Remote Desktop Connection headache solved with NEW PROBLEM!

[FaithlessThinker]

Ok I have two computers:

Computer D:

A desktop computer running Windows 7 Ultimate.
Connected to the Internet via a Motorola Cable Modem (no router), using LAN cable (no wireless).
Contains a 802.11b/g Wireless card.
An ad-hoc connection is created on the wireless card for sharing files and Internet with second computer (described below).

Computer L:

A laptop/tablet computer running Windows Vista Ultimate.
Connected to the Internet via computer D's ad-hoc wireless connection (no wireless router).

Both computers have remote assistance and remote desktop enabled, and are connected to a workgroup. Both have AVG Free installed.
I am also able to access shared folders from one computer in another (both ways).

I am able to start a remote assistance session from computer L to computer D, which means I can "remotely assist" and thus see the desktop of L on my D's screen.
I am able to create a remote desktop connection from computer D to computer L, which means I can remotely control D from my L's screen. (It's the other way around compared to the previous statement.)

Now what I want to be able to do is, remotely control L from my D's screen. While I'm able to do it using "remote assistance" I want to be able to do it via remote desktop connection (The advantage is I don't need to be infront of L to accept a request. I'm also speculating it is faster, and I'll be able to use the full glory of my D's 23.5" screen).

I have tried everything I could think of:

• Change L's computer name.
• Change both computers' RDP ports.
• Restart computers.
• Use IP address instead of computer name.
• Check L's firewall settings (that's a pain in the ass)
• Disable L's firewall.
• Open ports in L's firewall.

I just can't understand why remote desktop works one way (from D to L) but not the other way! I mean nothing surfaces as a problem. RDP just refuses to connect!

 

[Sparky]

Re: Remote Desktop Connection HEADACHE!

Not sure if this could be the problem or not but perhaps it is due to the operating systems.

Perhaps Vista -> Windows 7 doesn't work due to backwards compatibility issues. It would be odd if this were the case however on the face of it this is the only thing that I can see that could be an issue.

 

[FaithlessThinker]

Re: Remote Desktop Connection HEADACHE!

Actually on a little bit more of Googling, I found out that the possible culprit could be my graphics card! Odd as that sounds.

My desktop has an ATI Radeon graphics card and my laptop has an (older) nVidia graphics card.

I didn't find anything about ATI (partly because I didn't look for it), but I found a lot of people reporting issues with RDP when the host computer uses an nVidia card. The most recommended solution is to update the display card's driver. I tried it all (latest driver, hacked driver, microsoft's own driver, vgasave driver), but still nothing works.

I'm currently adjusting with LogMeIn. It's pretty smooth and fast on the LAN settings (probably because it utilizes P2P), but I miss out on having my 23.5" desktop screen's glory on my laptop's Windows. LogMeIn streams only at the host computer's screen resolution, a mere 1024x768 in my case.

As for the backwards compatibility speculation, I'm trying to remote access a Windows Vista computer from a Windows 7 computer (unable to control older version from newer version). I'd say it's a bit odd especially since I can remote access Windows 7 from Windows Vista (able to control newer version from older version).

Also, do you think it could be because I have the laptop connected to an ad-hoc wireless connection? I have a router stashed somewhere, maybe one day I'll pull it out and create a LAN infrastructure network, and see if I can RDP through that. But right now, I'm not using the router to avoid having too many wires in my bedroom.

 

[MineMineMine]

Re: Remote Desktop Connection HEADACHE!

what software are you using?
did you try:
http://www.teamviewer.com/download/index.aspx ?

 

[FaithlessThinker]

Re: Remote Desktop Connection HEADACHE!

what software are you using?
did you try:
http://www.teamviewer.com/download/index.aspx ?

Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) is not a software that I installed. It's part of Windows (and as far as I know, it's available from Windows XP onwards). You can just open the Start Menu and search for Remote Desktop Connection. But remember that home editions of Windows do not have this feature.

Team Viewer is something similar to LogMeIn (though a little different as it focuses on remote customer support). I don't think it will be a better substitute to replace RDP than LogMeIn already is. Anyway I'm not looking for substitute software, I just want my RDP to work as described above.

 

[nophun]

Re: Remote Desktop Connection HEADACHE!

You should not have to change any firewall settings, ports, or names. Vista and Win7 should set everything up correct.

This is most likely a silly question but have you tried setting the computerD to "Allow connections from comp. running RD network level authentication ?" Obviously, making sure the correct user is allowed.

You might want to try connecting to ComputerD:3389 .
Yes I know your port is not 3389 at the moment, just give it a try.

I quit using Vista's remote connection manger years ago and started using NoMachines NX Desktop whenever needing a RD.

 

[scalyblue]

Re: Remote Desktop Connection HEADACHE!

Are you running the latest service pack of vista, with all updates? What about the Win7 computer?

Does the errata occur on any user of the Vista computer or just the primary user.

Have you made any changes to the group policy on either computer?

Have you made any changes to which services may start and stop on either computer, such as using msconfig or hijackthis?

 

[scalyblue]

Re: Remote Desktop Connection HEADACHE!

http://www.sysprobs.com/connect-remote-desktop-windows-7-fix

 

[FaithlessThinker]

Re: Remote Desktop Connection headache - SOLVED!

http://www.sysprobs.com/connect-remote-desktop-windows-7-fix

I thought this is irrelevant because the computer I am trying to remote access is Windows Vista. However, this has solved my problem! The only caveat is that in Vista, the services to enable in step 4 are:

• Terminal Services
• Terminal Services Configuration
• Terminal Services UserMode Port Redirector

Once I enabled and started these services, I was able to connect to my laptop via its full computer name and custom RDP port (which I had set before). YAY!!! I can even use my laptop with my 23.5" desktop screen at its maximum resolution! (That's the main reason why I favor RDP over remote access softwares like LogMeIn.)

Thank you scalyblue! I feel so silly for having wasted hours trying to see if it's a problem with my graphics card driver (updating, uninstalling, reinstalling it). :lol:

Now the next problem:
I tried remote access to my desktop from a computer in my school, but couldn't. Remember that I was able to remote access my desktop from my laptop, so everything is set up for remote access. However, so far all the remote access was within a LAN and now I want to take it to the Internet.

I had just enabled Remote Desktop for Public networks in step 2 (of the above link) on my desktop computer, but I don't see how it matters. (It was already enabled for private, and I am connected to a private network).

I will try it again today, but meanwhile is there anything I could have missed with regards to accessing my home computers via my external IP address? I found my external IP via http://www.whatismyip.com (not using proxies, matches IP address reported by ipconfig) and I also added my custom RDP port to it. But stilll can't connect.

Ping from home computer works (maybe because it's within LAN). I will try ping from school today.

EDIT: Strangely, www.whatismyip.com is starting to display a new IP address and ipconfig continues to display the old one. Pinging to old one works, while pinging to the new one doesn't. Could be my ISP messing it up.

The following questions were answered for argument's sake under the conditions that my RDP headache was not solved yet, and therefore may not be relevant to further discussion.

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