Add Missing User Properties Tabs in Active Directory Users and Computers on Windows Vista

This tip was submitted by Sorin Solomon, one of the Petri forums moderators:
Those who followed the instructions in the article Installing Remote Server Administrative Tools on Windows Vista have probably noticed that even after installing the required RSAT tools on Windows Vista, few tabs are missing in the User properties in Active Directory Users and Computers.

The missing tabs are:

  • Sessions
  • Remote Control
  • Terminal Services Profile
  • Environment

user-properties-aduc-vista-1
The odd thing is that when if you’re using Adminpak on Windows XP, when looking at the same user (and with the same administrative rights) you will see all the tabs (as shown below).
user-properties-aduc-vista-2
Luckily for us, Ned Pyle from “Ask the Directory Services Team” official blog released the solution for this problem. Here are the details of the solution.
Notes:

  • The following steps are a workaround, they are not supported by Microsoft
  • The version of the server’s OS needs to be the same as the client. Meaning, both need to be either 32bit, either 64bit

You will need a Windows 2008 Server with the Remote Server Administration Tools feature installed. If this feature is not installed, please install it using Server Manager > Features > Add features wizard (as shown in the screenshot below).
user-properties-aduc-vista-3
(If you’re not sure on how to install RSAT on Vista, please see my Installing Remote Server Administrative Tools on Windows Vista article).
In order to add missing User Properties tabs in Active Directory Users and Computers on Windows Vista please follow these steps:
1. Make sure Active Directory Users and Computers is closed.
2. From the System32 folder on the server (usually found in C:\Windows), copy these two files to your Vista machine (in their specific folders):

  1. %systemroot%\system32\tsuserex.dll
  2. %systemroot%\system32\en-us\tsuserex.dll.mui

(if you are using a non-English version, it will be in the folder  corresponding to your language).
3. Once the files are in place, open an elevated Command Prompt window. You can do that by right clicking on Command Prompt icon and choosing the Run as Administrator option (as shown in the picture below).
user-properties-aduc-vista-4
In the elevated Command Prompt window, run the following command:
regsvr32.exe tsuserex.dll
Done. The last thing to do is to open the ADUC windows in your Vista and check for the presence of the new tabs.
Thanks Sorin!

Related Links

RSAT Missing Tabs in Active Directory Users and Computers – The Life of Brian
http://msmvps.com/blogs/ad/archive/2008/04/08/rsat-missing-tabs-in-active-directory-users-and-computers.aspx
Ask the Directory Services Team : RSAT and ADUC: Getting the Terminal Services Tabs to Appear in AD Users and Computers
http://blogs.technet.com/askds/archive/2008/03/31/rsat-and-aduc-getting-the-terminal-services-tabs-to-appear-in-ad-users-and-computers.aspx