![[Home]](http://malektips2.com/graphics/logo-small.png){kind=logo}
Windows XP and Remote Desktop Connection
Decrease Lag Time
SUMMARY: Several tweaks you can perform with the Windows XP Remote Desktop Connection to increase its performance.
Here are some general recommendations for decreasing the lag time when using the Windows XP Remote Desktop Connection. These tips should make your remote desktop seem more responsive. Your results may vary.
* If you are not remotely accessing software that needs true color representation (like a photo editor), turn the color depth to 16-bit or 256 colors (read the other MalekTips for information on changing this setting). This can make a huge impact on the transfer speeds, resulting in connections that respond better to your keyboard clicks and mouse movements.
* Use the DOS prompt when possible, bypassing Windows Explorer. If you know how to use DOS commands, opening up a window should result in much faster connections. DOS prompt windows are usually only two colors; that of the window background and that of the text, meaning the display compresses well and refreshes are sent faster from the remote machine to yours. This also can improve response time.
* If you have to have multiple programs open at once, try to keep only one program's window visible and the rest minimized. The less movement and changes on the remote desktop's machine, the less visual information that has to be transferred to your machine, and the less lag time you will experience.
* Use the tips mentioned in MalekTips on the built-in slow connection optimization features, and turn off everything! You don't need the remote desktop's background graphic, or silly menu animations, and if you're trying to do some work with a slow connection, themes can just get in the way.
* While connected to a remote server, try not to run any programs on your own computer that are Internet or processor-intensive. If you run other software that requires the Internet, the bandwidth available to the Remote Desktop Connection will decrease. Likewise, if you run processor-intensive applications on your system, your computer may not be able to process updates from the remote machine as fast as possible.
Return to the Windows XP and Remote Desktop Connection page.
blog comments powered by Disqus
