A
Andrew
Hello there!
I'm having a very unusual problem trying to connect to just one
machine in an office via remote desktop.
The client connects but then instantly disconnects (within a small
fraction of a second), failing silently with no error message.
If I connect using the standard Microsoft Remote Desktop client
mstsc.exe from another Windows XP Professional or 2003 Server machine,
when I hit the connect button the dialogue momentarily greys out as it
starts connecting, and then after perhaps 0.2 seconds becomes
available again, without any mention of an error or problem. If I
hold my finger down on the enter key it flies through greying out/
ungreying out perhaps 5-10 times a second as it keeps connecting and
disconnecting.
I have tried the following:
- The computer is Windows XP Professional SP2 with all updates
applied.
- The computer was cleanly installed a month ago.
- I have restarted the computer about 58 times (okay, slight
exaggeration, but that one's ruled out).
- The Terminal Services service is started on the computer.
- The computer is listening on port 3389/tcp.
- I can telnet to the computer successfully on port 3389 and type
things into the window without the connection being broken.
- The Windows XP Firewall on the computer is disabled. Even when it
is enabled, remote desktop is allowed and port 3389/tcp is allowed.
- Under System Properties (sysdm.cpl) - Remote tab, both tick boxes
are ticked. I have gone through and selected two user accounts to
have access - although apparently they already did anyway.
- Both of the above user accounts have passwords set on them.
- It is possible to log on to the machine locally using either of
those user accounts.
- VNC works fine on the computer
- I have tried connecting locally (which doesn't work by design, but I
still tried it)
- I have tried connecting from other computers over a local network
- I have forwarded a port to it (successfully) and tried connecting
from the Internet.
- There is not, and never has been, any other firewall software
installed on the computer.
- There has been, previously, the corporate version of Symantec AV
installed on the computer - but I stress only the AV - we don't have
or use the client firewall. This has now been uninstalled and the
computer restarted.
- If I boot up a Knoppix Linux CD on a remote computer and try to
connect in using rdesktop, an 800x600 window appears momentarily
(again, for about 0.2 seconds) and then the program exits, again
without error. Using yet another remote desktop client, krdc, behaves
similarly.
- The computer is completely free of all spyware, viruses, trojans and
other malware.
- Nothing is logged in Event Viewer.
I have carried out many Google searches on this problem and had no
success at all. If anyone can point me in the right direction I would
be most grateful. If I could see what actually happens on the
offending computer when one tries to connect in - how far it gets and
what error condition is tripped, that would be very useful. Does
Terminal Services have a debug log that can be enabled?
Many many thanks for any help,
Kind regards,
Andrew King
IT for APC Engineers Ltd, UK
I'm having a very unusual problem trying to connect to just one
machine in an office via remote desktop.
The client connects but then instantly disconnects (within a small
fraction of a second), failing silently with no error message.
If I connect using the standard Microsoft Remote Desktop client
mstsc.exe from another Windows XP Professional or 2003 Server machine,
when I hit the connect button the dialogue momentarily greys out as it
starts connecting, and then after perhaps 0.2 seconds becomes
available again, without any mention of an error or problem. If I
hold my finger down on the enter key it flies through greying out/
ungreying out perhaps 5-10 times a second as it keeps connecting and
disconnecting.
I have tried the following:
- The computer is Windows XP Professional SP2 with all updates
applied.
- The computer was cleanly installed a month ago.
- I have restarted the computer about 58 times (okay, slight
exaggeration, but that one's ruled out).
- The Terminal Services service is started on the computer.
- The computer is listening on port 3389/tcp.
- I can telnet to the computer successfully on port 3389 and type
things into the window without the connection being broken.
- The Windows XP Firewall on the computer is disabled. Even when it
is enabled, remote desktop is allowed and port 3389/tcp is allowed.
- Under System Properties (sysdm.cpl) - Remote tab, both tick boxes
are ticked. I have gone through and selected two user accounts to
have access - although apparently they already did anyway.
- Both of the above user accounts have passwords set on them.
- It is possible to log on to the machine locally using either of
those user accounts.
- VNC works fine on the computer
- I have tried connecting locally (which doesn't work by design, but I
still tried it)
- I have tried connecting from other computers over a local network
- I have forwarded a port to it (successfully) and tried connecting
from the Internet.
- There is not, and never has been, any other firewall software
installed on the computer.
- There has been, previously, the corporate version of Symantec AV
installed on the computer - but I stress only the AV - we don't have
or use the client firewall. This has now been uninstalled and the
computer restarted.
- If I boot up a Knoppix Linux CD on a remote computer and try to
connect in using rdesktop, an 800x600 window appears momentarily
(again, for about 0.2 seconds) and then the program exits, again
without error. Using yet another remote desktop client, krdc, behaves
similarly.
- The computer is completely free of all spyware, viruses, trojans and
other malware.
- Nothing is logged in Event Viewer.
I have carried out many Google searches on this problem and had no
success at all. If anyone can point me in the right direction I would
be most grateful. If I could see what actually happens on the
offending computer when one tries to connect in - how far it gets and
what error condition is tripped, that would be very useful. Does
Terminal Services have a debug log that can be enabled?
Many many thanks for any help,
Kind regards,
Andrew King
IT for APC Engineers Ltd, UK