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How to change the

listening port for Remote
Desktop
Support for Windows XP has ended
Microsoft ended support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. This change has affected your
software updates and security options. Learn what this means for you and how to stay
protected.

Support for Windows Server 2003 ended on

July 14, 2015
Microsoft ended support for Windows Server 2003 on July 14, 2015. This change has affected
your software updates and security options. Learn what this means for you and how to stay
protected.

This article was previously published under Q306759

To continue receiving security updates for Windows, make

sure you're running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 ﴾SP3﴿.
For more information, refer to this Microsoft website: Support
is ending for some versions of Windows
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INTRODUCTION

This article describes how to change the port that Remote Desktop listens on.

Note The Remote Desktop Connection Client for the Mac supports only port 3389. 3389 is the
default port.

MORE INFORMATION

You can use the Remote Desktop feature in Microsoft Windows XP Professional to connect to
your computer from another remote computer.

Warning The Remote Assistance feature in Microsoft Windows XP may not work correctly if you
change the listening port.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
307711 Remote Assistance invitation file does not contain correct port number

To have us change the port that Remote Desktop listens, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you
prefer to fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Click Run in the File Download
dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.

Download

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Notes
Please type the new integer port number between 1025 and 65535 in the PortNumber text
box during the installation of the Fix it solution. Make sure the new port number is not in
use by other application.

This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other
language versions of Windows.

If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the Fix it solution to a flash drive
or a CD and then run it on the computer that has the problem.

Then, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me fix it myself

To change the port that Remote Desktop listens on, follow these steps.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry.
However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make
sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you
modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how
to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
1. Start Registry Editor.

2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\Win
Stations\RDP‐Tcp\PortNumber

3. On the Edit menu, click Modify, and then click Decimal.

4. Type the new port number, and then click OK.

5. Quit Registry Editor.

6. Restart the computer.

Note When you try to connect to this computer by using the Remote Desktop connection, you
must type the new port. Maybe you have to set the firewall to allow the new port number before
you connect to this computer
https://support.microsoft.com/en­us/kb/306759 by using the Remote Desktop connection. 3/6
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you connect to this computer by using the Remote Desktop connection.

304304 How to configure the Remote Desktop client to connect to a specific port when you
use Windows XP

Did this fix the problem?

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this
section. If the problem is not fixed, you can contact support.

We would appreciate your feedback. To provide feedback or to report any issues with this
solution, please leave a comment on the "Fix it for me" blog or send us an email.

Properties

Article ID: 306759 ‐ Last Review: 05/04/2011 03:30:00 ‐ Revision: 4.0

Applies to
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection for Macintosh

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition ﴾32‐bit x86﴿

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise

Windows Vista Enterprise

Windows Vista Enterprise 64‐bit Edition

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise

Windows 7 Enterprise

Windows 7 Professional

Keywords:

kbregistry kbsyssettings kbenv

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kbregistry kbsyssettings kbenv kbhowto kbnetwork kbfixme kbmsifixme KB306759

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