Remote Desktop: Zoom AND full screen -- how? (Win10 remote, Win7, 2008 & 2003 hosts)

Problem: When I use remote desktop from a Surface Pro 4, running Win 10, to a Win7 or Win2003 system, the high dpi of the Surface results in the remote desktop being too tiny to see. In this case, the remote is the surface (with high resolution display), and the host is low (legacy 92 dpi) resolution display. This issue is discussed and demonstrated in MS blogs here and here on SU However, the problem I experience is the following: Yes, there is the Zoom feature in the rdp client. However, when I use it, I lose the ability to go full screen on the client (to use all client real estate, and to get alt-tab and other keys passed up to host). After 30 min of use, I can say clearly that the zoom feature in the win10 RDP client is NOT useful for real work. We made sure the Win7 hosts are already on Win7-SP1 with kb2923545 installed. This makes no difference that we can see. I tried using Remote Desktop Connection Manager, as proposed here, but it appears to lack the ability to give me a zoomed , full screen experience (perhaps I failed to find it, but I poked it a lot! There is a report that the current 2.7 version lacks the needed functionality, and that the older 2.2 version should work, but we did not find the 2.2 version for download). So. my old Vaio laptop is great for remote desktop, and my new Win10 Surface is, currently, unusable as a remote desktop remote client. How do I get my new Surface as usable as the old Vaio? Note: We are looking to use the Win10 Surface as a real rdp client to Win7, 2008 and Win2003 hosts. Right now, from all our work so far, this is simply a missing feature. (And we are suffering!) Note: Please don't tell us to "log out and start a new session" on the host: This defeats the purpose, is not useful, and is a huge regression from the functionality we had before trying the Surface. Also, please don't tell us that only win10-win10 gives the right experience. We had a fine experience using legacy-dpi remote systems. The problem is the high-dpi surface.

asked Jan 22, 2016 at 18:02

Jonesome Reinstate Monica Jonesome Reinstate Monica

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This simply involves using a different client other then default Remote Desktop, one that has better supports, for your high resolution display.

Commented Jan 22, 2016 at 18:05

@Ramhound Any suggestions?