Admin Tips
- Windows Server 2008/2003/2000/XP/NT Administrator Knowledge Base
  - Windows 2003
    - Admin Tips
      - Terminal Servers and Thin Clients
        Enable Viewing of All Processes for Non-Administrative Users on a Terminal Server

Section(s): Terminal Servers and Thin Clients
Published on Feb 07, 2008.
Last Modified on Feb 07, 2008.
Last Modified by Chris Sanders.
Rating: Not Rated

Terminal Servers typically only displays the processes for all users logged on to it to administrators. You can change that with a simple registry hack.

By design, a Terminal Server will only display the processes running for the user that is currently logged on. If you are an administrator of that server you can view all of the processes for all users logged on to it. However, what can you do if you want users to be able to view all processes running for all users on the server without giving them administrative rights?

The answer is a quick registry modification. If you open the registry editor and browse to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\TaskManager you will find the Preferences value. If you edit this value you will find a pretty large mess of hex. Don’t be afraid, you don’t have to rewrite the whole thing. The only change you will need to make is in the fourth from last pair. Change this pair from 00 to 01. This will need to be changed for every user you wish to have this ability.

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Chris Sanders is a consultant for KeeFORCE, one of the most popular network consulting firms in western Kentucky. Chris is the author of the book Practical Packet Analysis as well as several technical articles. His personal website at http://www.chrissanders.org contains a great deal of information, articles, and guides related to network administration, network security, packet analysis, and general information technology.

About Chris Sanders

Chris Sanders is a network consultant for KeeFORCE, one of the most popular network consulting firms in western Kentucky. Chris is the author of the book Practical Packet Analysis as well as several technical articles. His personal website at www.chrissanders.org contains a great deal of information, articles, and guides related to network administration, network security, packet analysis, and general information technology.