. The system cannot log you on. Please try again or consult your system administrator"

Then normally you've got to either ask another user to log off (not easy if its a remote server) or wait for them to. A little known trick is to use the following command line parameter when launching remote desktop: /console

From the command prompt type:

mstsc /console

This will launch it in console mode, which in layman's terms means you'll be connecting to the server as if you were sat right in front of it, not a terminal server session which is the default (its worth noting that bar a registry hack XP doesn't allow virtual sessions - you always connect to the console - which is why if you remote desktop to an XP machine it will log off any other users)

If you find this useful it might be worth changing the shortcut in your start menu to include the parameter /console, otherwise you'll need to remember to launch RDP from the command line each time.