MultiDeskKore — Quick Start Guide

Version 1.0 · 25 October 2026 · Applies to MultiDeskKore Solo — the Single Host edition (MultiDeskKore V1) on Windows 10 Pro 22H2

Editions: these manuals cover MultiDeskKore Solo — the Single Host edition (MultiDeskKore V1/RC1, available now). MultiDeskKore Fleet (Multi-Host, V2) and MultiDeskKore Station (Same Machine, local multiseat) are in development and are not covered here.

This guide takes a new administrator from a bare host to working user desktops in under an hour. It is the short path. The full detail lives in the Installation & Setup Manual, the Administrator Guide, and the other manuals in this set.

What MultiDeskKore is, in one sentence: one Windows host runs several independent desktops at the same time, and each user connects to their own desktop with Remote Desktop — no extra server hardware, no domain, no monthly subscription.

One seat is one user account on one licensed host.

Before you start

You need:

• A host PC running Windows 10 Pro, version 22H2, with a proper Windows licence. (This is the configuration MultiDeskKore was tested on. Windows 11 has not been tested — do not assume it works.)
• Administrator rights on that host.
• A reliable network connection between the host and each user's device.
• One device with a display, keyboard, and mouse per user, each with a Remote Desktop client (Windows Remote Desktop Connection, or any compatible RDP client).
• A licence key from TrimKore — or a free 3-day trial (see step 5). The trial is started from the console's Licence page after install; nothing runs as a trial before that. The installer itself is not publicly downloadable — it arrives only by email (see step 1).

Step 1 — Install (about 10 minutes)

1. Register on the MultiDeskKore website and verify your email. The installer is not publicly downloadable. The download link is emailed to the registered, verified email address only. That email contains a signed download link (valid 7 days) — no licence key. The key is never emailed as the delivery mechanism.
2. Download MultiDeskKoreSetup.exe from that link and copy the single file to the host. There is only one file — the service, the session layer, and the console are all inside it.
3. Right-click it and choose Run as administrator.
4. Run: MultiDeskKoreSetup.exe install
5. If you already have a licence key, you can pass it now: MultiDeskKoreSetup.exe install MDK2-<your-key> The key is case-sensitive — paste it exactly as issued, never retype it from memory.
6. If you have no key, install without one. No trial runs yet — the trial is started from the console afterwards (step 5).
7. The installer asks for the console admin password (minimum 8 characters, typed twice, never shown on screen). Choose it now and keep it safe — it is the only way into the console. It is stored only as a salted hash, never in plain text.
8. The installer finishes by running its own verification. Expect checks 0–35 ALL PASS. If any check fails, do not work around it — report the check number and its detail to TrimKore Support.

Step 2 — Open the console and sign in

1. On the host, double-click the MultiDeskKore Console shortcut on the Desktop (there is also one in the Start Menu). It opens http://127.0.0.1:8443/ in your browser.
2. Sign in with username admin and the password you chose during install. On the first sign-in with no licence key stored, the console opens the Licence page and shows Start your free 3-day trial — that is the first-run flow (step 5).

The console runs entirely on the host. It works with no internet connection. Buying seats, support tickets, host-transfer requests, and getting a trial key need the website.

Step 3 — Create your first users (about 5 minutes per user)

1. In the console, go to Users → + Add user.
2. Enter a username (for example Seat1) and a password (minimum 8 characters). The password is the one the user types when they connect — give it to them securely, not in a shared chat.
3. Leave the defaults on for a first user: RAM limit 2048 MB and disk quota 10240 MB are pre-filled, and Transfer folder, clipboard, and drive redirection are on. You can change all of these later from the same form.
4. Click Create user. The account is created on the host by the console — never create seat accounts directly in Windows. Only accounts created through the console can sign in: an account created directly in Windows is stopped at sign-in. The console admin account and BUILTIN\Administrators are exempt. (Accounts created directly in Windows during the early pilot — for example the Stage-A Seat1/Seat2 accounts — are stopped under this rule; create console-managed users instead.)

Seats, plainly: one seat is one user account on one licensed host. A seat is held by an enabled account in the console user store — creating an enabled account uses the seat at once, whether or not that user has ever signed in. A user created disabled holds no seat until re-enabled, and re-enabling is refused while the limit is reached. A disconnected session stays running and resumable, and signing a session out (Kick) ends the session but does not free a seat. Disabling or deleting an account frees its seat for a new account. The console admin account is separate and does not count as a seat. Creating a user past the limit fails: the console shows the service's own error — the licence seat limit is reached (during the trial, at most 2 remote seat accounts can be created, plus the host admin).

Step 4 — Connect the first client (about 5 minutes)

1. On the user's device, open Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc on Windows).
2. Computer: the host's address (its hostname or IP address — the console Host page shows the address, and has a Copy address button).
3. Sign in with the username and password you created in step 3.
4. The user gets their own Windows desktop on the host. Their files live in their own workspace folder; they cannot open the host's full C: or D: drives, only their own folders plus any shared or Transfer folders you assigned.

Close the Remote Desktop window without signing out and the session stays running with its apps open — reconnecting brings back the same session. To fully end a session, the user signs out from inside their desktop (Start → user icon → Sign out), or you sign them out from the console Sessions page.

Step 5 — The 3-day trial

If you installed without a licence key, nothing runs as a trial yet. Start the trial from the console's Licence page:

1. Sign in to the console (step 2). With no key stored, the Licence page shows Start your free 3-day trial with a Get trial key form.
2. Enter your name and the email address you registered and verified with on the MultiDeskKore website. The console sends them with this host's hardware ID to the TrimKore backend, which returns a trial key to the console. The trial key is generated from the console's Licence page and activated there.
3. The console activates the key at once. The Licence page then shows "Trial active, N day(s) remaining — 1 host + 2 remote". The trial runs for exactly 3 days from activation.
4. A copy of the trial key is emailed to you once, after activation, for safekeeping — "Your trial key is already active in your console. Keep this copy in a safe place for your records — you do not need to enter it anywhere." It is a record only: it is not the delivery mechanism and not the activation step.

During the trial the product is fully functional within the host's resources — there are no feature limits. During the trial at most 2 remote seat accounts can be created, plus the host admin (3 users in total: 1 host + 2 remote).

• The console Licence page shows the trial status and days remaining.
• When the trial expires, a licence key is required and new users are refused — but live sessions are not signed out or disabled.
• The trial is bound to this host: it cannot be moved to another PC, and it cannot be refreshed by reinstalling or re-registering. Reinstalling does not restart the trial — the trial activation record survives uninstall.
• Already issued? If a trial key was already issued for your email, or a trial was already activated on this PC, the backend refuses with "already issued" and no second trial is ever issued. Use the key already in your console, or the safekeeping copy emailed after activation.
• No internet? A trial key needs the backend — it cannot be issued offline. The console says so plainly; no trial is faked.
• Clock set back? If the host clock is rolled back, the trial is suspended: the Licence page shows a tamper warning ("Trial suspended: system clock appears to have been set back… Correct the host clock and restart the service"). Correct the clock and restart the service.

Step 6 — Buy and activate

Pricing — buy once, no subscription:

Buy once. Renew support and upgrades only if you need them. The first 12 months of upgrades and standard support are included with every licence. Optional annual renewal after that is 10% of the licence value, rounded once to cents.

1. In the console, go to Licence → Buy seats. It opens the public buy page (multideskkore.trimkore.com/buy) with a short-lived secure token that identifies your host — and your licence too, if you already have one, so extra seats are offered at the upgrade price. No hardware ID, host name or licence ID appears in the page address.
2. The buyer gives only an email address. There is no customer login and no customer account — the buy page is public, and the owner portal is TrimKore-only. Payment is manual: the button only opens the page.
3. TrimKore issues a licence key. Activate it in the console at Licence → Update activation (paste the key exactly), or at install time as in step 1.
4. A new key starts in a 14-day activation grace state while the service activates it online. The licence itself is validated locally by its signature, so the host keeps working. If activation cannot complete, the Licence page shows the grace state and days remaining. A key for a different host is invalid immediately — it is not a grace case.

Licence vs support, kept separate: the Licence page shows two lines — "Perpetual licence: Active" and "Upgrades and support: Included until [date]" (or, when lapsed, "Upgrades and support expired on [date] — licence still active"). A lapsed support period never disables anything and never makes the licence look expired.

Step 7 — Need more seats later?

On the Licence page, Get more seats works the same way as Buy seats: get a new licence key from TrimKore and activate it in the console. Your existing users, sessions, and settings are kept.

If something goes wrong

• Cannot connect: check the host is on, the user account is enabled in the console, and the licence or trial is still active. On the host, run MultiDeskKoreSetup.exe verify — checks 0–35 pinpoint the fault.
• Wallpaper not applying: it applies at the next sign-in. The user must sign fully out and back in.
• An app will not launch for a user: check that user's Allowed / Denied apps in the console. App changes apply at the user's next sign-in.
• A ticket or reply is missing: support tickets need a licence key stored and an internet connection. Without internet the console says so plainly — nothing is queued or faked.

Full detail: see the Troubleshooting manual. To raise a ticket, use Support in the console.

MultiDeskKore V1 · by TrimKore · trimkore.com Tested configuration: Windows 10 Pro 22H2. No customer login exists; the customer uses only the local console.

MultiDeskKore V1 · by TrimKore · trimkore.com · Tested configuration: Windows 10 Pro 22H2. The Markdown files in Docs/ are the canonical source for these pages.