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RDWeb shows no icons with Internet Explorer 10 TSWeb (server side fix)

RDWeb or TSWeb is the Microsoft Remote Desktop service web access page from Windows 2008 or Windows 2008 R2.

When using Internet Explorer 10 to browse to an RDWeb (>=2008 R2) or TSWeb (=2008) the icons for the published apps are missing or blank and WKSPRT.EXE (provides SSO) does not load. You have to click the compatibility icon in the browser and then it does work.

If you want to make sure that users don’t have to click compatibility mode, you can send the header to emulate IE9 from server side, so Internet Explorer automatically uses the right mode.

You can choose between 2 options (I prefer option2, easier and less work):

1) Edit all the *.aspx pages (except logoff.aspx) under the %windir%\Web\RDWeb\Pages\en-US\ folder.
Add <META HTTP-EQUIV="X-UA-COMPATIBLE" CONTENT="IE=9"> right below the lines <html><head id=”Head1″ runat=”server”>
screenshot source code

2) Add the header in IIS for the RDweb so that it is automatically added to all pages served from RDweb.
Open IIS Management under Administrative tools in the start menu.
Expand the Default Web Site using the plus sign next to it. Click on RDWeb and then in the middle pane double click on HTTP Response Headers (under the IIS category). In the list with headers right click on the empty space and click Add. Under name fill in: X-UA-Compatible and under value fill in: IE=9
IIS-add-header-compatibility-IE9