First-Time Connection: Setup Remote Desktop

[For an iMac, please click here.]

This process has to be done once on each computer that will be using MemInfo.

Please learn this about IDs and passwords:  (1) There is an ID and password for the physical computer that you will work from.  Each computer will have a numeric ID like xxxxxx-x.  (2) There is an ID and password for each person who uses MemInfo.  It will consist of a 3-letter church abbreviation plus your name.  This installation that you will be doing on this page will be using the computer ID and password.

MemInfo Support will provide your church with a collection of .RDP icon files.  They are numbered xxxxxx-1, xxxxxx-2, xxxxxx-3, etc.  And you will be given the 5 IDs.  These are the IDs and passwords for the computer.

The .RDP icon file will be the MemInfo icon sitting on your desktop, which you will click (later) to take you into the MemInfo program that is online.  That is what you are setting up now.

Each computer should use a different .RDP icon.  However, one person with multiple computers should use the same .RDP icon on each of the computers.  Note: If someone is using MemInfo, and then someone else connects in using the same .RDP number, the first user will be kicked off, and the second user will continue on the same screen that the first user was on.

Also, please learn this about IDs and passwords:  Once the computers are set up with their unique .RDP icons, you can use your personal MemInfo ID on any of the computers.

Each .RDP icon has a password associated with it.  If, for example, the general password is “Something”, then the password for xxxxxx-1 is Something-1, and the password for xxxxxx-2 is Something-2.  Note: Upper/lower case does not matter for user ID’s, but it does matter for passwords.

This is referred to as your .RDP password, or your desktop connection password.  It is not your MemInfo password.

  1. Copy the xxxxxx-x.rdp file to the desktop (the file is attached to the email that you received)
  2. Double-click it to execute it.
  3. If you receive some security warnings, keep going.
  4. Credentials:
    1. It will ask for the password; type it in. [Do not click Ok, yet!] This is the “RDP” password that is specified in the email that you received, not your personal MemInfo password.  It’s the one that looks like “xxxxxx-1”.   
    2. click “Remember my credentials” [this tells it to remember your password]
    3. click Ok.
    4. If it says “cannot be verified,” go ahead and connect, anyway.
  5. You will arrive at the server.
    1. Start MemInfo  by clicking the MemInfo icon.
    2. then exit from MemInfo (click Cancel) and go on to the next step…
  6. You need to edit the xxxxxx-x.rdp icon file so that you won’t have to type the password each time. 
    1. Use the Windows Notepad program or any other editor to edit the xxxxxx-x.rdp file that is on your desktop.  If you don’t know how to use the Notepad, here are two ways to wake it up:
      1. Method 1:
        1. Click “Start” and type “Notepad”.  You’ll see it in a list.  Click it.
        2. Click “File” “Open” and click “Desktop” on the left.  
        3. In the lower-right where it says “Text Documents,” change it to “All files.”  Then scroll the middle part to find your xxxxxx-x.rdp file and double-click it. 
      2. Method 2:
        1. Right-click on the xxxxxx-x.rdp icon
        2. Left-click on “Open with”
        3. If “Notepad” shows up, click it.  Otherwise…
          1. Click “Choose default program…”
          2. UNCHECK “Use this app for all .rdp files”
          3. Click “More options” at the bottom.
          4. Scroll to Notepad and click it.
    2. Find the line that shows:   prompt for credentials:i:1
    3. Change the last one to a zero. [“1” means “ask for my password. “0” means “use the password that I said remember in step 4.2”]
    4. Then click “File” “Save” and close the Notepad window.
  7. From now on, when you click the xxxxxx-x.rdp icon, it should take you directly to the MemInfo server without having to enter the RDP password.

If more RDP numbers are needed, contact MemInfo support.  There is no charge for extra numbers.

Connecting to MemInfo from a Tablet or Smartphone:

On your device, go to the place where you download apps.  On Android phones, it’s the Google Play Store.  Then search for “Microsoft Remote Desktop.”  It will be a free app.  That will let you set up a connection (an icon) to access MemInfo on the web.

The address that you will need is:  [contact Support-at-MemInfo.com for this information]
The User ID is   [contact Support-at-MemInfo.com for this information]
[You can find this information in your xxxxxx-x.rdp file that is on your desktop]

If you are editing an .RDP file, you want to include this line for Windows PC’s:  drivestoredirect:s:C:\;
This lets the MemInfo server “see” your local disk drive.


Creating an .RDP icon file from scratch:

Follow these instructions slowly and very carefully!  It’s too easy to mess it up.  But if you mess up, just start over.

  1. In the Start | Search box (lower left-hand corner of your screen), type “remote desktop” (do NOT hit the Enter key).  From the pop-up list, click on “Remote Desktop Connection”
  2. In the next window, click “Show options” (lower left-hand corner of the window)
  3. In the next window:
    1. Computer:  54.86.20.75:6745
    2. User name: CORP\xxxxxx-x   where you use one of the 5 IDs you were given.
    3. UNcheck “Always ask for credentials”
  4. Click the “Local Resources” tab
    1. UNcheck “Printers”;  Check “Clipboard”
    2. Click the “More” button
    3. Check your C: drive;  UNcheck everything else
    4. Click OK.
  5. Click the “General” tab
    1. Click the “Save As” button
    2. Indicate that you want it on your desktop and you want to name is something like “MemInfo Online.rdp”.  It must end with “.rdp”
    3. Click “Save’
  6. Click the “Connect” button
    1. It should ask you for your password for connecting to the Server (this is not your MemInfo password).  The password is something like  PassworD-1
    2. Click the “Remember me” box.
    3. Click OK
    4. You should see a black screen, and then 5 or 10 seconds later it will ask for your MemInfo ID and password.
    5. Just click the Cancel button.  You be kicked out of the server.
  7. Now we want to make sure that it “remembered” the signon info correctly:
    1. Find that .rdp icon on your desktop that you created when you clicked the “Save as” button a couple of step earlier.
    2. Double-click it.  If it does Not ask for your Server password, and if it goes directly to that black screen, you’re done!!!
    3. However, if it asks for your password again, we have to do a repair job…
      1. Right-click on the .rdp icon that you created.
      2. Choose “Open with” and choose “Notepad”
      3. Find the line that says; “prompt for credentials:i:1”
      4. Change the final “1” to “0” (zero)
      5. From the menu choose “File save” and then close the window.
      6. Try double-clicking that icon again.  It should be ok, now.

Larger churches might be required to obtain Microsoft RDP licenses:  [Please hold off from doing this step.  We’ll let you know if this will be needed for your church.]

Microsoft requires licenses to be purchased for connecting your computers to this special arrangement of MemInfo on the Internet.  MemInfo is “Internet-based” but not “browser-based.”

You need to purchase “Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services – license,” also called RDS CAL.  Be sure to ask for charity pricing for your church.  It will be under $30 (instead of $150 each).  Microsoft requires a minimum purchase of 5 licenses, so the cost will be around $150.  Note that this is a one-time purchase; there are no annual renewal fees.

(NOTE: If you already own Remote Desktop licenses for Server 2003 or 2008, those are valid for Server 2012 and you do not have to purchase more licenses.)

When ordering the licenses, your vendor will ask you to send them your church’s 501(c)(3) letter.  If your church does not have one, you can send an email to Stephanie Carey Maron at the UUA,  SCarey@uua.org.  Ask her for “a letter of good standing from the UUA to use in making purchases when then church does not have a 501(c)(3) letter.”  Include the name and location (city/state) of your church.

Several days after purchasing the CALs you will receive an email from Microsoft.  There will be a link in the email that you’ll  need to click, and that will take you to a Microsoft website where it will ask for some identifying information.  IMPORTANT: When you go to the Microsoft web site, be sure to use Internet Explorer; it might not work if you use other browsers.
Then it will give you the two numbers that we need:
– authorization number (or “parent program”)
– license agreement number (or “open license details”)
Please send the two numbers to Support-at-MemInfo.com.  (And for all emails sent to Support, please include the city that your church is in.)

Vendors:
www.SoftChoice.com, Joseph Perrini, (678) 728-6632 ext 286632, Joseph.Perrini@SoftChoice.com, product code: NJ7161, $25.78 each
www.CDW.com, Bobby Dalton (866) 669-9535, product code: 2803296, $28.99 each
And there are many other sources that provide very inexpensive software just for churches.