A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.
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I've switched almost exclusively to using RustDesk these days for anything outside of my LAN, and have had zero problems with it running on barebones machines, zero monitor connected. It's open source!
If you're wanting to use the windows built in RDP, there apparently is a DLL wrapper that enables the RDP server on Home installations. See github. I haven't had to use it though because my machines are all, well, "legal" copies of 10 or 11 pro, so i cant speak to whether it works or not.
Thank you! This works for me!
Although, to anyone who ends up here in search of the same question, you have to enable software rendering for it to work without a monitor
For anyone wondering how one would go about upgrading your home install to pro, there's MAS. It's a simple script that will activate the windows version of your choosing, it can activate msoffice too.
That's the other option, yeah. If you already have a valid OEM key tied to your hardware though I can understand people not wanting to fuck with it.
Yeah ofc, if you already have a valid key doing everything you need you ofc have no need of it. If you would like BitLocker and remote desktop protocol (build in) like I do, you need a "pro" license.
Stealing from a big company like microsoft is still ethically justified imo.
Just use the rdp wrapper. https://www.helpwire.app/blog/remote-desktop-for-windows-10-home/
It works, i've used it in professional settings no worries
This solution doesn't seem to work. It says not supported on newer versions of windows.
The support page on the github says something about updating an ini but there are no inis and I don't know where to put this ini
Just because you've used it professionally, doesn't mean it's OK.
Run the installation file to install the RDPwrap dynamic link library (DLL). This software provides the necessary functionality to enable Remote Desktop from a Windows 10 Home system.
begin
if not Reg.OpenKey('\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\Licensing Core', True) then
begin
Code := GetLastError;
Writeln('[-] OpenKey error (code ', Code, ').');
Halt(Code);
end;
try
Reg.WriteBool('EnableConcurrentSessions', True);
except
Writeln('[-] WriteBool error.');
Halt(ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED);
end;
Reg.CloseKey;
So essentially the RDPwrap software subverts Windows 10 Home security to enable Remote Desktop Connections.
Even without disassembling their shim DLL, just their readme language and installer code doesn't give me warm fuzzies about this software's ability to survive legal scrutiny or a Microsoft audit.
Just like with backups, in my professional IT Admin opinion: if its expensive enough to need remote access, it's expensive enough to remote access the right way. There's plenty of free remote options on Windows that don't require monkey patching the core services and using a Home license professionally. Plus, if you have more than a few Windows installs, you probably want Group Policy anyways, so you're up to the pro license key for that anyway, plus the Windows Server license key(s) for the AD controller.
Yeah, windows is expensive when used professionally. If you need windows that badly deal with it or talk to your software vendors about getting Linux or Mac software.
One hardware option is an HDMI/DP dummy plug, they're a couple bucks on amazon and make it think there is a monitor connected.
That's ridiculously clever actually
This paired with moonlight & sunshine will work perfectly.
Enter-pssession gives you powershell on a remote windows machine. Might take some setup to configure the local firewall and enable access. But once you have powershell you have plenty of options.
Hardly worth it now that windows natively supports ssh
Chrome Remote Desktop works well and doesn't require a monitor (at least not one that's turned on).
$400 is pretty steep. That is probably more than a lot of the computers this would be plugged into.
You can buy a copy of Pro on a key reseller for like 20 bucks, I would highly recommend doing so.
Remmina should cover your use cases, as it has options for many protocols including RDP. I use Remmina on my Linux machines and all my Windows machines just use RDP since they are all pro.
Remmina, since it's using RDP, should be able to connect with no monitor.
If you're already connecting to your home network via VPN, then RDP is always an option.
Edit: read the whole post before replying. Someone else clarified you can run RDP on Home, and recommended my preferred remote control app, Rustdesk.
Do you selfhost rustdesk or using default server? Selfhosting looks bit too complex and default server is not working properly every time (laggy and losing connection)
You can use Parsec. It's free and closed source, but it has an optional driver that, if you install it (you will be asked during the main installation) it will allow you to use Windows in remote without an attached screen. I tried it and it worked quite well. In the remote device you can even select at what resolution you want your host computer to cast when there is no screen plugged in...
Checkout Remote Desktop Manager from Devolutions. It let's you do pretty much any type of remote connection you need to do, and can even do things like start your VPN for you before accessing a remote resource.
Xrdp with it default configuration on debain12 worked for me pretty fine to access it from windows 7's remote desktop protocol on a local network. There was no sound though, so you may need to tweak it to use pipewire or whatever you are using on your linux machine, if you are using any.
If you're ok leaving a monitor plugged in (but can be off), my go-to is Parsec. Bonus points is that it works without needing a VPN (it uses UDP NAT hole punching like Chrome Remote Desktop). If you'll be far far away from home, Chrome Remote Desktop tends to be slightly more reliable over high latency than parsec for me - but that could just be because I tuned mine for super low latency when nearby.
Good news is, you can run both at the same time and see how they treat ya! (And both are free for base use, but parsec has a handful of premium features you can pay for if you like it) I have Parsec, CRD, RDP, and SSH all set up in various forms to get back "home" when I'm not.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| NAT | Network Address Translation |
| SSH | Secure Shell for remote terminal access |
| UDP | User Datagram Protocol, for real-time communications |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network |
4 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 7 acronyms.
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