Does “Start the following program on connection” mean what I think it means?

Question

In the Programs tab of Windows' RDP application, there is a Start the following program on connection option.

Does On Connection literally mean on connection? As in will the program I specify be started after I connect and before I login, or does On Connection really mean On Login?

Thanks

Answer 1

It means once you've connected and logged in successfully.

Answer 2

Well... it depends. See the Microsoft documentation on that feature for the run down. In general it does not pose a security risk since in most instances it fails... If you need to use this as a legitimate feature a login script is always preferred.

Answer 3

A user session is required to execute the specified program, so the connection must be established and the user logged in.

(Note that in certain cases the program will not run, and instead a console (on Windows XP RDP) or desktop session might run.)