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Remote Desktop Connection Failure

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11 replies

by moberg.jeff

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I am working with a user that used to be able to connect to his work computer from home using Remote Desktop. Recently their server crashed and had to be rebuilt, also a new firewall has been put in place. The user can no longer connect remotely. Remote connections are being refused from inside the network as well. Anytime I try to use RDP to connect from the DC I get the error message:

The client could not connect to the remote computer.

Remote connections might not be enabled or the computer might be too busy to accept new connections. It is also possible that network problems are preventing your connection.

I made sure that remote connection were allowed on his PC as well as making sure all users could connect. I am able to connect to other workstations on the network with out issue.

I have made sure the NIC driver is fully up to date, I have made sure the NIC does not go into power saving mode, I made sure all of the local security policies that pertain to remote connections have been configured properly, and I have removed the computer from the domain and then added it back. I am out of ideas and was hoping someone could help.

The DC of the network is Windows Server 2003 for Small Business and the desktop is Windows XP SP2.

11 replies

by selltekk

I have found that with some of our servers (W2k3 STD), sometimes after a reboot for updates or such, whichever service runs RDP. And we have to reboot the server again to make it work...not sure why, but it certainly is a pain.

by moberg.jeff

I thought of that and made sure that services needed on the workstation were running and alao I am able to connect to other workstations from the same server so I know the service is running on the server.

by baxenden

Have you checked your Windows firewall to ensure it's not blocking the connection? Have you tried connecting by IP address rather than by the machine name?

by moberg.jeff

All of the machines have had Windows Firewall disabled. I have tried using the IP address of the machine a well to no avail.

by bart777

Have you checked the properties tab of My Computer. On the remote tab, is the "Enable Remote desktop on this computer" checked?

If so then you are going to want to verify who has access via the remote desktop user group on the server.

Best of luck.

by moberg.jeff

Yup, that was the first thing I checked and I allowed all domain user.

by notsochiguy

Hello,

Is ISA running on the SBSW2K3 box (specifically, is that acting as your net-facing device/firewall)? If so, that would be a place to check.

If there is a different firewall in use, check the settings, and see how RDP is getting handled. Also check the logs to see if any apparent issues come to light.

I had a client once that had a similar situation, and I would have sworn up and down it had to do with the server rebuild. After inspection, though, it turned out that the little firewall (Watchguard, I think) was hitting it's maximum licensed outbound port use. Client bought another batch of licensed ports and PRESTO, issue was resolved.

by moberg.jeff

The server is not acting as a firewall. Right now I am trying to make a connection from the server to a workstation and it is failing, but I can connect to any other workstation on the network from the server.

by honey_11

U mentioned in ur first post that a new firewall has been installed. I think that is the place to check. Is it configured correctly for the inbound & outbound connections?

by moberg.jeff

I had thought about that, but as of right now I cannot make a connection from the server to the workstation, both of which are inside the firewall. Also I am able to connect to all of the other workstations on the network.

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