Enable remote desktop without a working display

Question

The display on my PC stopped working and I really need to use this PC. How can I enable remote desktop connection "blindly" (via entering commands on the command line)? It's my own PC and I have Dropbox installed on it.

Solution

This might help. Good luck typing all of it in correctly with no screen.

Based on http://www.windows-commandline.com/enable-remote-desktop-command-line/

1. Press WINDOWS KEY+R to get a Run prompt
2. Type cmd and hit Enter
3. Verify you are in a Command Prompt window by pressing Ctrl+G and then hit Enter. If you hear a beep you've got a Command Prompt window open
4. Type reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
5. Type shutdowm /r /t 5 and hit Enter to reboot the PC in 5 seconds

That assumes you have the UAC disabled. If you do not, then you've got a bit more keyboard mastery to do.

You will need to launch Command Prompt as an administrator first. To do that with only a keyboard try this:

1. Press the WINDOWS KEY (this brings up the Start Menu)
2. Type command and wait a few seconds to make sure your Start Menu has returned "Command Prompt" as its search result (slower computers can sometimes take a bit to search the Start Menu)
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter - This will launch Command Prompt as an administrator, but a UAC prompt is still going to be in your way
4. Press TAB exactly 3 times and hit Enter - This will answer "Yes" to the UAC prompt

You should now have an administrator Command Prompt open. Now proceed with the first set of steps to add the registry key.

Alternatively if you have your file system memorized you could copy/paste those commands into notepad, save it as "something.bat" and then try to blindly cd into your dropbox dir and run the bat file. Might be easier than typing all of that out. If you go the batch file route you will still need to follow the above steps to get a administrator Command Prompt open unless your UAC is disabled.

Comments

[Kinnectus]

Can you remotely connect to the computer's registry from another machine on your network?

[user253751]

Do you have a spare monitor (if "display"="monitor"), or another PC you can swap the hard drive into (if it's not the monitor)? That would probably be easier.

[Admin]

Try using a TV and an old analog S-Video or composite/RCA connector if your graphics card has them.

[jamesdlin]

Are we supposed to assume Windows?

[Admin]

If you have a second computer running windows, you can do all of this remotely. To modify another computer's registry: Start -> Run -> Regedit -> File -> Connect Network Registry. After making registry changes, you can then run shutdown remotely as well: shutdown /r /t 5 /m \\computername