We often use Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) for connecting to Development/Test/UAT Servers for various activities like Development, Testing, Deployments etc. People also refer to this in short as RDC/RDP/TS (Terminal Services Connection) etc.Today I was approached by one of my colleagues who wanted to adjust the window size of the Remote Desktop Connection. At first even I did not know how to adjust the window size, but after spending a couple minutes I got it working :-)

Here is how we can connect to remote desktops/servers and also can adjust the window size of Remote Desktop Connections. 

• Click on Start -> Run
• Type "mstsc" and click "OK". This will open the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box.

• Click on "Options>>" in the right bottom corner of this dialog box.

• Click on the "Display" tab.

• In the Display tab adjust the pointer towards "Less" to reduce the size of the RDC window and towards "More" to increase the size of the RDC window. Keeping it at "More" will create open a Full Screen window so that the user can exclusively work in the remote desktop/server and can navigate between the windows in the RDC connection using "ALT + TAB".
• Click on "Connect" and enter the credentials and hit Enter to connect to the remote desktop/server.

Now enjoy a dedicated Full Screen Window/Console for your Remote Desktop Connection.

Many times we will be working on server by doing a Remote Desktop Connection/Terminal Services Connection. Several times there is a need for opening multiple instances of the same application with a different UserID.

To open multiple instances of the same application we can use RUNAS Command.

Syntax:

C:\>runas /profile/user:Domain\UserID "Fully Qualified App/Executable Path"

Example:

Here is an example for opening SQL Server Management Studio.

• Type the following command on Command Prompt and Hit Enter.

C:\>runas /profile /user:Learning\Datta "D:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE\Ssms.exe"

• You will be prompted to enter the password for the account "Learning\Datta". Enter the password and Hit Enter.
• This opens up SQL Server Management Studio with the account "Learning\Datta".
  

Note: Please note that when you enter the password the letters or equivalent number of astericks will not be visible to you.

This example illustrates a simple usage of the RUNAS Command. RUNAS command offers options of specifying various other parameters which might be useful at times.

Fiddler is Web Debugging Proxy which logs all the HTTP(S) traffic between your computer and the internet/other computers.

In many scenarios many applications need to interact with each other by passing information back & forth between each other to ensure successful handshaking. In these scenarios debugging becomes a challenge and hence first isolating the issue to a particular application/server is very essential.

This is very useful tool especially while debugging such issues which involve identifying the exact query strings that are being passed to the remote computer/internet from your computer during the process of handshaking. This tool can help us in isolating the issue there by reducing the scope of analysis.

Visit this site to check out the features and to download the tool:

 






http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/

Its usual practice for anyone using a computer to lock the computer when they are away for a short amount of time and when want to use the computer immediately after their return without any delay. To lock the computer people usually press "CTR+ALT+DEL" click on "Lock Computer" in the dialog box.





Here are two simple approaches to locking your computer.
Approach1 - By creating a shortcut
Approach2 - Using a Key Combination



Approach1 (Using a shortcut)

• Right click in an empty area on your desktop, point to New and click shortcut. 
• In the Create Shortcut dialog box, copy the following into 'Type the location" of the item text box: 
• "rundll32 user32.dll LockWorkStation" (remove the quotes while typing). 
• Click Next. 
• In "Type a name for this shortcut", type LOCK (Your convenient name) and Click Finish. 
• Now just Double click on that icon everytime you want to lock your computer

Approach2 (Using only two keys)

• Press Windows + L

The first approach is helpful especially in cases when there is no Windows Key on the keyboard :)

This article explains how we can use a Notepad as a Diary. This comes very handy to save the information and track the changes and versions.

• Goto RUN
• Type Notepad and hit enter
• This opens a New Blank Notepad
• Type .LOG as the first line of the file, followed by an Enter. Save the file and close it.
• Double-click the file to open it and notice that Notepad appends the current date and time to the end of the file and places the cursor on the line after.
• Type your notes and then save and close the file

 Each time you open the file, Notepad repeats the process, appending the time and date to the end of the file and placing the cursor below it.

This e-diary maintains the history of every single edit/change and appends the appropriate TimeStamp.

Start using your new e-diary :)