ntrdps 0.8

Windows 2000 on Alpha. ntrdps now also runs on Windows 2000 RC2 for Alpha (32-bit) and on Windows 2000 build 2210 for 64-bit Alpha, both with the Mirror Driver. The RDP client gets the real Windows 2000 logon dialog.

• TLS clients now get 60 seconds to connect (was 10). The Windows App on a Mac sometimes needed more than 10.

Download the installer for your CPU. Log on as an administrator, run it, click Install, restart.

CPU	Installer	Tested on (in emulators)
Intel x86	ntrdpset-i386.exe	NT 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 (also 4.0 SP1)
MIPS	ntrdpset-mips.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0
Alpha	ntrdpset-alpha.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0 (SP6a), Windows 2000 RC2
Alpha 64-bit	ntrdpset-axp64.exe	Windows 2000 build 2210
PowerPC	ntrdpset-ppc.exe	NT 3.51, 4.0

ntrdps 0.7

NT 3.x on frame-buffer video cards. The Layered Driver now also works with display drivers that draw into a frame buffer, as on NT 3.1 and 3.51 MIPS (Magnum) and NT 3.51 PowerPC (40P). Before, ntrdps fell back to GDI Polling there (slow).

• Setup shows the real state of the display driver.
• Where Windows draws the mouse pointer into the screen itself, the client no longer shows a second one.

Download the installer for your CPU. Log on as an administrator, run it, click Install, restart.

CPU	Installer	Tested on (QEMU)
Intel x86	ntrdpset-i386.exe	NT 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 (also 4.0 SP1)
MIPS	ntrdpset-mips.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0
Alpha	ntrdpset-alpha.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0 (SP6a)
PowerPC	ntrdpset-ppc.exe	NT 3.51, 4.0

ntrdps 0.6

Adds a login: a client must log on before it gets the console. It is on by default. Download the installer for your CPU. It finds the NT version itself. Log on as an administrator, run it, leave Require authentication ticked, choose Mirror Driver (NT 3.x: Layered Driver; fast, the default) or GDI Polling (slow, no driver), click Install, and let it restart Windows NT. On NT 3.1 and 3.5 it asks for the user name and password of the ntrdps account.

CPU	Installer	Tested on (QEMU)
Intel x86	ntrdpset-i386.exe	NT 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 (also 4.0 SP1)
MIPS	ntrdpset-mips.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0
Alpha	ntrdpset-alpha.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0 (SP6a)
PowerPC	ntrdpset-ppc.exe	NT 3.51, 4.0

On MIPS with NT 3.1 or 3.51, and on PowerPC with NT 3.51, ntrdps reads the screen by polling, so updates are slower.

The MIPS, Alpha and PowerPC installers were added on 2026-11-11. On the same day all four installers got a shorter window (commit 274fa8b); the programs they install did not change.

New: the login

NT version	Who may log on
NT 3.51, 4.0	An account of the NT machine that is in the group Administrators. Windows checks the password.
NT 3.1, 3.5	The ntrdps account: one user name and password, set in the installer. These NT versions cannot check a Windows password for a program. ntrdps stores only a hash of the password.

• The client can send the user name and password itself (FreeRDP /u: /p:, rdesktop -u -p). When they are right, the client gets the console at once.
• If it sends none, or a wrong one, the client gets the logon dialog of Windows itself, on every NT version, in the machine's own language. The console never shows it. 3 wrong tries, or 60 s without a right login, end the connection.
• On NT 3.1 the From list of the dialog does not open: use the Up and Down keys.
• Plain RDP (no TLS) sends the password as plain text. To allow only TLS clients to log on: set the REG_DWORD LoginPlain = 0 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ntrdps.
• Every copy of ntrdps has the same built-in TLS certificate, and its private key is public. So TLS stops someone who only listens. It does not stop someone who can get between you and the server: that one could read the password too. Use ntrdps only on a network you trust.
• An update turns the login on. On NT 3.1 and 3.5 the installer then asks for the ntrdps account. In a batch file there: ntrdpset /install /q /user:NAME /password:PASSWORD (or /nologin).
• No login, as in 0.5.1: untick Require authentication, or /nologin, or set the REG_DWORD Login = 0.

Fixed:

• NT 4.0 before Service Pack 3: a blue screen (STOP 0x1E, seen on SP1) while a client was connected, when a program sent a message to the desktop window. Since release 0.2. ntrdps now uses no hooks on these versions. With the display driver nothing else changes. Without it, the client shows its own arrow pointer.

Tested in QEMU, x86: NT 4.0 SP6a and NT 3.1 with rdesktop 1.9.0 (TLS) and FreeRDP 3.15.0 (TLS and plain), NT 4.0 also with mstsc 5.1; NT 3.51, NT 3.5 and NT 4.0 SP1 with FreeRDP (TLS). MIPS, Alpha and PowerPC: NT 3.1 (not PowerPC), NT 3.51 and NT 4.0 with FreeRDP (TLS). Current Microsoft clients (mstsc of Windows 10, Windows App) were used with ntrdps, but they are not in our tests yet.

ntrdps 0.5.1

Fixes two input delays. Nothing else changes. Download the installer for your CPU. It finds the NT version itself. Log on as an administrator, run it, choose Fast (display driver, the default) or Safe (no driver), and let it restart Windows NT.

CPU	Installer	Tested on (QEMU)
Intel x86	ntrdpset-i386.exe	NT 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 (also 4.0 SP1)
MIPS, Alpha, PowerPC	not here yet: use release 0.5 for now	-

The MIPS, Alpha and PowerPC installers of 0.5.1 will be added to this release later.

Fixed:

• TLS: input waited for the next input. Over TLS, a key or mouse event that came while ntrdps was busy sending could wait inside ntrdps until the client sent the next event. So a key-up or a mouse move could "hang" until the next key or move. Plain RDP was not affected.
• Input during big screen updates. While ntrdps sent a big screen update, it read no input until the whole update was out: up to about 3 s with TLS, up to about 1.5 s with plain RDP (measured in QEMU on NT 4.0, with a 2 MB update). Now ntrdps checks for input every 20 ms while it sends, so keys and mouse moves get through during a big update too. The update itself is as fast as before.

There is still no login. TLS encrypts the traffic; it does not add a password, and it does not check who connects. Anyone who can reach port 3389 gets the console. Use ntrdps only on a network you trust.

ntrdps 0.5

Extends TLS (encryption) to the MIPS, Alpha and PowerPC builds. In 0.4, TLS was on the x86 build only; now every CPU speaks it, on by default, for clients that ask. Download the installer for your CPU. It finds the NT version itself. Log on as an administrator, run it, choose Fast (display driver, the default) or Safe (no driver), and let it restart Windows NT.

CPU	Installer	TLS tested on (QEMU)
Intel x86	ntrdpset-i386.exe	NT 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
MIPS	ntrdpset-mips.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0
Alpha	ntrdpset-alpha.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0
PowerPC	ntrdpset-ppc.exe	NT 3.51, 4.0

TLS (encryption) now works on every CPU: a client that asks for TLS (for example xfreerdp3 /sec:tls) gets an encrypted TLS 1.2 session; an old client that asks for plain RDP (rdesktop, /sec:rdp, mstsc 5.x) stays plain. It is on by default and automatic - the client decides.

There is still no login. TLS encrypts the traffic; it does not add a password, and it does not check who connects. Anyone who can reach port 3389 gets the console. Use ntrdps only on a network you trust.

On MIPS with NT 3.1 or 3.51, and on PowerPC with NT 3.51, ntrdps reads the screen by polling, so updates are slower.

ntrdps 0.4

Adds optional TLS (encryption) on the x86 build, and an installer choice of how ntrdps watches the screen. Download the installer for your CPU. It finds the NT version itself. Log on as an administrator, run it, choose Fast (display driver, the default) or Safe (no driver), and let it restart Windows NT.

CPU	Installer	Tested on (QEMU)
Intel x86	ntrdpset-i386.exe	NT 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
MIPS	ntrdpset-mips.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0
Alpha	ntrdpset-alpha.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0
PowerPC	ntrdpset-ppc.exe	NT 3.51, 4.0

TLS (encryption) is on the x86 build: a client that asks for TLS (for example xfreerdp3 /sec:tls) gets an encrypted TLS 1.2 session; an old client that asks for plain RDP (rdesktop, /sec:rdp, mstsc 5.x) stays plain. It is on by default and automatic. The MIPS, Alpha and PowerPC builds are plain in this release.

There is still no login. TLS encrypts the traffic; it does not add a password, and it does not check who connects. Anyone who can reach port 3389 gets the console. Use ntrdps only on a network you trust.

On MIPS with NT 3.1 or 3.51, and on PowerPC with NT 3.51, ntrdps reads the screen by polling, so updates are slower.

ntrdps 0.3

Now for Intel x86, MIPS, Alpha and PowerPC. Download the installer for your CPU. It finds the NT version itself. Log on as an administrator, run it, click Install and let it restart Windows NT.

CPU	Installer	Tested on (QEMU)
Intel x86	ntrdpset-i386.exe	NT 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
MIPS	ntrdpset-mips.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0
Alpha	ntrdpset-alpha.exe	NT 3.1, 3.51, 4.0
PowerPC	ntrdpset-ppc.exe	NT 3.51, 4.0

On MIPS with NT 3.1 or 3.51, and on PowerPC with NT 3.51, ntrdps reads the screen by polling, so updates are slower.

No encryption and no login: use it only on a network you trust.

ntrdps 0.2

Download ntrdpset.exe. Log on as an administrator, run it, click Install and let it restart Windows NT.

Windows NT 3.1, 3.5, 3.51 and 4.0 (x86). No encryption and no login: use it only on a network you trust.