Introduction

Remote Desktop uses bitmap caching, which provides a substantial improvement in performance over low-bandwidth connections, especially when running applications that make extensive use of large bitmaps. The cached files (*.BMC) are stored in the following location, by default:

%Userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\cache

This article describes how to relocate the bitmap cache path to a different folder or drive.

Relocating the Remote Desktop Cache files

  • Open Regedit.exe and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Terminal Server Client

  • Create a new value (REG_SZ or REG_EXPAND_SZ types) named BitmapPersistCacheLocation and set its data accordingly.

For example, to relocate the cache folder to D:\RDPCache, type D:\RDPCache as the data.

Disk Cleanup utility - Remote Desktop Cache Files

Note: You can skip this procedure if you don't plan to use Disk Cleanup to delete the Remote Desktop bitmap cache files.

To make Disk Cleanup aware of the path change, use these steps:

  • Open Regedit.exe and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ VolumeCaches \ Remote Desktop Cache Files

  • Backup the branch to a REG file.
  • In the right-pane, delete the value named CSIDL
  • Double-click the value named Folder
  • Type the full path of the Remote Desktop cache folder (D:\RDPCache)
  • Close Regedit.exe