How to Turn Off Remote Access on Windows 10
Hello and welcome, my fellow tele-toilers and anyone just scrolling by!
I’m sure you have all heard around that enabled remote access connections make computers vulnerable and potentially lead to serious problems. In the previous Windows 10 Remote Assistance blog on HelpWire, I’ve promised to tell you all about the better ways to cope than tweaking your System Properties and today’s the day.
We’re going to find all possible answers to the ‘How to stop remote access to my computer in Windows 10?’ question, see which one of the methodes is the least thin-skinned against hackers, and learn what measures of precaution we can take to minimize the risks.
Come on, let it roll!
Turning off Remote Access on Windows 10
If you just want to know how to turn off remote access on Windows 10 as of terminating the remote assistance session, I’ve got some really good news for you ‘cause that’s easy. Just press the Esc button and that should do it. But wait, don’t leave just yet. One day, the information I’m about to share here may save you from getting some nasty malware over the poorly protected RDP connection you’re not aware of.
The Remote Assistance app was around for so long (ever since Win XP) that some confuse it for one of the system components. That’s why it’s often viewed as something time-tested and hence safe. And that’s a textbook example of a false assumption.
As tempting as it seems to get a tech-savvy person to fix everything remotely and at no cost instead of trying to follow some instructions, no software tool operating via RDP can be 100% safe. And this one is enabled by default. So keep on reading and I’ll tell you how to disable remote access on Windows 10.
How to disable Remote Assistance on Windows 10
- Hit Win+Pause to invoke the system tab and click ‘Remote settings’on the left-hand pane:
- Untick the ‘Allow Remote Assistance…’ box, then make sure that radio button on the RDC pane below is set to ‘Don’t allow remote…’:
- Click Apply, then OK.
- After that, type ‘firewall’ into the Cortana search box and pick ‘Allow an app through Windows Firewall’ from the results. Than untick both Private and Publick boxes next to Remote Assistance:
- Click OK.
- Repeat on all the other PCs you own or use.
Or, in case you’re feeling geeky today, here’s how to turn off remote access Windows 10 with one sweep:
1. Creatine .bat file with this text:
REG ADD “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Remote Assistance” /v fAllowToGetHelp /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=”Remote Assistance” new enable=no
Note that this file makes editions to the Registry so you’ll need administrator rights to execute it.
2. Save the file on your desktop, open its properties and tick the Unblock box, then click Apply and OK (or type cmd into Cortana to open the Command Prompt and run the command: unblock-file -path “paste the full path to your .bat file here”.)
3. Then right-click the file and choose ‘Run as administrator’. Or search cmd, open the Command Prompt and enter “C:\Users\thera\OneDrive\Desktop\YourFile’sName.bat”.
And that’s about all you can do on Windows 10 to disable remote access. But please be aware that this method is only effective for standard system utilities and won’t affect any third-party RDC apps.
The harsh truth of life is that on Windows 10 turning off all remote access is virtually impossible. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take extra precautions and restrict potential access to your PCs even more.
Additional security measures
To add on a layer of protection for your RD Session Host servers (a.k.a. machines with your RA tools installed), you can and should configure NLA so that any user trying to initiate an RDP session would have to provide valid network credentials first.
Here are some instructions on how to do that:
- On one of your Session Host servers, search ‘administrative templates’ and click ‘Edit group policy’ on the results.
- On the Local Computer Policy List, click on Administrative Templates, then Windows Components, and scroll all the way down to Remote Desktop Services. Then pick Remote Desktop Session Host→Security.
- Configure the ‘Require user authentication for remote connections by using Network Level Authentication’ setting.
Note that Windows XP users must have SP3 installed or else they won’t be able to connect even with the most valid credentials of them all.
A few words to top it all off
I know I’m being kind of repetitive here, but I really want to get through an important message: no RA tool is hundred-per-cent safe. No matter what their marketers claim or how often they are mistakenly taken for system utilities, there all potentially a doorway hackers can smash in and get into your system to install some malware or make editions to your registry, or who knows what else. So on no account whatsoever you should add any RA apps to Startup or keep running unattended in the background.
Ok, now that’ll be all for today. Don’t hesitate to click my links for a better grasp on the Windows 10 Remote Assistance, stay safe and see ya all in the next HelpWire blogs.