Allow regular users to administer a Win2k Server using Terminal Services

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The ability to administer a Win2k Server using Terminal Services is well known. Traditionally, when the server is in administrative mode, two concurrent RDP connections are allowed for members of the Administrators group (Domain or Local). There is a way to get around this limitation TO ALLOW REGULAR USERS to connect without being members of the administrator's group. Use the following tip at your discretion. Check the Win2k EULA if necessary.

Create the user and make him/her a member of the administrators group. Log in as that user using the Terminal Server RDP client. Log out. Next, remove the user from the administrators group. Open the Terminal Services Configuration console. Click the Connections folder in the left hand pane. Double-click the RDP-Tcp icon in the left hand pane. Click on the Permissions tab and add the new user giving full control permissions. That's it: your non-administrator user can now connect to the server using the Terminal Services client even though the server is in Administrative mode. Up to two concurrent connections are technically possible until you change the server to a Terminal Server application server.

Reference: MS document Q253831