Enabling RDP in Windows 7 Home Premium

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This blog post is included for archival purposes and may contain outdated information. While it provides historical insights, we strongly recommend that you double-check the details before relying on any of the information outlined here.

A client’s PC was on the verge of collapse: constantly crashing and blue screening every other day. I told him that it would be best to get a new machine, virtualize his current environment and everything would work much better.

In order to do this, I first used the excellent utility Disk2VHD to convert his machine’s hard drive into a Microsoft VHD.  Upon doing so, I set the virtual machine in a MacMini running Windows Server 2012.  This is merely as proof of concept that this will work and to convince him that nothing will change.

I did not want the customer to have to touch Hyper-V, so I thought I’d just put a shortcut on the desktop and have him RDP into the machine.  After setting up an internal network and giving both the host and the VM static IPs, I was baffled as I could not RDP to the Win7 machine.  Long story short, it wasn’t the firewall, but rather that Windows 7 Home Premium does not allow RDP sessions.  I was about to install VNC software and then I stumbled on a page that showed you how to enable this in Windows 7 Home Premium:

http://goo.gl/KpzKui

Once I ran the script, I was able to access the client’s machine via RDP from the host without a hitch.

I do advice you to read the page and look at the script to understand exactly what is going on.  This is in no way supported by anyone and should be only used understudying what it really is: a hack.

About Author

Christian Saborio

Christian is a seasoned computer engineer with a rich career spanning collaborations with industry leaders such as Artinsoft (now Mobilize.net), Microsoft, HP, and Intel. As a technical evangelist and trainer, Christian honed his expertise in Costa Rica and Seattle, delivering impactful solutions and sharing his knowledge.

Now based in Sydney, Australia, Christian channels his passion into web development, leading a talented team to tackle diverse projects with innovation and precision. His commitment to crafting exceptional digital experiences reflects his deep-rooted enthusiasm for technology and problem-solving.

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