Faculty and Staff,
If you’re accessing your office computer with Remote Desktop via the VPN, you’re relying on the actual computer in your office being on and reachable over the network. When you disconnect from the computer, it’s important you do not click the “Shut Down” option in the Start menu:
Don’t click on “Shut Down”!
This will actually power off your machine and make it unavailable until it can be turned on again. You can call the Helpdesk–often we can turn it back on over the network, but in some cases we cannot and we need to ask Public Safety to restart the machine, which takes them away from other important work.
Click the “X” to disconnect without logging out or shutting down your office computer.
The best way to disconnect from a Remote Desktop session is just to hit the “X” in either the upper-right corner of the window, or in the drop down toolbar if you’re full-screen with the remote computer (to get this toolbar to pop up you just need to move the mouse to the top center of the screen and it will pop down.)
This will appear when you place your mouse at the center top of the screen when in full screen Remote Desktop.
When you click either of these “X”s you will get the following message:
If you click “OK” your computer will stay running and you can reattach to it later.
This is the safest way to end your Remote Desktop session. (You can also select “Disconnect” in the “Start/Power” menu above, but there’s a chance you might click the wrong thing.) When you reconnect to your Remote Desktop you will be able to restart your programs and apps where you left off as well. This is the equivalent of locking your PC when yo u go home, as opposed to logging off or powering it down.
If you do shut down your computer accidentally, or if it crashes or otherwise becomes unreachable, email the Helpdesk to troubleshoot. If you have or know your computer name it will expedite the troubleshooting.
