.. We're running SilkTest scripts on our lab machines. The lab machines share a monitor through a KVM. We connect to the machines using Remote Desktop Connection.

The scripts are being kicked off through a Windows Scheduled task. We're getting the message "Window cannot be set active".

It seems like if I login to the box in the lab then all is well, but if I've recently connected through Remote Desktop Connection the error occurs.

Is that because the RDC locks the desktop when I disconnect?

If I did a reboot before I run the scripts would that solve the problem?

I'm just trying to figure this out, so could be completely wrong on this.

So, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer1:

You should be able to adjust a setting for the task to 'wake' or 'unlock' the desktop prior to commencing the task. I recall having to do something like that in the past when I did this.

Answer2:

It's because Windows Remote Desktop (WRD) appears to tell the OS that the video card is something other than the actual video card. This is because you have a limited colour gamut using WRD. There are other limitations. When you disconnect, it seems to tell Windows on the guest machine that there's no video card at all and it lets Windows figure out what's up the next time you log in.

One option that our network admin suggested was to use VNC instead. This would mean we would use a different method just to attach to the SilkTest machine we have. It wasn't worth it for me, but it could be for you.

1) Your KVM switch has to be an electronic one because if it's not, the monitor won't have a screen rectangle. This was a limitation of the old hardware.

2) You have to circumvent the windows login screen and some security measures to get to the desktop which is where SilkTest will be running.