RDP Default CMD font upon "start the following program on connection"

Question

We are using and RDP file to run an application via Terminal Server on a Windows Server 2008 that uses the command prompt to execute.

We have a short-cut defined in the server's desktop with the font settings (name and size) we would like to use for the command prompt window. If the RDP leads the user to access the server's desktop so they double click in the short-cut, the CMD window obeys the settings (this is standard behaviour).

If we instead have the users activate the remote connection making use of the "start the following program on connection" parameter in the RDP file, the command prompt that automatically runs does not have the settings.

The settings it uses are undesirable. We do not want users having to tinker with properties. Any clue on how to achieve this?

Answer 1

In the first case, console settings are stored in the shortcut itself (inside the .lnk file), so they only apply when that shortcut is clicked. In the second case, the shortcut is not being used – you run the executable directly. Having Windows check all .lnk's in existence is just impractical. But if you run your program this way, and then adjust the font settings, they will be stored in Registry¹, tied to the console window's starting title², and should apply to the program no matter how it is launched (unless they are overriden by a shortcut's settings).

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¹ The Registry location is HKCU\Console, an user-specific location (but could be deployed automatically using Group Policy).

² Sometimes it's the window title, but sometimes it's the executable's full path. I'm actually not entirely sure which is used when.