How can I use my devices and resources in a Remote Desktop session?

Redirecting a device on your computer makes it available for use in a Remote Desktop session. You can redirect most devices, including printers, smart cards, serial ports, drives, Plug and Play devices, media players based on the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP), and digital cameras based on the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP). You can also redirect your Clipboard.

To redirect devices and resources

1. Click to open Remote Desktop Connection.
2. Click Options, and then click the Local Resources tab.
3. Under Local devices and resources, select the devices or resources you want to redirect.
4. To see additional devices, or to redirect Plug and Play devices or drives and devices that you plug in later, click More.
5. To redirect supported Plug and Play devices, under Local devices and resources, double-click Other supported Plug and Play (PnP) devices.
   The Plug and Play devices that support redirection and are currently plugged in appear in this list.
6. Select the check box next to each device that you want to redirect.
7. To automatically redirect drives or devices that you plug in or connect to in the future, under Local devices and resources, double-click Drives, and then click Drives that I plug in later.
   – or –
   Double-click Other supported Plug and Play (PnP) devices, and then click Devices that I plug in later.

Notes

• You can't transfer content that's protected with digital rights management (DRM) from redirected media players.

• Plug and Play device redirection is not supported over cascaded Remote Desktop connections. This means that when you're connected remotely to one computer, and from within that session you connect to another computer, the second connection is cascaded. For example, you can redirect and use a Plug and Play device attached to your local computer when you connect to a remote computer. However, if you connect to a second remote computer from the first one, you can't redirect and use the Plug and Play device with the second computer.

• If you're connecting to a computer running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 and you want to copy and paste files, follow the steps above to redirect the drive on this computer that contains your temporary folder. In most cases, this will be drive C.

• Due to security restrictions, you can't copy a file from a remote computer to the root folder of a drive on this computer unless you're logged on using the default computer administrator account.

To edit the .rdp file

Your Remote Desktop Connection settings are saved in a file with an .rdp extension. The default .rdp file that is used if you haven't created a separate one is a hidden file located in your My Documents folder. To make it visible, see Show hidden files.
1. Open the .rdp file in a text editor such as Notepad.
   • Click to open Notepad.
2. Add or change the following line:

   redirectposdevices:i:value

   • If value = 0, Microsoft Point of Service for .NET device redirection is disabled.
   • If value = 1, Microsoft Point of Service for .NET device redirection is enabled.

For more information about editing .rdp files, go to Remote Desktop Protocol settings in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows XP on the Microsoft website.