The highlighted menus of all the running applications are displayed incorrectly in a Windows Server 2008-based terminal server session

Consider the following scenario:

• You install the Terminal Service server role on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008.
• You publish a Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services RemoteApp (TS RemoteApp) application on the server. For example, you publish Microsoft WordPad on the server.
• You configure the color depth to 8 bits per pixel (BPP) in a terminal server session.
  
  Note The 8 bits per pixel setting can support a maximum of 256 colors.
• You log on a terminal server session from a remote computer for the first time.

In this scenario, the highlighted menus of all the running applications are not displayed correctly in the terminal server session. Both the color of the menu and the text of the menu are displayed in white. Therefore, you cannot read the highlighted menus.

This issue occurs when you perform one of the following operations:

• You log on to a terminal server session that has a full desktop for the first time.
  
  Note This issue does not occur if you log off and then log back on again.
• You connect to a TS RemoteApp application in a terminal server session.

This issue occurs because the color settings are not applied in the terminal server session. When you log on to a terminal server session that has a full desktop for the first time, the color settings for a user profile are created. However, these settings are not applied until after you log on for the second time.

Note If you never log on to a terminal server session that has a full desktop, the color settings are never applied.

Note This hotfix does not address the scenarios where users always specify a program under Start a Program in the Remote Desktop Connection window, or where a program is specified under Initial Program in the RDP-Tcp properties of the Terminal Server.

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing the problem described in this article. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, your computer must be running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2). Additionally, the Terminal Services server role must be installed on the computer.

For more information about how to obtain a Windows Server 2008 service pack, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace a previously released hotfix.

File information

The global version of this hotfix installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.

Windows Server 2008 file information notes

• The files that apply to a specific product, SR_Level (RTM, SPn), and service branch (LDR, GDR) can be identified by examining the file version numbers as shown in the following table.
  Collapse this tableExpand this table

  Version	Product	SR_Level	Service branch
  6.0.600 1 . 22xxx	Windows Server 2008	SP1	LDR
  6.0.600 2 . 22xxx	Windows Server 2008	SP2	LDR

• Service Pack 1 is integrated into the release version of Windows Server 2008. Therefore, RTM milestone files apply only to Windows Vista. RTM milestone files have a 6.0.0000.xxxxxx version number.
• The MANIFEST files (.manifest) and the MUM files (.mum) that are installed for each environment are listed separately in the "Additional file information for Windows Server 2008" section. MUM files and MANIFEST files, and the associated security catalog (.cat) files, are extremely important to maintaining the state of the updated component. The security catalog files, for which the attributes are not listed, are signed with a Microsoft digital signature.

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows Server 2008

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008

For all supported IA-64-based versions of Windows Server 2008

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Additional file information

Additional file information for Windows Server 2008

Additional files for all supported x86-based versions of Windows Server 2008

Additional files for all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008

Additional files for all supported IA-64-based versions of Windows Server 2008