Set Warning message on Remote Desktop login

In this tutorial I will show you how you can set a warning message for users trying to establish Remote Desktop connection. This message will be shown prior to the dialogue for providing login credentials. One very good use of such message is to provide Legal Notice and reassure that intruders have been officially warned. Here is Microsoft explanation of what this option provides.

Interactive logon: Message text for users attempting to log on



This security setting specifies a text message that is displayed to users when they log on.



This text is often used for legal reasons, for example, to warn users about the ramifications of misusing company information or to warn them that their actions may be audited.



Default: No message.



Caution:

Windows XP and the Windows Server 2003 family add support for configuring logon banners that can exceed 512 characters in length and that can also contain carriage-return line-feed sequences. However, Windows 2000 clients cannot interpret and display message text that is created by computers running Windows XP or the Windows Server 2003 family. You must use a Windows 2000 computer to create a logon message policy that applies to Windows 2000 computers.



If you inadvertently create a logon message policy using a computer running Windows XP Professional or the Windows Server 2003 family, and you discover that it does not display properly on Windows 2000 computers, do the following:

Undefine the setting.

Redefine the setting using a Windows 2000 computer.



Simply changing a Windows XP Professional or a Windows Server 2003 family-defined logon message policy using a Windows 2000 computer does not work. The setting must be undefined first.

There are few ways to do set this message. Of course as we all know pretty much everything in Windows family OS can be set in the Registry directly. Since it is also know that Windows is quite fragile when typing in registry directly the safest way to make this change is through the Local Security Policy. For the purposes of this example we will use Windows XP Professional but it should be no problem to be applied on Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 20003 and Vista. The actions are similar in all operating systems just they differ in the steps to reach Local Policies administration.

In Windows XP Professional you first need to make sure that your user has Administrators privileges. If you are a limited user you will not be able to access Local Policies. If you are not a member of Remote Desktop Users or Administrators groups you will not be able to use Remote Desktop but that is another story.

To set the proper message you need to start from the Control Panel. This is considered Intermediate level tutorial so I will not explain how to get to the Control Panel here.

Go to Local Security Policy. From the left hand-side expand menu Local Policies, then click on Security Options. At the right hand-side find Interactive logon: Message text for users attempting to log on. Right click on it and select Properties. On Local Policy Setting tab you can type the text that you want users to see.

Recommended tutorial : Change Remote Desktop Port