This article explains how to disable or customize the XenDesktop Virtual Desktop Agent (VDA) welcome screen that is shown by default to all users when they connect.

Requirements

Version 5.x of the XenDesktop Virtual Desktop Agent (VDA) software

Background

The following welcome screen is displayed for all users when connecting to a XenDesktop 5.x Virtual Desktop Agent for the first time:

If users select Don’t show the welcome screen again, the following registry flag is written to their profile on the VDA based on the operating system of the client system used to connect.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Citrix\WelcomeScreen

Name: WinOptOut (Windows)  or  MacOptOut (Mac)  or  OptOut (Linux and others)

Value: 12.1.0.30 (full client version)

Note: This setting does not work as expected in some situations such as when using pooled random desktops and local profiles, where users connect to different machines and the changes do not persist to the virtual machine after logoff.

Instructions

Caution! Refer to the Disclaimer at the end of this article before using Registry Editor.

Disabling the Welcome Screen

To disable the welcome screen, you must remove the VDA Welcome Screen shortcut file from the following location in your base images:

• Windows 7 and Vista: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

• Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start menu\Programs\Startup

Alternatively, it is possible to disable the welcome screen through Group Policy using the attached Administrative Template (.adm file) which writes the following registry setting:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Citrix\WelcomeScreen

Name: DisableSplashScreen (String)

Value: True

Note: Import the attached Administrative Template on a Windows 2008 Server or Windows 2008 R2 Server system. It does not work when imported on a Windows 2003 Server system.

Customizing the Welcome Screen

It is possible to change the content on the welcome screen to a local or remote Web page. This can be helpful to administrators to provide company-specific information to their new users. To change the welcome screen, edit the following registry string value to point to a remote Web site or local HTML file:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Citrix\WelcomeScreen

Name: URL (String)

Value: http://www.citrix.com