rdesktop

rdesktop is a remote desktop application for connecting to PCs (using the RDP protocol) running Microsoft Windows, including the departmental Terminal Servers. It is pre-installed on departmental Linux PCs. For a better graphical solution under Linux, consider also "Remmina" in the "Connect to your Physics Windows Desktop or Other Protected Machine From Outside The Department" section of this page.

It is an X11 application but must be started from the command line. The basic syntax is as follows:

rdesktop -u <username> -d PHYSICS -g 1024x768 <hostname to connect to>

You may put whatever resolution you prefer after the -g switch.

Other switches

Other switches can be used to optimise the performance.

-z: Enables compression. Increases performance on slow internet connections, but may make it worse on fast connections.

-P: Enables bitmap caching. Increases performance at the expense of using some of your disk space.

The -x switch tunes performance based on your connection speed:

-x m: For slow connections, including modems and 3G.
-x b: For home broadband.
-x l: For direct LAN connections. (From within Physics.)

If connecting to a Windows Terminal Server, type these commands first: