Virtual Machine Key Combinations with Hyper-V

Taken from here and kept for prosperity incase the information was ever lost. So all credit for the following information goes to Ben Armstrong.

Standard Windows Key combination Virtual Machine Connection Key Combination Explanation
CTRL + ALT + DEL CTRL + ALT + END Displays the Task Manager or Windows Security dialog box on Windows (or logs in).
ALT + TAB ALT + PAGE UP Switches between programs from left to right.
ALT + SHIFT + TAB ALT + PAGE DOWN Switches between programs from right to left.
ALT + ESC ALT + INSERT Cycles through the programs in the order they were started.
CTRL + ESC ALT + HOME Displays the Windows Start menu.
N/A CTRL + ALT + PAUSE Changes the Virtual Machine Connection window to / from full screen mode.
N/A CTRL + ALT + LEFT ARROW Releases mouse and keyboard focus from the Virtual Machine Connection window.

Some extra things to know about Virtual Machine Connection key combinations:

  • By default the standard Windows key combinations do not get sent to the virtual machine, unless you are in full screen mode. You can change this so that they are always sent to the virtual machine (if the Virtual Machine Connection has focus) by going to the Hyper-V Manager and selecting Hyper-V Server Settings... and then Keyboard and selecting the Use on the virtual machine option. I always enable this setting.
    • Note: CTRL + ALT + DEL will always go to the physical computer - so you need to use CTRL + ALT + END no matter what you select for a setting here.

  • You can change the release key combination (CTRL + ALT + LEFT ARROW) by going to the Hyper-V Manager and selecting Hyper-V Server Settings... and then Release Key and selecting one of the options from the drop down (I usually change my release key combination to be CTRL + ALT + SHIFT as I find it easier to type).

  • If you use the Virtual Machine Connection under an existing Remote Desktop Connection (not recommended - but I do it all the time) the Remote Desktop Connection will grab all of these key combinations before the Virtual Machine Connection gets to see them (even the release key combination). To deal with this you will need to change the Hyper-V Server setting to allow Windows key combinations to go to the virtual machine, change the release key combination to something other than CTRL + ALT + LEFT ARROW, and use the toolbar button or Action menu of the Virtual Machine Connection to send CTRL + ALT + DEL to the virtual machine.

Popular posts from this blog

Execution of user code in the .NET Framework is disabled

I was testing our new SQL Server 2008 enterprise cluster today and managed to get the following SqlException running a C# application: "Execution of user code in the .NET Framework is disabled. Enable "clr enabled" configuration option. The statement has been terminated." The solution is to run the following: EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options' , '1' ; go RECONFIGURE ; go EXEC sp_configure 'clr enabled' , '1' go RECONFIGURE ; -- Turn advanced options back off -- EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options' , '0'; GO
Read more

Service Broker sys.transmission_queue clean up

If you’re developing a Service Broker application and you misspell your services, forget to create a master key, or do any of the many things that result in your messages not being delivered, then your transmission queue will fill up. Due to the nature of service broker, errors don't occur at the client but rather your messages go in to Service Brokers sys.transmission_queue and are then subsequently processed. If they fail, they stay in the queue. Some errors can be resolved, i.e. missing services. However, others can't, or are just plain difficult. I.e. You've misspelt something, or not used the correct security. To clear your transmission queue you need to end the conversations, this is a handy little script for doing this. Be aware this ends ALL conversations in the queue and so should NEVER be used on a production system. To see how many messages are in your transmission queue, use this SELECT   COUNT ( 1 )   FROM   sys . transmission_queue On my system i7, DB
Read more

What do I use to write software?

I started off with Dbase III, then Borland Turbo C for about 5 years, then when Microsoft Visual Studio v1.0 came out, I moved to that. I've been using Visual Studio ever since. Coding in C++ and have since moved to C# when that came into existance. Do I use component? Yes. Which ones then? Telerik http://www.telerik.com/ Dundas http://www.dundas.com/ Rebex http://www.rebex.net/ I've also used DevExpress reports, but they peg the CPU to 100% on the webservers when exporting an excel spreadsheet with a lot of data in them, and more often than not, cause a timeout on the ASPX page. So I don't like to use them anymore. My essential toolkit consists of: SVN - Subversion source control http://subversion.tigris.org/ Winrar http://www.rarlab.com/ Colour Schemer (web design) http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html SQL Prompt http://www.red-gate.com/ ANTS Profiler http://www.red-gate.com/ NUnit http://www.nunit.org/ Microsoft Visual Studio http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-gb/vstudio/de
Read more