Your Windows VPS: delivery, credentials and first login

A By-Hoster Windows VPS is a virtual machine reserved for you, with its own Windows installation, its own public IP address and an administrator account that only you hold. You manage it remotely, exactly like a desktop computer.

What information do I receive when my Windows VPS is delivered?

As soon as the machine is ready you receive the "Your VPS is ready" e-mail. It carries the only three items you need in order to connect:

• the IP address of your VPS;
• the administrator user (Administrator on English images, Administrateur on French ones);
• the password you chose when ordering.

The same details remain available at any time in Client area > My services, on your VPS page.

What should I do while my VPS is installing?

Nothing: the page refreshes on its own and the installation finishes within a few minutes, with no action from you.

Right after the order, your service tab shows "Installation de votre VPS en cours…" together with "This page refreshes automatically". Installation usually takes a few minutes. Two things to know:

1. The page updates on its own. Do not reload it and do not order again.
2. The Console tab is deliberately closed during this step and reads "Console (installation…)". The panel announces the reopening: "Reopening in about N minutes." This prevents an accidental action from interrupting the installation.

If the screen shows "Finalisation de votre VPS…" for a long time, our team has already been alerted automatically; open a ticket if nothing changes after a few minutes.

How do I connect to my Windows VPS from a Windows PC?

With the Remote Desktop Connection already built into Windows: run mstsc, enter the IP address of your VPS, then your credentials.

Windows ships with the client, nothing to install:

1. Press Windows + R, type mstsc and confirm. You can also search for Remote Desktop Connection in the Start menu.
2. In Computer, enter the IP address of your VPS. Port 3389 is the default and does not need to be typed.
3. Click Connect.
4. Enter the user name and password you received. If Windows offers another account, click More choices > Use a different account.
5. A warning states that the remote computer's identity cannot be verified. This is expected on a new server whose certificate is self-signed. Check that the IP shown is yours, then continue.

The Windows desktop of your VPS opens in a window. You can switch it to full screen and copy and paste text between your computer and the server.

Which settings should I change right after my first connection?

Four of them, as a priority: the administrator password, Windows Update, the time zone, then CPU and memory usage in the Graphs tab.

Once the session is open, spend five minutes to:

1. Change the administrator password if the access is shared or if the password travelled by e-mail.
2. Run Windows Update and reboot once the patches are installed.
3. Set the time zone and the display language to suit you.
4. Check in the Graphs tab of the client area that CPU and memory usage settle down once updates are finished.

An exposed server is scanned within minutes. Bots constantly try port 3389 with common passwords. Never use a short or reused password, and never create a secondary account without one.

What should I do if the connection to my VPS fails?

Nine times out of ten the cause is one of four: the VPS is stopped, installation is still running, the IP address was mistyped, or your own network blocks port 3389.

Check, in order:

1. the VPS state on its service page — if it is stopped, click Start;
2. whether installation has finished — RDP is not open while the installation screen is displayed;
3. the IP address you typed, digit by digit;
4. your own network: some corporate and university networks block outgoing port 3389. Test through a mobile hotspot to rule it out.

If in doubt, open the rescue console: it gives you the screen of the machine without going through RDP at all.