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Windows Remote Desktop

The Windows Server operating system is most often accessed and managed through a protocol called RDP, or Remote Desktop Protocol. This provides you with a graphical interface of your Windows Server that looks and acts just like a standard Windows OS, like the one you have on your Home PC.

multiple connections

RDP only supports one connection per Windows user. Each user gets their own desktop, so you can not have multiple RDP Connections to the same desktop.

multiple users

The Windows license we provide only supports 2 users. If you need more you'll have to upgrade your liscence through Microsoft.

We're covering connecting from a Windows PC, but Microsoft also has official RDP Clients for operating systems other than Windows. We'll be adding them to this article soon™! For information on where to get and how to use the other clients on your operating system, check out the links below.

Other Operating Systems
Android/Chrome OS
iOS/iPadOS
MacOS
The RDP apps on iOS, MacOS, and Android are being renamed to "Windows".
  1. Locate your Credentials in you welcome email.

    The credentials and IPv4 address for your server are provided in the “Server Details” section of the VPS Welcome Email that was sent to the address you signed up with, shown in the image to the right.

    The VPS Welcome email for a Basic Trading VPS with a box surrounding the ��“Server Details” section in the middle.Loading...

  2. Open the Remote Desktop Connection application.

    You can do this by opening the start menu on your Home PC and typing “Remote Desktop Connection” into the start menu. If you have a search bar directly in your taskbar, that can be used as well.

    As you start to type the name of the program into the Start Menu, you should see the program appear in the results in a similar way to the image on the right. You can then either click on the entry in the list, press enter to launch the currently selected item, or press the Open button on the right side of the start menu.

    The windows start menu with “Remo” typed into to the search field, showing the “Remote Desktop Connection” program as the first result.Loading...

  3. Enter your server's IP address from the VPS Welcome Email.

    You should see a window that looks similar to the image shown on the right, with an empty computer address and a “none specified” username. Enter the IPv4 address contained within the VPS Welcome Email you received from HostVenom into the computer field and click Connect.

    The Windows Remote Desktop Connection application with the computer text field / drop down selected and empty. There are two buttons at the bottom, “Connect” and “Help” with a “Show Options” toggle on the bottom right.Loading...

  4. Click "Connect".
  5. Click the "More Choices" button then select "Use a different account".
  6. Enter the login credentials from the VPS Welcome Email.

    You should be able to enter both a username and password instead of just a password after selecting "More Choices" -> "Use a different account". You’ll need to enter the username and password provided by the VPS Welcome email you received from HostVenom.

    A Windows Security popup with just a password field and an arrow pointing to text that says “More choices”. Loading...

    A Windows Security popup with both a username and password screen, and the “More choices” toggle expanded. Below “More choices” is the current Windows account and the option to “Use a different account”. Loading...

  7. Click "yes" to confirm that you want to trust the certificate provided by the server.

    You'll get a warning during your first connection to your Windows 2019/2022 server saying that the remote computer could not be identified. This is normal for the first connection and has to do with the certificate used to prove that the server is the server you’re wanting to connect to.

    Since you haven’t connected to the server in the past, and the server’s certificate isn’t registered with a 3rd party, your computer is relying on you to say that you want to trust this connection. The only time you should be worried about this warning is when it shows up when you are connecting to a Windows 2019/2022 server you’ve connected to before.

    A Remote Desktop Connection security warning with multiple subsections going over the information about the certificate provided by the Windows Server. The top of the warning is yellow and has a shield with an exclamation point. The bottom right corner contains two buttons, “Yes” and “No” with the “No” button being highlighted by default.Loading...

  8. Close the Server Manager to access your Windows Server Desktop.

    On the first connection and after a restart, HostVenom VPSs will have the Windows Server Manager open, which is used to interact with and configure your server remotely. You can close this application using the close button in the top right corner, just like on your Home PC running Windows.

    After closing the Windows Server Manager, you should see the default windows background and a Windows taskbar. There won't be any icons on the desktop but most of the default Windows applications will be installed, like Microsoft Edge, so you'll need to open them through the start menu.

    The Windows Server Manager opened on the Windows Server desktop.Loading...

    The default Windows 10 background and the Windows 0 taskbar with the search bar enabled.Loading...

    disable server manager

    If you restart your VPS frequently, you might want to check out our section on Disabling the Server Manager startup on boot.

video tutorial

If you'd like to follow along with a video tutorial instead, check out this one we posted to our YouTube channel!

Reach Out!

Have Questions? Need Help? Feel free to reach out!