Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services) Team Blog

Excellant. More Vista goodness for those stuck on XP.

Your links however point to the Microsoft webmail and not to the actual files.

Will any of these new features be available when using the new client to connect to the old version of the RDP server running on XP Pro/Windows 2000?

Will Terminal Services Gateway be released for Server 2003, or will it only be available on Longhorn Server?

Since updating to Terminal Services Client 6.0, I cannot connect to one of my servers using Remote Desktop from any of my XP SP2 workstations although I can connect from a server running Windows 2003. I get the following message when I access from a workstation even though there are no sessions running on the server.-

The client could not connect. You are already connected to the console of this computer. A new console session cannot be established.

I have two servers running 2003 standard edition SP1, both domain controllers. One I can still access OK, the other I cannot although I can access both servers from each other.

I have proved this to be caused by the update by trying from a workstation before Terminal Services Client was updated and that worked OK but It failed after updating. I have also tried several workstations and different user names but they all fail.

Is this a known problem?

One other point when I can log in the credentials box prompts me with a user name prefixed with the server name rather than the domain name although this still works it is not what I expected. I would prefer the user name to be blank unless I have asked for it to be remembered.

Will there be a Single Sign On for not-vista clients? As in the Citrix CSG?

Remote Desktop Connection 6.0英語版(マルチモニタ対応)

The msrdp.ocx (3790) was registered and working on all of our machines.  We understand that msrdp.ocx is not being updated by RDP 6.0.

However,installing the RDP 6.0 client results in a "Component 'msrdp.ocx' or one of it's dependencies not correctly registered."

As Admin, manually registering the file fixed the problem.

However, we have hundreds clients with user rights that cannot re-register the ocx manually.

Please advise to a possible upcoming fix.

Sincerely,

John Plavocos

john@michaelsutter.com

(435) 654-2800

Authentication via SmartCard no longer works for me - is there a way to uninstall the update?

Peter, can you please describe the scenario? Do you get prompted again for user name and password after you give your smart card credentials? What is the OS you are connecting to?

Thank you

Gaurav

Hi John

TS Client 6.0 explicitly removes msrdp.ocx registration.  The new version of mstscax.dll replaces msrdp.ocx functionality.

Can you please describe the specific problem you are running into?

Thank you

Gaurav

Guarav,

Thank for your response.  The issue is that our VB6 application which has the msrdp.ocx compiled into it, is crashing with a VB error of "Component 'msrdp.ocx' or one of it's dependencies not correctly registered."

So, we are stuck without being able to reference all the existing deployments of the VB6 app with msrdp.ocx.  They are now broken.

John Plavocos

Uncheck "Always prompt for password" in the Terminal Services Configuration -> Connections -> RDP-tcp -> Logon Settings

Patrick Rouse

Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

Citrix Technology Professional

Provision Networks VIP

(949) 433-9422

http://www.sessioncomputing.com

As per my message of the 1st. Still getting the error :-

The client could not connect. You are already connected to the console of this computer. A new console session cannot be established.

when trying to connect to one of my servers. I have had to roll TS client back to 5.1 to be able to connect.

Anybody got any ideas?

Patrick I am having a similar problem. My users are trying to connect to a windows 2000 server that is already configured the way you suggest. Also the RDP connections no longer remember the username or the domain that the user should be using this is a major problem for some users!

Anyone know any work arounds

Until this update RDP worked fine for us. Would really suck if because of an update we had to go to something else. Hopefully stopped the roll out soon enough to minimize the number of users affected.

Gaurav,

Thanks for the response on this.  

The error message is:

mstc.exe -  application error

the instruction at 0x00c8fd50 referenced memory at 0x0000008. the memory could not be read.

all of our users get this when they exit an rdp session.

Hi Teck

Thanks for your response. Don't think you could change the compatibility settings on 5.1 but that worked OK without any configuration so don't know why 6.0 doesn't. Looks like I will have to roll back to 5.1 on all my workstations - still there's only 50 to do!

I am also receiving the error:"The client cannot connect. You are already connected to the console of this compu........."

I only receive it when trying to connect to the DC, I have two member servers that I can connect to with no problem.

So this version of mstsc wants the username/password first before even connecting to the remote server. Is there anyway to configure it to behave the old way (i.e. connect first, then logon with username/password/domain)?

Hi,

I discovered, that after launcing RDC 6.0, netbios queries start for "LOCALMACHINE <00>".

Disabling netbios helps to dismiss startup delay, but these netbios queries happen only since installing RDC 6.0.

Richard

How do I stop it from asking for Server Authentication credentials entirely?  

We only use this stupid program in our office where there is exactly zero chance that anyone is going to connect to the wrong server, so the added step of entering credentials *before* logging into anything has been very poorly received by our confused staff.  Since I'm the one fielding all the calls on this, I am not at all happy that this was enabled by default with no obvious mechanism to disable it.

I don't accept the response 'use the old version'.  The problem with that tactic is that it assumes that I can use it forever.  It is never possible to simply 'go back' and use an older version, especially where MS is concerned.  Having played with the beta, I happen to know for a certainty that the TSC built into Vista has this same anti-feature.  Am I to assume that you expect me to use WinXP forever too?  Are you telling me I can rely on MS to support WinXP from now to eternity?

How hard can it be for MS to figure out that security means giving control to people who know how to use it, not simply taking control away?  I swear, MS is worse than BigBrother.

Does anyone have a *real* answer to my problem?

I also have the failures noted by hgk.  I installed this on my XP Pro notebook and I get the error message "Cannot Connect. The Problem might be due to low virtual memory..."  If I logon to my notebook as the local machine Administrator I can connect to some but not all servers.  As a domain user I cannot connect to anything.

I'm also recieving the mstc.exe -  application error:

the instruction at 0x10006c40 referenced memory at 0x10006c40. the memory could not be read.

I get this error when I launch mstsc. if I ignore the error I can connect without a problem. I just have to leave the error on screen. What is the process to rollback?

In case someone is wondering how to perform a rollback. I was able to rollback the install by installing WinUpdatesList then finding the TSC 6.0 update. Then I found the unistall command line for it. I uninstalled rebooted and an now back to my older 5.1 client.

Getting "can't connect, low virtual memory" errors   when trying to connect from a WinXP laptop to either a XP or Win2003 Server box.

Is there any property available to change the text on Connection Bar in fullscreen mode. It default shows the server name. I tried using property FullscreenTitle but its changing only the title text on taskbar when the fullscreen window is minimized.

I have the same problem that Anders talked about. I downloaded the new 6.0 client, but it still says that NLA is not supported. This is on a Windows XP Home with SP2, which the download webpage says is supported. Is there any setting I can change? I tried to connect to a windows vista machine and I can't because I get an error that my computer does not support NLA. Anything I can try? Thanks!

In my opinion, the new Remote Desktop client is seriously broken.

Firstly, there should be an option (other than a hidden RDP file setting) to disable prompting for credentials before connecting. If the server is prompting for credentials anyway, it means I have to enter things twice.

Secondly, I can no longer remote desktop to a XP Pro SP2 machine in my workgroup. Looking at a network trace, the "server" machine is resetting the connection. There's obviously something in the data that's being rejected.

How on Earth was this software allowed to be released when there are so many bugs in it?

I installed this on an XP SP2 machine and i am trying to connect to another XP SP2 machine.

I keep getting "This computer cant connect to the remote computer. Try connection again...".

Therefore uninstalling.

Should have know it would not work...

Just had this update pushed to my machine, no real problems when connecting to 2003 server.

BUT connecting to a 2000 server ( admin mode ) requires that I first enter the credentials into the client app and then when it fails to pass them to the server you have to enter them again.

We have lots of 2000 servers and it will be some time before we migrate to 2003

How can I stop it requesting the credentials twice.  

Thanks for the uninstall info it helped greatly.  I have been testing the new version to see if it is a good update or not.  My vote is not, I hate having to log in twice to get to my 2000 servers and will not allow any of my users to install this update.  If this is what we have to look forward to in Lonhorn I think it can wait a few years.

Whats are the names of ActiveX properties to disable/enable sound redirection and Windows key combination?

I find that when using .rdp files to connect, the user's username is always prefixed by the machine name and a backslash. This is stupid. I have a domain, and the proper form would be to prefix the username with the domain name and a backslash, or use no prefix at all.

Worse is when I'm connecting over the Internet. Now my username is prefixed by the DNS name of the server and a backslash.

Yet another example of a programmer trying to make my life easier, but not anticipating all the possible situations that might actually make it harder.

And I echo those who are using a purely internal TS, and don't appreciate the inability to use a .rdp file with a saved username and password.

Microsoft, please let us determine for ourselves the level of security we need. Secure by default? Sure - thanks. But no option to disable inconvenient, redundant checks? Don't be my nanny. I can decide when it's necessary.

Thanks,

PJK

To those that dont like the populated domain provided: is there any reason why you do not correct the domain one time, and then in subsequent connections to the same machine, you should have the right domain

Yes, I agree it would be great to be able to remove the server name that is now added.

Previously, I would see a login screen where all I had to do was type in a password.  Now I have to remove the superfluous severname and enter a password.

I am not fussed that the login is before connection (because I only see one login so the work is the same), but the fact that I have an extra step is a pain.

I concur with PJK that you can remove the servername and login and it still comes back next time...

For those annoyed by the new authentication scheme, see this posting:

http://help.lockergnome.com/windows/Terminal-Services-Client-Authentication-ftopict536599.html

I haven't tried any of this yet, but I thought it might be helpful.

pjk

Search this page for the word "uninstall" and you'll find the answer.

Hey,

I am investigating all concerns that people posted here with RDP Client 6.0 authentication issue when they connected to WS2000/WS2003. To reproduce the problem I need some additional  info: when smart card auth did not work for you, you were connecting from WinXP with RDP6.0 client to what server OS? You also enabled smart card redirection (it is good and required). In your post you also mentioned Vista worked for you, Vista as a client or a server?

Thanks,

Nelly

Add me to the list of people that want a way to turn off the double sign-in. I work internally with a mix of 1500 different servers and the double login is a major pain - as is the fact that this is being pushed by automatic updates.

Henry,

Thank you very much for your follow up comments and clarifications, it helped me to understand your scenario much better.

I have some theory around the issue you described and if you would be able to validate it, I would really appreciate it.

Here we go:

1) Smart card authentication from RDP6.0 client installed on Windows XP would not work when you connecting to WinXP. It is a known problem. We are planning to come up with KB to explain the current situation. Also we will consolidate all feedback that coming right now from all of our customers to understand if we need to proceed with WinXP patch/updates.

2) Smart card authentication from RDP6.0 client installed on Windows XP should work when you are connecting to WS2003 SP1. However, what I believe the root cause of all confusions around TS client authentication with smart cards is related to Credential UI( CredUI) for WinXP. This version of CredUI  does not recognize your smart card automatically and always prompt for User name and Password, instead of PIN (what you would see  on Vista and expect. This is a major difference between WinXP and Vista CredUIs). Despite our confusing UI, if you would click on the arrow of the “User” combo box to open drop down list of the credentials, you would be able to find one of the smart card certs ( if you have more than one on your smart card). Select it and provide your pin. It should connect you to the Windows 2K3 server with no problem.

Henry, I would like to ask you to validate this theory, if you would have the opportunity.

Answering your question is it CredSSP related? The answer is no, it is mostly CredUI related.

Thanks very much for your feedback and help,

Nelly    

Juan,

Thanks for your feedback.

Currently, only Vista supports Network Layer Authentication (NLA) natively.

To make your configuration work, you need to modify your remote host (Vista) to allow connections from any clients. ( System Property/Remote).

Nelly

I am re-posting perhaps as an apology but maybe this might help those people who are finding the issue with logon credentials of servername\username rather than domainname\username.

I changed my logon to username@domainname and the rdp client remembered this for future use.

Perhaps it might be worth trying.

There are a few people in this page who have indiacted that they can't connect to a Vista machine when it requires NLA on the client side.  The client side has RDC 6.0, there are XP Pro and 2003 machines, none show support for NLA as posted a few times by various people above (including me).

Nelly has indicated that NLA is only in Vista, but has not answered any of us as to why the feature would be in RDC 6 if no other OS supports it, nor have we been told if and when it will be implemented.  

It would be nice to get a straight answer on this once and for all so that we may stop asking this question over and over.

Please let us know when and if NLA will be available as a patch for OS' other than Vista!

Thank you.

Venkat - adding to my last comment: another user confirmed the following:

Yes - it was indeed the thin print cleint.  Using the new 7.0 (RDP) version of the Client fixes the issue.  No server update required.

Since we released the client on the Windows Update site, we received a lot of feedback in our blog, in

while RDP is working smoothly, however, it is connecting to the remote machine after repeated attempts ...4-5 times at least...I have Zonealarm Pro on the remote machine (server-Xp Pro SP2)...pinging the remote machine with -t option sometimes helps in speeding up the connection (less tries)...any idea why I cannot connect on the first attempt.

Remote machine is configured as Always On in the power settings.

Thanks for reporting this issue.  

This seems that you are having an issue with your Zonealarm Pro firewall. Please disable it and attempt to connect

We also experience the problem of double login. We maintain different servers which has their own FQDN. We used to let RDP to connect to the domain and then enter the login credentials by hand.

Now we have to enter them in the reference window. Because the FQDN is not the same as the domain the external computer operates in, this login fails. The next step is entering the credentials for an second time.

Very anoying and undermining the whole 'ease access concept behind the XP/Vista RDP client'.

Hope an solution will follow soon.

I'm curious to know where the saved credentials are now stored (since they're obviously no longer in the *.rdp files).  (I'm using the 6.0 client on WinXP SP2.)

I would have expected them to show under "Manage my network passwords" in control panel, along with the rest of my Windows network passwords.  I also made a quick run with Sysinternals' (err, Microsoft's) FileMon and RegMon, but didn't see anything of interest.

My concern is, how can I see a list of credentials that I've ever saved with the client (and remove as desired?)

I can connect to a number of computers, that the earlier computers are no longer in the MRU.  Yet, I can type in the name of one of the first computers, and it still recognizes the saved credentials.  I'm not comfortable with this - I should be able to view a list, and remove those I no longer want saved.

I'm dissappointed to see so many comments about not being able to connect & getting the "you're already connected" message, even you you're NOT already connected go unanswered by the blog staff.

For me, it WAS working with the new client (connecting to Windows Server 2003), but now it's not. I can rdp to a vista machine on the same network, but no longer to the server.

Why are so many people, myself included, suddenly having this problem?

Simply delete the "@server.com" part (I assume in the credentials dialog). If you successfully logon, the next time you try to connect to that server, you will only see "username" You should not have to delete "@server.com" EVERY time. You should have to do it just once

A feature request; could you built-in a proxyserver tab?

The Terminals application on CodePlex (http://www.codeplex.com/Terminals) provides a tabbed GUI for RDP sessions using the RDC client.  It rocks.  It would be awesome to get this functionality into the RDC client.

See http://www.epocalipse.com/blog/2006/11/05/windows-terminal-services-client/ for a description and screenshots.

Buck

John X:

NLA support for pre-Vista OSes is being looked at.

In the meantime, if you want to use RDP 6.0 on a non-Vista machine to connect to a Vista machine, you need to tell the Vista machine not to require NLA.  You can do this by going to Remote Settings (right click Computer, select Properties, then select Remote Settings from the left hand bar) and select Allow Connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop.

RDP 6.0 has some advantages beyond the previous version unrelated to security (better device redirection for instance) that still make it a good option, but for now, NLA on XP and 2k3 is not available.

I support several small businesses in my area. A few of the workstations I support at more than one site encounter the "mstsc.exe - Application Error" problem. These stations first successfully connect to a remote station, then after logging out, return to the Remote Desktop Connection as usual. However, when they choose Cancel to close the application, they see the Application Error. The instruction address seems to vary, but the referenced memory is always at "0x00000008" and cannot be "read".

I have removed the 6.0 client update using Add/Remote Programs, and the original version of Remote Desktop Connection works correctly. Reinstalling the 6.0 client again causes the Application Error described above.

Is there a fix in the works? Would remote access to one of the problem workstations help diagnose the issue? If so, I could arrange access for a support engineer.

Please direct any response to Hagan@Trilon.com, as I do not routinely check this blog. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hi,

Recently I installed the RDP 6 Client and I have these problems:

1. I am getting on the about screen Network Level Authentication Not Supported - Does not find a way to activate it.

2. On our server, all the properties of the application is loaded per user by his account name. Some users that needed several properties have several logins on the server.

Now with the new update, it does not let us save few usernames for the same server. Even not with "Always Ask For Credentials" it is still overiding the previous username every time the user tryes to log on with another username.

Is there any way to set it to enable multiple logins credantials for the same server?

Cheers,

Dvir

"NLA on XP and 2k3 is not available."  It's a feature of Vista Client to Longhorn Server communication.  Just like when you connect with a newer RDP Client to a 2000 TS, you can't get > 8 bit color, even thought the client supports it.

NLA is not a current feature of pre-Vista Clients.

Is that clear?

Patrick Rouse

Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

Citrix Technology Professional

Provision Networks VIP

President - Session Computing Solutions, LLC

http://www.sessioncomputing.com

Earlier there where many comments regarding the slowness of the RDP client whenv connecting to various servers. I am running windows vista and have been running windows Xp sp2 with remote desktop client 6 and have been experiencing major issues connecting to various servers due to speed. Is there an update to remote desktp yet? Can an earlier version be run on windows vista?

Garlyn,

What are you connecting to? Vista to Vista? Vista to XP or WS2K/WS2K3? Is it nested sessions  that you see being noticeably slow?

Remote Desktop was recently updated to version 6 during an automatic update. Now when I attempt to connect to the remote computer, I get a user name/password prompt.  When I click on the down arrow for the user name box, I see the message "Incompatible smart card."  I attempted to find a way to uninstall the update; however, it does not show up on the add/remove programs page.  How do I either back up to the old version or correct the compatibility problem?

Any response to Richard's comments about log in lag from the dev team?  Why is it slow to respond w/ 'netbios over tcp' on.  I'm still confused with Richard's explaination and I don't know why I should have to turn off netbios over tcp to get the login promptly.

Does anyone know how I can script the removal of the version 6 client as someone accidentally approved the install via WSUS.

Is there any chance that Seamless Windows are possible with a client version 6?

I have to agree that the 'double login' is a bad feature.  The problem isn't really that there are two login screens.  The problem is that the RDP client seems to be sending the target machine a username of "ipaddress/username" (or "domain/username") instead of just "username".  

Changing to "username@IP" (or "username@domain") does not help because our usernames are just "username".

The client does not remember any changes made, and the drop-down menu never populates with "username" or anything else.  It insists upon "IP/username" and nothing will make the default change, or give the user a mouse-selectable choice.

IMHO, it should be possible to turn off the domain/IP part of the username, so the client won't try to populate the username with that information.  

The alternative suggested above of just hitting OK (and setting the client to connect even if authentication fails) is the equivalent of putting up a dummy dialog box with an "OK" button on it, between the dialog to select the remote machine, and the dialog to authenticate the user.  I do not see the point of this, or how it improves the old client, which at least would remember if you identified youself as domain/user.

If the idea was to allow the user to select the remote machine and the username in a single click, then then first dialog box should have modified to do that.   Frankly, I'd be happier from a security perspective knowing that the client will not send the password to the remote machine until the remote machine acknowledges that a user with the provided username exists on the machine, and then have a second dialog open, prompting me for the user's password.

In any case, this new client is not a welcome addition to my desktop.

Thank you to Jon for posting the info on removing KB925876 to roll back, it would be nice if this info was found more easily. More importantly though, I can't imagine how any system administrator could possibly use the new client until it is understood how to save the credentials for more than one identity for a given TS. Every admin I know logs into servers as different users, and relys on the securty of their workstations to keep the saved username/pwds saved. I could not figure out how to do this with the new RDP clieint. Is it not possible? it appears to only allow you to save the credentials of a single identitiy per TS. comments from msft on this topic would be appreciated.

How can I take a Windows server crash dump thru MS RDP session..plase update if anyone knows about it.

We're having the same crap issue with the Application Errors upon exiting MSTSC.  Believe it or not, what fixes it for me is if you disable DEP (Data Execution Prevention) for the app or for the whole O/S.  :-(  So the app may have a bug in how it calls for memory.  

Any thoughts on this?  

Can someone explain to me why this new version isn't a big security hole? The client may be providing a username and password to an unverified location. Suppose I normally connect to a server at xx.xx.xx.32 and I type in xx.xx.xx.31 instead. That IP might belong to someone else and now that someone else could grab my password. Ditto for a server at remote.abc.com, oops, I put in remote.abv.com and now they have my username and password.

Font smoothing doesn't work when I connect from home (vista) to work (xp pro). It used to work when I was using xp pro at home. Once I upgrade it to vista, it stops working...

Can anyone tell me why?

I was hoping that someone could tell me why TSclient6 won't disconnect from my Win2k3 TS at logoff. Apparently users are logging off and it just goes back to the server login instead of disconnecting the client (as with TSclient 5). Is this a problem or by design? Is it possible to get TSClient 6 to disconnect @ logoff?

My email is chris(at)8degrees(dot)org for anyone who might have a response.

I was fairly excited about this update when it came out, but after I used it for a while, I decided that I have to uninstall it.  My main gripe about the new client is how it caches the usernames for RD connections.  For example, when I connect to my server and log in with domainuser, the next time I go to connect to my server, the cached username is computername\domainuser instead of domain\domainuser.  This is even less helpful than no caching at all, since I have to shift-tab to the username field and take out the computername part...

As far as uninstalling, I did a registry search for the KB # (925876), and this led me to find the uninstall command line:

C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB925876$\spuninst\spuninst.exe

(in my case)

I really need Terminal Services Client 4. something.  Can someone help me?

Jean Oiler

Terminal Services Team Blog Entry - Details of Remote Desktop Client 6.1 released to the public (March 28, 2007)

http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2007/03/28/ts-connection-experience-improvements-based-on-rdp-6-0-client-customer-feedback.aspx

Patrick Rouse

Citrix Technology Professional

Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

Provision Networks VIP

President - Session Computing Solutions, LLC

(949) 433-9422

http://www.sessioncomputing.com

Having recently upgraded to RDC 6 I am experiancing dropped connections on my Windows XP SP2 client when connecting to a Windows 2000 SP4 Server.  The Server people tell me I am the only one with this problem and point to my ISP as the source of the problem.  However the only thing that has recently changed is the RDC client software.  When trying to roll it back to a previous version (add/remove KB925876) I am presented with a list what looks like every program on my computer that it warns that it may uninstalltion may impact. So, is there anything in RDC 6 that might be causing the constant disconnections to the Win2K Server that I can adjust, and/or is uninstalling KB925876 going to impact any of my other applications as it warns?

Thank you!

The new client is absolutely awesome from a usability standpoint. Its been a snap to use and easy to intuitively configure!

TS team, you guys did a great job!

Hi there

I just tried to use smart card authentication to log in via RDP to a WIN2003 SP1 Server (from a Windows XP SP2 Client with RDP 6.0 installed).

I selected "smart cards" under local resources. When I connect to my Win2003 Server I can choose the certificate from the dropdown list first, enter the pin and get connected: But on the Win2003 Server I get a standard login prompt with userid/password?

I saw that several other people have had that problem before but I didn't find a solution yet.

Rafael

I've read thru this entire blog and I see very very little positive feeback about version 6.0.  It looks like Microsoft has Vista'd RDC as well.  Microsft seems to want to improve the home users while severely hurting Business Users.  Win XP was awesome the day it came out and my expereince so far with Vista related stuff is that other than the improved graphics it is an awful thing to support for businesses. We are a long time Microsoft Partner and we do large installs of dozens of workstation at a time and all this exra setup is going to cost our customers a lot of unnecessry money spent.  There is no reason why the new RDC client needs two separate logon setup screens when maybe another tab was all that was needed.  We have many end users who can't even understand how to click Start and then All Programs to find the programs they need.  If we can't put an Icon on their desktop with everything already preset then they can't figure out how to use it.  They don't know or care what a domain is they just want to be able t write down their user ID, Password, and the name that has to go into the third field.  Better security and some of the other features would be nice but RDC 6 as it is now is totally unusable.  The suggestions here to go back to RDC 5 are not an option if you are running Vista already.  What the heck was Microsoft doing the last 5 years while working on Vista, did they not bother to listen to their business customers?  Everyone wants simpler installs and not more complex installs!  Why does it have to be so hard and why do we have to put up with this level of pain?  

I have a folder with about 100 .rdp files for various servers at all of my diferent custmers.  It has worked great for years but now is basically useless as I have to fgure out how to fix each one so that I can remote into my customers servers for maintenance.  What a mess!  Does Microsoft even use their own new software?  Obviously not in the real world.  They have gone from the ability to set up several servers in the old Microsoft/Citrix client of 4.0 to separate but decent .rdc files of RDC 5.x to the horrible unmanagable 6.0 without remembering where they came from and who their customers are.  

I hope Microsoft takes all this negative feedback and goes back to the drawing board to "fix" RDC the right way and to "fix" Vista Business so it is easy to roll out a lot of workstations in a domain.  They better do it quick because they are losing a lot of business as I can't in my right mind recommend any business over about 5 computers go to Vista or RDC 6.  If this is what we have in store for us with Longhorn then I'm changing careers!  At least the Home users are now happy . . . .

RDP Client 6.1 that's in Server 2008 Beta3 provides the same kind of authentication that version 5.x did when connecting to 2000 & 2003 Terminal Servers.  I would imagine that this will be released for XP SP2 and higher clients around the release of Server 2008.

I share the frustration of Andre, Levente and many others.

Patrick Rouse and Nelly have offered little of any quality.

Patrick - regarding your 'is that clear' negative comment. What is clear to me is that this morning on my Vista Ultimate machine at home I enabled NLA - as it misleadingly states it will work on Vista or other machines with NLA version of RDP and is better becasue it is more secure. KB925876 also misleading states that the 'featires' are only avaiable to remote computers running Vista - which mine is. Now you are saying sorry it wont work and to make my machine less secure, from using one MS Windows product to another!

WE ARE ALL HAVING THIS PROBLEM - THANKS TO IN PART MISLEADING INFO. DOES IT TELL YOU SOMETHING IF WE ARE ALL HAVING THIS PROBLEM. I suggest you refine your customer skills and listen when many experienced customers are having the same issue.

I wopuld appreciate being able to RDP from my Business XP pro sp2 machine to my Home Vista Ultimate machine using NLA security. Is that asking too much when I have invested recently into both these MS operating systems?

Your customers are FRUSTRATED. Any other business will quickly go bust. Soon maybe MS will if they dont learn or listen.

Hello,

Before I start some feedback:

NLA - Great

CredSSP - wow, looking forward to not typing my password 100 times a day.

RDP with Aero/Desktop Composition - Fantastic

New Vista logon UI - Fantastic for smartcards, annoying to put in domain name - I only have one domain, why can't it be default?

TSWeb - Hmmm

Using Vista with RDPClient 6.0 the old Win2k3 TSWEb AX errors with "Error in licencing protocol" and will not work.

Using XP with RDPClient 6.0 - works, but annoying "are you sure you want to connect the clipboard, etc?" messages - I NEED A WAY TO TURN THESE OFF, I am the administrator and I don't need to delegate this decision to our users, they don't care, they just want to get on with their job and let someone else look after security. I used to have drives on too but now have to turn off all sharing to give them a good experience and deal with the helpdesk calls when they can't use their USB sticks or clipboard and point them to a special URL with the settings and prompts.

Thanks!

I have Windows Vista Business and Office 2007 installed on laptop. I can connect to the first client without any problem. Whenver I try to connect to an additioanl client (different IP) at the same time, Remote desktop crahes with the following signature:

Problem signature:

 Problem Event Name: APPCRASH

 Application Name: mstsc.exe

 Application Version: 6.0.6000.16386

 Application Timestamp: 4549b425

 Fault Module Name: StackHash_2ba6

 Fault Module Version: 6.0.6000.16386

 Fault Module Timestamp: 4549bdc9

 Exception Code: c0000374

 Exception Offset: 000af1c9

 OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.256.6

 Locale ID: 1033

 Additional Information 1: 2ba6

 Additional Information 2: edb81efb925a9e212708c512a1009784

 Additional Information 3: c16e

 Additional Information 4: d1e5272f31bf042e4e228a6256de90ab

Do you have any suggestions to help me?

Ramesh

Since upgrading to RDP 6 I have had some difficulty accessing my office PC remotely.  My office PC is an XP/SP2 Tablet Edition.

The difficulty is connecting.  The authentication is ok but during the connection process it appears to get so far (almost done) and then the whole session disappears.

This weekend the same problem was happening.  I removed the upgrade with add/remove programs and was able to connect with no difficulty with RDP 5.

Will RDP 6.1 fix this?

Rudy:

Thank You for your suggestion...Unfortunately, adding the new line to the default rdp did NOT solve the problem.

Pls admit this is a useless bit of software. My remote users still use rdp5.2. Ver6 is useless. Why is it asking me to logon twice and why would I want to log on locally to a server?. Why can't it just work?. MS please listen to your customers. Thank you or at least test the software first. Im waiting for an update me thinks.

If you have an RDP session within an RDP session, how do you send a CTRL-ALT-DEL to the inner session?  CTRL-ALT-DEL is captured by the local machine, CTRL-ALT-END is captured by the first session, how can this be done on the inner session?

The problem with controlling the RDP options via the default.rdp file, e.g. to turn off the double logon prompt, is that after installing the client, you now have to touch the default.rdp file for every user on every PC or server they use, no an elegant solution. Why in the world don't you have global setiings, or use a GPO?

Another problem is that the Windows key now no longer works on the remote desktop, when you press the Windows key, it brings up the start menu, on the local desktop.

Could you please fix these issue ASAP?

Thanks,

Chuck HAllback

P.S. This blog is SO slow, it's almost unusable

Sorry for the triple post, I kept getting server errors about page not found.

The major changes in behavior from remote desktop 5.2 to 6.0: e.g. prompting for credentials before connecting, the Windows key not working on the remote desktop, etc, is analogous to Microsoft coming out with an MP3 player that is not Playforsure compatible, and won't play the DRM protected WMA files that law abiding people have been buying online for years ... Like a Zune. Didn't you beta test remote desktop 6.0?

If Microsoft would get feedback from real people/users, they could avoid these major blunders that make people lose faith in them.

Chuck Hallback

Will the problem with the Windows key combos, and alt-tab, not working on the remote desktop also be fixed? For us this is the biggest show stopper on deploying the 6.0 client.

I didn't see this mentioned on your list of issues for the 6.0 version.

Thanks,

Chuck Hallback

RDC6 was installed on my computer while making a repair install (yes, _now_ I know I should have unplugged my computer from the net :)) and cannot be uninstalled normally via Add/Remove Programms or WinUpdatesList. Is there a way to remove it manually, like deleting mstsc.exe and all references to it in registry?

Thanks a lot.

To Rob:

Thanks a lot for the answer, but I tried it and unfortunately it does not show, that's why I asked for a way to remove it manually :)

To Chuck:

I also have the "alt-tab" problem with rdpclient 6.0...it's stopping to work sometimes but I really don't know why :/

I also witnessed the same strange netbios lookups for '..LOCALMACHINE' - using strings, I verified they are in the RDP 6 client code. Any idea how to get rid of this ~7 seconds delay?! very annoying.

Hi, we're having a strange problem that appears to be happening since upgrading to mstsc 6,

we have four windows 2003 servers that we connect to via remote desktop / terminal server sessions.

the mojority of the time we log on and off without issue, however sometimes the log off is not smooth.

i click 'log off' and confirm this, desktop/explorer closes and i'm left with the blue background and the yellow task bar across the top of the screen, the sessin will stay like this for as long as you are prepared to leave it.

if i press ctrl+alt+end whilst in this hung session i can choose log off again and the session closes.

Strangely there are no entries in the event log to give me an ide how to troubleshoot.

through testing i've found this happens more often if i fire up a connection and immediatly log off.

Any thoughts as this ones driving me crazy

Thanks in advance

What about the domain:s: parameter - will this ever be fixed? Its causing major headaches for our multi-domain, multi-terminal server situaton across domains and trusts!

Accidentally pushed this out to some client PCs via WSUS, and realized it crippled our ability to connect to a Windows 2003 terminal server.  Now manually removing update 1 at a time.  This should have been marked as experimental, not a critical update :p

Remove the double authentication requirement.

To stop the RDP client prompting for credentials before showing the actual remote machine login screen, append the following two lines to your My Documents\Default.rdp file, and any other .rdp files you have saved:

prompt for credentials:i:0

enablecredsspsupport:i:0

Hi,

  I couldnot remotely connect our server suddenly its running on windows server 2003 am using XP proff.After rebooted its working can any one tell me what was the prob?

Hello there,

I have trouble with the printer redirection on the XP computers with RDC 6.0 installed.

Anything I can do?

Cheers

AM

Today installed XP Professional SP3 from the updatecenter and getting same error signature as I reported on 8/oct/2007.

AppName: mstsc.exe AppVer: 6.0.6001.18000 ModName: unknown

ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 00e65c50

Any suggestion to stop this error?

Is the "Windows key *not* working" has been resolved so far?

I used RDP 6.0 on my XP SP2 and it was a huge pb. In each TS session, the keyborad shortcut did not work despite I enable this dfeature in the .rdp files! I uninstall the RDP 6.0 client to the 5.2... which worked perfectly.

But i've just install XP SP3... and you know what? RDP client is bundled! So I've still got my pb... Hey MS gus, don't tell me you did not solved the pb with some registry tweaks!

I've found the resaon of "Windows key *not* working" problem!

If you're experiencing trouble with Windows key cobinations you have to start the terminal services service on your client computer.

For example if you want to have alt+tab working in the remote TS session, you have to start the terminal services service on your Windows....

very funny

Tell me Guys, where is it documented?

I am using Windows XP Pro with Terminal Services Client 6.0 running. I am connecting from the XP machine to a Windows Vista Ultimate machine. I have no problems connecting, but I am having problems with certain keyboard keys when accessing the remote Vista machine. When I type the 'e' key it opens a computer window. When I hit the space key it changes the fcous of the windows. When I hit the 'r' key it opens the run dialog. When I hti the 'u' key it opens the ease of access center. This only occurs when I am using remote desktop from my XP to vista machine. Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks!

With regards to Dale's and Redowa's problem with incompatible smartcards, i believe that this is caused when the server that is hosting the card is not able to communicate with the Smart Card Issuing Certification Authority.

The only workaround that i know is to uninstall this patch which to me has no added value for Windows server 2003 or Windows XP users.

i have register mstscax.dll and use in vb, i have doual monotor support. i can span the screen by uing the comman mstsc /span but i use activeX in vb to span the screen. which property is to be set  that span the screen on multiple monitor

please  understood me  about remote  desktop in  simple  word  and  how  to  make  this  software  in  vb ?

I was just curious if anyone has run into this. I have noticed recently on a few machines that my connections aren't being saved. I don't have alot of info to provide, but it seems to be related to the shortcut. I am not sure if the actual shortcut was always in the Terminal Services folder in Administrative tools, but that seems to be where the problerm lies. I have noticed this issue in Vista Ult, sp1 and server 2008 ent(sp1). If I just open the console and add a few connections, then close the console and open it again, the connections I added are all gone. I've noticed this on both OS's. Even if I open the console and change it from author mode to user mode full, the same thing happens and the console defaults back to author mode. However, if I create a new console and add remote desktops(add snapin) and save this and change it from author mode to user-full everthing saves and works well. Has anyone ran into this?

Hi

Installed drivers and management SW for USB eToken from Aladdin on Windows Server 2003.

Starting management SW locally and all works.

Starting management SW via RDP and USB eToken is not found by the management SW.

Any idea for a solution?

@Jeff,

Windows Server 2008 is largely backwards compatible with previous versions of the client. The one thing that older clients do not support is Network Level Authentication. If you want your Windows Server 2008 installation to accept connections from the RDP 5 client or earlier, you will have to configure it to not require Network Level Authentication. Other than that, previous clients should work fine.

-Eric

my RDP users lose their in session printers.  When they log off and log back on the printers are not reconnected.  I have to reboot the server for the printers to reconnect in a session.  When the problem begins, users currently logged on will keep their printers but as each user is timed out or loggs off they lose their printer when they log back on.  This problem is intermintent it is not happening all the time.  It just starts happening sometimes and I can not find a pattern or cause.  When it happens, I have to reboot the server for the printers to start reconnecting at logon.  After the reboot, it may be fine for several hours or days. Then it will do it again.  Today it has done it several times.  Any ideas as to what may be causeing this?