No Disconnect option in XP guest when RDP'd in

[doveman]

I'm running an XP guest but it only shows Log Off and Shut Down on the Start Menu when I'm RDP'd in to it, whereas I need Disconnect. I know there's a setting in Group Policy to hide Disconnect but that's not set (I tried setting it to Disabled as well but it didn't make any difference), so how can I get this to appear?

[Perryg]

And this has what to do with VirtualBox?

[doveman]

Well I'm running it in Virtualbox and I'm using it's RDP feature, rather than XP's RDP, so maybe that affects something.

[Perryg]

So you are using the VRDE instead of RDP. Still this just provides the connection. Most people simply close the remote window and this breaks the connection and leaves the guest running. Same as with RDP.

[doveman]

Yeah, that's fine in Windows but if I connect to it from Thinstation with rdesktop I don't have a window or topbar to use.

[Perryg]

OK fair enough but what do you use when you remote connect to a PC on metal from a thin client to disconnect?

[doveman]

Well if I RDP to a "real" Windows 7 or XP with Thinstation, I have a Disconnect option in the Start Menu, so I believe this should be available in the XP guest as well.

I guess there must be some setting in the guest causing this not to appear but I don't know what could be causing this, except for the Group Policy setting which I've already checked. I can use Group Policy to hide the Shutdown option (which I don't want visible) leaving only Log Off but that just returns me to the login screen so I need the Disconnect option as well, otherwise I have to reboot the Thinstation to get out of the RDP session.

[Perryg]

OK not to be blunt but we are right back to the original question then. Exactly what does this have to do with VirtualBox.
Just to clarify what I think you should be doing to resolve this issue, why not ask a Microsoft forum what to do?

[doveman]

Fair enough, just thought someone here might be able to help.

[vbox4me2]

Disconnect is not available when using vRDP because you are connecting to the console of the Guest, this is default behavior for any Guest.

[doveman]

Ah, so it is something to do with Virtualbox.

That's a bit of a problem when using Thinstation then, as there's no way to disconnect temporarily.

[vbox4me2]

No its not, it is like connecting a monitor and a keyboard to a pc, do something and then disconnect the monitor and keyboard. Once you pull the 'plugs' you are disconnected. You can lock this vRDP session as you would with a real pc.

[doveman]

Look, if I RDP into a box I get a Disconnect option on the Start Menu. If I vRDP into a guest then I don't (which you say is correct), so as far as I'm concerned it is a Virtualbox specific issue and it causes problems in Thinstation because of the lack of the Disconnect option (which is present in normal RDP sessions).

There's certainly nothing that I can tweak in the XP guest to make this Disconnect option appear, so it's a waste of time my asking for help on Windows forums.

[Perryg]

OK, I finally see what you are getting. I don't normally use a thin client so it eluded me. vRDE into the windows guest does not connect like a windows RDP session, so Windows does not see it as a remote connection, thus it does not change the shut down button to logout.

As far as I know there is no why to send a log off from a thin client. Using a terminal window to start the rdesktop session you can alt-f4 of close the terminal to kill the remote session. Other than that you need to RDP to the guest.

You can use the VirtualBox IRC and ask the DEVs if they know of a way. freenode #vbox
Or you can ask on the rdesktop mailing list.

[doveman]

OK thanks.

I've asked if Thinstation can have a shortcut added to drop the connection (whether RDP, VNC, etc) but I'll ask in the places you suggest as well.

I briefly tested with 2x OS thinclient and it's not a problem with that as it has a bar at the top with an X to click on, but it doesn't suit my needs as well as Thinstation unfortunately.