Remote Desktop to Windows 10 disconnect freezes session

Question

I have Windows 10 machines that I'm connecting to using RDP (Remote Desktop). Those machines are used to run interactive tasks for a long time. Those tasks are basically large Office (Excel/PowerPoint) applications that need to have active and open application windows in order to run.

I would like to be able to close RDP connection while those tasks are running and open it later to collect results. This is problematic as (if I understand correctly) Windows 10 terminals run GUI in "less" mode which sends sessions to the "console mode" when user disconnects. This causes those tasks to freeze until I connect again to the terminal.

Up until know I've been using Windows 7 and it wasn't an issue there, as closing the RDP didn't 'freeze' the sessions. I would like to configure the same behavior for Windows 10.

I know that there is a command that closes the RDP connection and keeps the session in "full" mode.

FOR /F ""skip=1 tokens=3"" %s IN ('query user %USERNAME%') DO (%windir%\System32\tscon.exe %s /dest:console)

However, I would like to go without this command and be able to just close my remote desktop connection and have my session still running in a "full" mode.

Is there a way to configure Windows 10 to make it leave session in "full" mode?

I might not be using correct terminology here for which I'm sorry.

Answer 1

The utility tscon is the best solution, because it will work.

The only other option is trying to tweak the time limits under the Group Policy settings below. Do not trust Microsoft when it says that "Not configured" is the same as "Enabled" with the value of Never, but set it yourself. A reboot might be required.

• Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Session Time Limits

• User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Session Time Limits