Remote Desktop disconnects instantly with no error

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

"Andrew" <andrew137@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:7d82d807-b42a-4e97-b8a9-66cbe4181312@j44g2000hsj.googlegroups.com...
> 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 would make sure the graphics drivers are up to date on each PC.

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

Fantastic, that hit the nail on the head. It was an ATI x1550 card.
I went onto their site and downloaded the latest 'simple' driver (a
15MB download, rather than the full feature one for 45MB), restarted
and it's worked. Many thanks.

Is there any way we can relay this to Microsoft so that they might
code a helpful message into the server code so that it lets the client
know why it's bombing out? Would they be interested?

Thanks again,

Andrew

On Nov 28, 11:22 am, "Sooner Al [MVP]"
<Soone...@somewhere.net.invalid> wrote:
> "Andrew" <andrew...@gmail.com> wrote in message

(snip)

> I would make sure the graphics drivers are up to date on each PC.
>
> --
>
> Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)
>
> Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
> mutual benefit of all of us...
> The MS-MVP Program -http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> rights...