SmartBear
The Microsoft Windows operating system includes the Remote Desktop component that allows you to connect to a remote computer and work with it as with your local computer.
Using Remote Desktop you can run and monitor automated tests on remote computers: you connect to the test computer using a Remote Desktop connection and use the Remote Desktop window to work with the remote computer on your PC. For more information on running automated tests by using the Remote Desktop component, see Running Tests via Remote Desktop - Overview.
However, if you minimize the Remote Desktop window (the window that display the remote computer’s desktop), the operating system switches the remote session to the GUI-less mode and does not display windows and controls. As a result, TestComplete (or TestExecute) is unable to interact with the tested application’s GUI, as the GUI does not actually exist in this case and your automated GUI test fails.
To avoid this issue, you can keep the Remote Desktop window visible during the test run, but this may be inconvenient as it occupies some part or even your entire screen and leaves less space for you to run your local applications.
There is another way to bypass this limitation. In order to run GUI tests on a remote computer while the Remote Desktop window is minimized, you need to change the Registry keys on the computer from which you connect to the remote TestComplete or TestExecute workstation. To do this, perform the following steps:
Log in to the computer from which you connect to remote computers (if you are not logged in yet).
Close all open Remote Desktop sessions.
Click Start and select Run. In the Run dialog box, type regedit and press Enter. The Registry Editor starts.
Navigate to one of the following Registry keys, depending on whether you wish to modify the Remote Desktop settings only for the current user or for all users on the computer:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client
Create a DWORD value named RemoteDesktop_SuppressWhenMinimized and set it to 2.
Close the Registry Editor.
Now when you minimize the Remote Desktop Connection window on your computer, this will not affect the remote computer’s GUI and the GUI will be available to your automated tests.