Riptide Hosting Blog Posts

Creating a scheduled task to reboot your Windows machine every night or once per week may help avoid issues such as frozen… Read more: How to create a scheduled task for Windows Reboots

Windows Server 2022 is the newest version of Windows Server and the operating system is supported until October 2031. Microsoft 365 Apps… Read more: How to use MS Office on Windows Server 2022

Using Windows Remote Desktops is the Quickest/Easiest method to share a Microsoft Access Database application among many users:

We are often asked by our clients if they can load SQL Server Express on their hosted Windows Server and where can… Read more: SQL Server Express Edition

Do you need full Microsoft Access to create/modify Access databases or do you only need Access Runtime to allow users to only… Read more: Microsoft Access Runtime (free download) on our Remote Desktop (Terminal) Servers

On our Windows VMs, we provide the Microsoft licensing (Windows Server licensing on all, and when needed: MS Office (or a component… Read more: Microsoft Licensing for Remote Desktop Users and MS Office Users

FULL DESKTOP SESSIONS:   The most common method of using Remote Desktop Services (RDS) in Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019 is… Read more: Remote Desktop Services – Full Desktop Sessions vs Start Program Automatically vs RemoteApp/RDWeb

Below are general steps to purchase/install a Trusted SSL Certificate for use with Remote Desktop Gateway (RDGW) and Remote Desktop Session Host… Read more: Purchasing and Installing a Trusted SSL Certificate to use for RDGW & RDSH

Installing the Remote Desktop Gateway Role (RDGW) on Windows Server 2019 to force RDP over HTTPS (port 443) instead of port 3389.… Read more: Installing the Remote Desktop Gateway Role (RDGW) on Windows Server 2019

Windows Server 2019 has a built-in VPN server role that can be added to the server OS at no charge. The below… Read more: How to Install VPN server on Windows Server 2019

In April 2020, some Office 365 Plans will be re-branded as Microsoft 365 Plans. The plan features are not changing (yet) but… Read more: Office 365 plans changing names to Microsoft 365 plans

Windows Server Virtual Servers VMs: Windows Dedicated Hardware Servers:

The November 12, 2019 Microsoft Office updates introduced a bug in MS Access where users are seeing errors like this “Query is… Read more: MS Access Error Query is Corrupt from November 12, 2019 Office Updates

Starting October 1, 2019, Microsoft is modifying their licensing terms related to outsourcing rights and dedicated hosted cloud services.  Beginning October 1,… Read more: Microsoft licensing terms being modified for dedicated hosting cloud services; Now is a great time to consider monthly MS licensing through the SPLA program

Power Failures – Our datacenters have redundant commercial power feeds, UPS systems and diesel generators. Compare this to a single power feed… Read more: Avoiding Downtime – How Riptide Hosting helps keep your business server & applications running.

Windows Server 2008r2 and SQL Server 2008r2 will be END OF SUPPORT soon. This means no more security updates. SQL Server 2008/R2… Read more: Windows Server 2008r2 and SQL Server 2008r2 End-of-Life End-of-Support coming soon

How To Secure Windows Remote Desktop In September 2018 the FBI issued a public service announcement regarding risks and hacking attempts again… Read more: Methods to Secure Windows Remote Desktop RDP

RD Session Host Security settings in Windows Server 2016 (SSL, High encryption, etc.) Gpedit.msc, computer configuration, administrative templates, windows components, remote desktop… Read more: RD Session Host Security settings in Windows Server 2016

Enable Group Policies to automatically logoff disconnected sessions or idle sessions after X minutes/hours Not only does this reduce server resources (ram/cpu)… Read more: Enable Group Policies to automatically logoff disconnected sessions or idle sessions after X minutes/hours

Update: see more detailed post on how to install the RD Gateway Role on Windows Server 2019/2016 here:  http://www.riptidehosting.com/blog/installing-the-remote-desktop-gateway-role-rdgw-on-windows-server-2019/ RD Gateway Role in… Read more: RD Gateway Role in RDS

Lockout Policies (based on username attempts, not IP addresses): To lock out an account for a period of time after a number… Read more: Windows Server Lockout Policies

Limit users who can login via RDP By default, all users in the “Administrators group” have RDP access rights.  And, of course,… Read more: Limit users who can login via RDP

Change RDP Listening Port from default 3389 Changing the RDP listening port to a non-default port may not defeat a determined hacker… Read more: Change RDP Listening Port

RDP Intrusion Prevention Software (Host based Intrusion Detection/Prevention) – RDP IP blockers (software for brute force protection against Windows RDP based on… Read more: Host based Intrusion Detection Prevention Software RDP

Update:  See link here for Setting up the VPN Role on Server 2019- http://www.riptidehosting.com/blog/how-to-install-vpn-server-on-windows-server-2019/ Windows Server 2016 VPN Using a VPN with… Read more: Windows Server 2016 VPN

Two-Factor / Dual-Factor Authentication There are several third-party software products available that enable two-factor authentication.  One third party software option is Duo… Read more: Two-Factor / Dual-Factor Authentication

Disable built-in Administrator account (create alternative admin account) All Windows Servers come with the built-in Administrator account (SID 500) by default and… Read more: Disable built-in Administrator account

Whitelist IPs: Use Windows Firewall to restrict RDP access to specific IPs only If you always connect from the same IP address,… Read more: Whitelist IPs: Use Windows Firewall to restrict RDP access to specific IPs only

Utilize complex usernames/passwords It’s very important to use mix of special characters, numbers, upper & lower case letters, non-words and require longer… Read more: Always use complex usernames and passwords for user accounts

We have seen several users have this issue where they cannot login if the checkbox in user properties for “user much change password… Read more: Windows 2016 Remote Desktop Server RDS doesn’t allow change password at next logon

Advantages to using Riptide Hosting SPLA Microsoft Licenses Most customers use our Microsoft licensing (Windows Server, Office, SQL Server, Remote Desktop Services… Read more: Advantages to using Riptide Hosting SPLA Microsoft Licenses

Follow this two-step process to delete a user profile in Windows Server 2016 in workgroup mode: Go to advanced system settings (sysdm.cpl),… Read more: Deleting a user profile on Windows Server 2016

You may want to see which users are logged on to your Windows 2016 Server at any given time and may want… Read more: Logging off users on Windows Server 2016 with Remote Desktop Services

This post is about how to shadow a user session if the Windows Remote Desktop Server is not connected to a domain.… Read more: How to Shadow a user’s remote desktop session on Windows Server 2016 in workgroup mode

  If you are getting an error using RDP to connect to a Windows Server and error say “Remote Desktop Connection: An… Read more: RDP authentication error due to CredSSP encryption oracle remediation after May 2018 Windows Updates

Adjusting Server Manager settings to it doesn’t automatically start upon login (or turn it back on) Update: the steps below for modifying… Read more: Adjusting Server Manager settings on 2016 so it doesn’t automatically start upon login

SWITCH TO RIPTIDE HOSTING FOR YOUR MS ACCESS HOSTING NEEDS Microsoft announced that  Access-based web apps and Access web databases in Office… Read more: MS Access Services retired in Office 365 and Sharepoint Online – Look at MS Access Hosting with Riptide Hosting

The fix we have used for “the remote session was disconnected because there are no remote desktop license servers available to provide… Read more: Terminal Server Remote Desktop the remote session was disconnected because there are no remote desktop license servers available to provide a license

Our standard template for Windows Server 2016 enables a group policy to automatically download, install and apply (restart if needed) Windows Updates… Read more: How to modify timing of Windows Updates in Windows Server 2016 to control timing of updates and restarts

You can follow the steps below to install .net 3.5 on a Windows Server running 2012R2: Insert Windows Server 2012R2 installation media… Read more: Installing .net 3.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2

Azure RemoteApp discontinued – use Riptide Hosting as alternative to Azure RemoteApp and Citrix Microsoft announced this month that it is discontinuing… Read more: Azure RemoteApp discontinued – use Riptide Hosting as alternative to Azure RemoteApp and Citrix

You may want to see which users are logged on to your Windows 2012R2 Server at any given time and may want… Read more: Logging off users on Windows Server 2012R2 with Remote Desktop Services

Users can create a shortcut on their desktop to the Remote Desktop Connection Client on their local PC to make it easier… Read more: Create RDP Shortcuts for users to login to Windows Server

Adjusting Server Manager settings to it doesn’t automatically start upon login (or turn it back on) Update: the steps below for modifying… Read more: Adjusting Server Manager settings on 2012R2 so it doesn’t automatically start upon login

Summary – Hosting desktops in the cloud goes by many names and can be setup in several methods depending on your needs. … Read more: VDI, Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Hosted Desktop and Remote Desktop Hosting

RDS SUMMARY: We get many questions about Remote Desktop Services on our hosted Windows Servers and below is a summary of many… Read more: Hosted Remote Desktop Services RDS on Windows Server – Summary

Fixing login problems with Remote Desktop Services If you have having issues logging into a Windows Server with Remote Desktop Services, below… Read more: Remote Desktop Connection: An authentication error has occurred. The Local Security Authority cannot be contacted

We can provide most Microsoft software licensing on a monthly basis through the SPLA program.  These licenses are provided on a monthly… Read more: Microsoft Licensing – Volume Licensing versus SPLA Licensing costs

If you are using the RemoteApp RDWeb Access website feature (RDweb) in Windows Server 2008 R2 and have client/user PCs that have… Read more: RemoteApp RDWeb website hosted on Windows Server 2008R2 does not work with Windows 10 Edge Browser

Users often ask if there is way to share documents between users on a remote desktop / terminal server running Windows Server… Read more: Sharing Public User folder in Windows Server 2012 R2

Although hosting providers are generally required to provide the Windows Server operating system license via the SPLA program on hosted servers, very… Read more: Does your hosting provider offer remote desktop services licensing?

REMOTEAPP For remote desktop (terminal server) application hosting where the user is logging into a full desktop session, MAC users should have… Read more: RemoteApp and options for MAC users

You can create local group policies that affect non-administrators only (or even specific users). This can be useful to keep non administrator… Read more: How to create group policies in Server 2012R2 that only affect specified users

We have had issues where RDP users haven’t been able to login on a remote desktop terminal server when the “user much… Read more: Issue in Windows 2012 R2 when setting RDP users to change password upon login

This post is about how to shadow a session if the server is not connected to a domain. If the server is… Read more: How to Shadow a user’s remote desktop session on Windows 2012 R2 server not connected to a domain

Issue: Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 reboots after installing Windows Updates during inconvenient times that don’t make sense and you would… Read more: How to modify timing of Windows Updates in 2012 / 2012 R2 to control timing of updates and restarts

By default, Remote Desktop Services allows users to disconnect from a remote session without logging off the server and ending the session.… Read more: How to set time limit for disconnected sessions Windows Server 2012R2

There are Remote Desktop Client apps for a variety of devices.   The Remote Desktop Connection client is automatically built in to Windows… Read more: Remote Desktop Connection Client for Android

Automatically launching a program or application upon login to a Remote Desktop Session.  See below for methods to use the “start program… Read more: How to launch a program automatically when logging into Remote Desktop Server

The most recent Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview iso is so large that only some DVDs readers can read it.  Example try loading… Read more: How to create a Bootable USB to install Windows Server iso image to fix the error BOOTMGR missing

Many people want to use a domain name instead of the IP address of their remote desktop terminal server to login via… Read more: How do I point a domain or subdomain to the IP of my Remote Desktop Server

Recently while expanding the disk size on a Windows Server 2012 R2 VM, we received an error message pop-up saying “the parameter… Read more: Extending volume size in Windows 2012 R2 error “the parameter is incorrect”

You download and run the Microsoft Web Platform Installer wpilauncher.exe file.  Then click on Applications link on the top of the page… Read more: How do I install WordPress on windows server 2012

A client of ours running a Windows 2012 R2 remote desktop, terminal server was having issues where when they typed on their… Read more: Help my remote desktop server is capitalizing every other character I type like camel case or a sticky shift key

REDIRECTION OF PRINTERS / HARD DRIVES / CLIPBOARD FROM YOUR LAPTOP OR DESKTOP On client laptop/desktop prior to connecting to server: Local Printing (and… Read more: Redirection of printers and local drives on hosted RDP server

Use the steps below to schedule a task which can automatically reboot your Windows 2008 R2 server on a recurring basis.  Please beware that users… Read more: Using Task Scheduler to schedule recurring automatic reboot of Windows Server 2008R2

Riptide Hosting offers the following backup options for Dedicated servers and Remote Desktop RDP hosted servers. BACKUPS IN OUR VMWARE VM ENVIRONMENT… Read more: Dedicated Server and RDP remote desktop server backup options

Vipre firewall settings to allow RDP remote desktop connection to your virtual server. You will need to login to the server via… Read more: How to configure Vipre Antivirus firewall settings to allow RDP remote desktop connection

UPDATE FOR 2012 R2: The Desktop Experience feature is still required to be installed for Disk Cleanup to be available.  The Desktop… Read more: Reducing size of WinSxS directory on Windows Server 2008 R2

We had a user who was having issues sending email in an older version of outlook on their remote desktop terminal server… Read more: Outlook file corruption for one user on remote desktop server

Generally we don’t recommend installing FTP on a server unless it is necessary.  In some cases, it can be easier to transfer files… Read more: FTP service on remote desktop server or 2008 r2 windows server

HOSTING FILEMAKER SERVER (database) AND FILEMAKER PRO (client) ON HOSTED SERVERS Riptide Hosting provides servers with Dedicated Windows Operating System environments for… Read more: How to host Filemaker Pro database on a remote desktop or terminal server

We work with many IT consultants/firms that use our hosting services for their clients.  Our premium hosting services are a good fit… Read more: Riptide Hosting partners with IT consultants

When you add programs on a Terminal Server, you should follow the directions below by going to Control Panel -> Programs ->… Read more: Installing applications / programs on remote desktop terminal server 2008R2 or 2012R2

We offer many types of hosting – below is a discussion of some of our different offerings.   Remote desktop (terminal) server hosting… Read more: Riptide Hosting – Dedicated Server Hosting, Virtual Server Hosting and Colocation

Hosting your applications, programs and server infrastructure in a datacenter has many advantages versus utilizing a desktop/server in your office including security,… Read more: Riptide Hosting – Why Hosting and Why Riptide?

Our Server Hosting services (dedicated server hosting, virtual server hosting and remote desktop hosting) are designed with redundant infrastructure to keep your… Read more: Riptide Hosting – Premium Infrastructure to Avoid Downtime

Our remote desktop hosting (terminal server hosting) servers are designed to provide access to your applications from anywhere. Using Windows remote desktop… Read more: Microsoft Office and alternatives on remote desktop hosting (terminal server application hosting)

Update for Windows Server 2016 – Windows Defender is built-in to Windows Server 2016 and is provided at no charge.  If you… Read more: Anti-virus on Riptide’s Windows Server Hosting

Windows Server comes with Internet Explorer (you are also free to download another browser of your choice such as Chrome or Firefox).… Read more: Disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration

If you are prevented from logging on to your server via RDP and receive a message that the maximum number of connections… Read more: RDP connections exceeded in Windows Server 2008R2

If you are using a Windows OS (Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8), the remote desktop connection client is already included in Windows… Read more: Remote Desktop Connection Client for Macs

Extended support for Windows Server 2003 ends July 14, 2015 which means all patches and security updates will end in July 2015.… Read more: Windows Server 2003 End-of-Life is July 2015

Follow the steps below to allow redirection of sound from a remote desktop server (terminal server) to local/client machine. This applies in… Read more: Redirect sound audio from remote desktop server to local machine

Windows Server 2008R2 with remote desktop services role (terminal services) and Access database We recently had a user notice that database reports… Read more: Remote Desktop sessions varying speed opening database reports

Applies to Windows Server 2008R2 Microsoft does not recommend installing the Remote Desktop Services role (Terminal Services role) on a domain controller… Read more: Printing issues on Terminal Server with Domain Controller role

We have had some clients recently having issues with the console viewer recognizing the keyboard strokes when using older idrac versions with… Read more: Trouble with console viewer in older drac version with newer browsers versions

RemoteApp in Windows Server 2012R2 To use Remote App on Windows Server 2012 R2, the server must be connected to a domain… Read more: How to set up RemoteApp on Server 2012 R2

Hopefully this helps people save a lot of time. If you no longer see your VMware host in vCenter after you upgrade… Read more: vmware vcenter upgrade with cisco 1000v host disappears

If you are cross connecting two servers or using a private internal network to connect your servers you will want to have… Read more: Windows server how to change Public network to Private network

Are you trying to use Permalinks with WordPress to have a nice page name rather than www.domain…com/?p=3 and you see the message… Read more: You should update your web.config now WordPress Permalinks

iDRAC6 error “Secure Connection Failed” when trying to access several iDRAC cards. If you access several iDRAC cards for remote administration of… Read more: iDRAC error Secure Connection Failed

If you have noticed that your windows server has a lot of files in the folder ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsWERReportQueue you can delete them to… Read more: Can I delete files in the WERReportQueue folder on Windows Server 2008R2

If you see the following error after a successful install of wordpress on a IIS 7.5 on a Windows Server the fix… Read more: WordPress error Windows Server HTTP Error 403.14 Forbiden

Last week we had a customer who’s Windows 2008 R2 server stopped responding after selecting to restart the server.  If updates are… Read more: Windows Server 2008 R2 stuck on windows update at 32%