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Can a custom DPI setting be applied to Remote Desktop sessions?

When you try to change the DPI from a Remote Desktop session, you get a message that display settings can't be changed from a remote session. That made me think that changing DPI from a console setting would work. It did, sort of. If I connected via Remote Desktop to an existing console session with a custom DPI setting, that setting would be applied to the Remote Desktop session. However, if I logged off that session, the custom DPI would not be applied to subsequent Remote Desktop sessions even though it was maintained for subsequent console sessions.

It looks like the registry value HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics\AppliedDPI (and perhaps other values) is overwritten at logon, but I haven't been able figure out how to prevent it.

5 Answers5

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DPI can be changed via registry for all users on terminal server. If youwant to change from 96 to 120 dpi (125%), backup server registry and run this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontDPI]
"LogPixels"=dword:00000078

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts]
"Small Fonts (VGA res)"=-
"Courier 10,12,15 (VGA res)"=-
"MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res)"=-
"MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res)"=-
"Courier 10,12,15 (8514a res)"="COURFE.FON"
"MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (8514a res)"="SERIFFE.FON"
"MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (8514a res)"="SSERIFFE.FON"
"Small Fonts (8514a res)"="SMALLFE.FON"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\GRE_Initialize]
"FIXEDFON.FON"="8514fixe.fon"
"FONTS.FON"="8514syse.fon"
"OEMFONT.FON"="8514oeme.fon"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Hardware Profiles\0001\Software\Fonts]
"FIXEDFON.FON"="8514fixe.fon"
"FONTS.FON"="8514syse.fon"
"OEMFONT.FON"="8514oeme.fon"
"LogPixels"=dword:00000078

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Hardware Profiles\Current\Software\Fonts]
"FIXEDFON.FON"="8514fixe.fon"
"FONTS.FON"="8514syse.fon"
"OEMFONT.FON"="8514oeme.fon"
"LogPixels"=dword:00000078

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\0001\Software\Fonts]
"FIXEDFON.FON"="8514fixe.fon"
"FONTS.FON"="8514syse.fon"
"OEMFONT.FON"="8514oeme.fon"
"LogPixels"=dword:00000078

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\Current\Software\Fonts]
"FIXEDFON.FON"="8514fixe.fon"
"FONTS.FON"="8514syse.fon"
"OEMFONT.FON"="8514oeme.fon"
"LogPixels"=dword:00000078
Joey
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I have managed to connect RDP session with selected session resolution and scaling using display settings for session in this app: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/microsoft-remote-desktop-preview/9nblggh30h88

zdzich
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  • Has quite a few other issues but at least the scaling is smooth and automatic, even when moving the window between monitors with different DPI settings. – Alen Siljak Oct 03 '19 at 10:16
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You cannot change the DPI setting through a Remote Desktop session on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2726399

Greg Askew
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What are you trying to achieve with changing DPI?

for just making things bigger you may use (tested with WindowsXP) Control Panel -> Accessibility Options "Display" tab, check "Use high contrast", push "Settings" button Choose "Windows Classic (large)" scheme.

asashnov
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Unless I'm mistaken, then DPI is a setting that matters between the graphics card and the display, so setting on a remote server shouldn't make any difference.

I might have completely missed the point though, sorry :S

BuildTheRobots
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  • The issue I have, for example, is that I added a monitor with 3K resolution, which requires the DPI adjustment by scaling to 150% in order to read anything. When opening an RDP session in a window on this monitor, I need a microscope to see anything on the remote server. I assume that's what the OP meant, also. – Alen Siljak Oct 03 '19 at 10:18