Remote Desktop RDP File automatically logs in for me, does not for anyone else

Question

In the environment I'm in, there are multiple users using Windows XP and Windows 7. I'm on Windows XP, and if I double click a .RDP file that I have created, I put in the IP address I want to connect to, and it'll log me in.

However, if I go to another user, also using Windows XP, double click the exact same file, enter the exact same IP address, it prompts the user to choose the username and to enter the password.

I'm at an absolute loss. Help!

EDIT:

OK, I've been asked to add some more information to this to clarify.

The local environments are for either WinXP or Win7 computers, connecting to Server 2008 computers across the country. There are thousands of them that share the same login information, so I keep the username and password (encrypted, of course) inside the RDP file. Active Directory is implemented in our network.

Solution 1

The answer to it is that mstsc.exe uses crypt32.dll to encrypt the password; according to http://www.remkoweijnen.nl/blog/2007/10/18/how-rdp-passwords-are-encrypted/, it appears to be hashed and encrypted using the user ID of the person doing the encrypting at that time.

This is why it works for me and no one else; I have tested this theory by taking my RDP file, having someone else copy and paste said RDP file for themselves, then using the exe downloaded from the above link to encrypt the password, save the encrypted password in the RDP file and then try connecting to a computer.

Solution 2

It seem to me at one point or another, you saved the credential for that rdp session on the machine that logs in automatically. Like so.

You see it's not the rdp file that is saving the credentials for the RDP file has no way of storing logon credentials. If you are looking to remove the saved credentials from your machine right click the rdp file and select edit, then in the below screen select delete.

If however you are looking to create an rdp file if which the user is never propmted for credentials, this cannot be done in xp without the user entering the credentials first. However, in vista and win 7 you can use "cmdkey" simply create a bat file or powershell script with the following code

cmdkey /generic:TERMSRV/127.0.0.1 /user: $username /pass: $password

To delete

cmdkey /delete:TERMSRV/127.0.0.1

remember to change ip address and username and password

Comments

[J.D. Lowe]

Wow, I gotta learn how to write these. So, anywho, this is where it gets confusing; the IP address changes every time, so nothing gets saved.

[Sam Stephenson]

please add more info about your environment to ur question, ie does your environment use an active directory, are you using rdp to connect to another machine or all these rpd sessons to a virtual machine on a hypervisor ie cloud based computers?