Multi Remote Desktop (MRD)

Multi Remote Desktop (MRD) is a replacement for the "Remote Desktop Client" (mstsc.exe) from Microsoft. MRD is optimized for administrative task on multiple servers. It allowes to switch between the different servers or to watch multiple servers at once.

Current version is Beta 0.12.10362.0. This beta version will expire on 2010-09-30.

The program requires the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 the "Remote Desktop Client" 5.1 or newer (included in Windows XP SP1 and newer) from Microsoft.

Tips & Tricks

You can switch between severs using Ctrl-Win-Tab.
Use Ctrl-Alt-Break to toggle Full-Screen mode. (as in the standard Remote Desktop Client)
When displaying multiple servers, a double-click on the title selects the server.
Associate the file extension .mrd to <dir-of-mrd>\mrd.exe "@%1"
You can then put the argumets to connect to a server in a .mrd file and double click it.
The association can be set up on the command prompt by the following two commands:
assoc .mrd=mrdfile
ftype mrdfile="C:\Program Files\mrd\mrd.exe" "@%1"
A typical .mdr file could look like this:
```
  --desktopwidth=1280
  --desktopheight=1024
  --colordepth=24
  --selectnew
  --connect
  --domain=mydomain
  --username=myname
  myserver1
  myserver2
```
The programs can use plugins to provide special proxy mechanisms for the remote connections. (documented in near future.)

Command line arguments

mrd.exe supports the command line arguments as follows: Anything starting with -- is an option. All options sty in effect until they are changed or negated. They apply to all the servers following the options. Anything not starting with -- will be treated as a server name or address.

Example: mrd --desktopwith=800 --desktopheiht=600 server1 --username=demo --password=secret --connect server2
This will add two servers, directly logging in into the second server.

It is also possible to specify the arguments in a file (one option or server per line) and pass the filepath prefixed with a @ to mrd.
Example: mrd @C:\my_servers.mrd

Options

Option	Description
--desktopwidth=<width>	Width of the remote desktop. (Default: 1024)
--desktopheight=<height>	Height of the remote desktop. (Default: 768)
--colordepth=<bitsperpixel>	Number of bit per pixel. Allowed values: 8, 15, 16, 24 (Default: 16)
--username=<username>	Username to log in.
--domain=<domain>	Domain of username to log in.
--password=<password> --nopassword --promptpassword --promptgrouppassword	Password to log in. Use --nopassword to reset a set password; --password= would set a empty string as password. --promptpassword prompts for the credentials on the client side before connecting to the server and allows to save them. (Built in functianality of the original remote desktop client.) --promptgrouppassword prompts for the password once. The password will be used for all servers following the --promptgrouppassword option until another password option is specified.
--addduplicate --skipduplicate	With --skipduplicate a server will not be added, if already in the list. The default is --skipduplicate.
--selectnew --noselectnew	With --selectnew the servers added will be selected (displayed). The default is --noselectnew.
--connect --noconnect	With --connect the servers added will be connected as soon as they are displayed. The default is --noconnect.
--console --noconsole	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --noconsole.
--keyhook --nokeyhook	See Microsoft documentation. The setting does not depend on the full screen mode. The default is --keyhook.
--redirectclipboard --noredirectclipboard	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --redirectclipboard.
--redirectdrives --noredirectdrives	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --noredirectdrives.
--redirectports --noredirectports	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --noredirectports.
--redirectprinters --noredirectprinters	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --noredirectprinters.
--redirectsmartcards --noredirectsmartcards	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --noredirectsmartcards.
--acceleratorpassthrough --noacceleratorpassthrough	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --acceleratorpassthrough.
--enablecursorshadow --disablecursorshadow	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --enablecursorshadow.
--enablecursorsettings --disablecursorsettings	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --enablecursorsettings.
--enablefullwindowdrag --disablefullwindowdrag	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --enablefullwindowdrag.
--enabletheming --disabletheming	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --enabletheming.
--enablewallpaper --disablewallpaper	See Microsoft documentation. The default is --enablewallpaper.
--plugin=<pluginname>	Plugin (name of the DLL) to use.
--pluginarg=<arg>	Arguments for the plugin. --pluginarg can be used multiple times. However all --pluginarg must follow --plugin and preceed the next server.