Is leaving Remote Desktop on necessary?

I'm wondering if I need to leave Remote Desktop enabled all of the time. The reason that I ask this, is that when I run CCleaner to delete files, the analysis shows frequently that Remote Desktop has over 20,000KB to delete.

Except the one time that I allowed HP support to take over my computer to fix the mouse that I just replaced, I've not knowingly used the program. But CCleaner reports differently. I do regular scans with MSE, MBAM & SAS, I can't find any malware installed that may be using the app.

Unless it has something to do with Office 2010 or XP Mode that I'm unaware of, I just don't know why Remote Desktop is being used at all.

Any responses will be greatly appreciated.

Cat

Well, if you don't need it / use it, turn it off.
That's my opinion. If ever you need it again, turn it back on.

That's what I've done. It's a product (as I understand it) that's included with 7 Pro & above. Hopefully, turning it off won't cause problems.

If by chance it gets turned back on (w/o my consent), I'll look at finding another spyware/malware scanner to check out my computer with.

Cat

Well, I've always known that there is a remote desktop feature in all versions of Windows. But I think you can only control the computer from Pro or Ultimate.

I don't think you really have to worry.

Disabled here on every machine I touch.
Same for Remote Registry.

Obviously, my networks are secure, but less services running means less of a platform for malware or hackers to exploit.

Thanks for the reminder, Cat. I just turned my remote desktop off as well. Forgot that it had been turned on by default.

I took a closer look at what CCleaner was deleting in regards to Remote Desktop, and what I found was this:

C:\Users\myname\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Cache\bcache22.bmc

I do know that when I downloaded Office 2010, there was a terminal services COA#, but I've not activated that serial, and so far, have not been asked to do so. Whether the name of the file helps identify the problem or not, I don't know, but at least that's what I've came up with.

Cat