Comments on: Running 32-bit Remote Desktop Connection on Windows 64 bit

By: Luis Cantero (Microsoft)

Luis Cantero (Microsoft) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:31:34 +0000

Hi,
I was just confronted with this issue. Here’s a simple solution:
Create a .bat file with the following three lines:
@echo off
set WinDir=
start C:\Windows\SysWow64\mstsc.exe

Note that the WinDir variable is only deleted locally for the session that starts mstsc.exe and not for the entire system. This prevents the 32-bit version from finding the 64-bit version.

By: David

David — Tue, 31 May 2011 02:28:00 +0000

Hi Wade.

It’s probably the System File Checker in Windows. It’s there to prevent core system files from being changed or removed.

I’m not sure what the best way around this would be. You can turn this feature off but I wouldn’t recommend that.

By: Wade

Wade — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:10:45 +0000

Yes it works for a time. Unfortunately, something in Windows 7 recognizes that the mstsc.exe file has gone missing and replaces it, which renders the fix un-fixed. I haven’t figured out exactly what it is that is replacing the file yet. Any suggestions?

By: Eunos

Eunos — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:17:54 +0000

oh man…it works! I’ve been having this problem for 3 weeks now, and i’ve been trying to find a solution to it.. and it turns out it’s pretty simple, just as most wonderful solutions are — simply rename the 64-bit mstsc.exe from System32. Works like a charm!