QTP + Remote Desktop + Server 2003

Can anyone help me with a major QTP headache please?! I have a lab of about 20 virtual machines (running XP) that I use for running automated tests of all sorts (GUI, web services and TE). I've built out a great system for running these tests to an overnight schedule and emailing out test summaries with links to HTML results. BUT, I have to be able to use remote desktop to maintain these machines and this is where my problems lay.
Soon after building this test lab I realized that if I remoted in, I could not minimize or close the remote desktop window, otherwise GUI tests would grind to a halt (objects couldn't be found, screen captures were blank, that kind of thing). The solution I came across on another forum a couple of years back was to create a desktop shortcut on the virtual machines to disconnect the remote connection, but switch the session to the console so it would continue working normally ("TSCON.exe 0 \dest:console"). All was well until recently we had to add another test lab where instead of having XP on the virtual machines, they have Server 2003. Now this approach doesn't work, I get back "Could not connect sessionID 0 to sessionname console, Error code 7045". I've been Googling and trying different tricks for over a week now and I'm about done with this!!
Any ideas please? Anyone?! HELP! Thanks! I'd rather not have to go to something like VNC because it's much slower and (IMHO) clunkier than RD.