Question

Cannot Remote Desktop into Server "The client cannot establish a connection to the remote computer"

Asked by: OneSeventeen

I am getting the error message "The client cannot establish a connection to the remote computer" when I try to remote desktop into one of our servers.

I can still remote into all of our other servers.  
I can telnet into the server via "telnet <IP of server> 3389" just fine.
I can access the website hosted on this server.
I can access the server applications we use this server for just fine.
I have never had problems with Remote Desktop and this computer in the past.

Here's the steps I took to break it:
1. I upgraded some software via Remote Desktop.
2. I restarted the server via Remote Desktop.
3. there is no step 3

Ever since I restarted the server, I have not been able to remote desktop into it.  Regardless of whether I use the IP address or the server name.

We are using Windows Server 2003 on the server and Windows XP Professional on my desktop.

I have tried both the "old" and "new" Remote Desktop Clients from different computers on the network.

I am new to the network here, so any tips on troubleshooting this to narrow down where the issue is would be appreciated.

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Asked On
2007-02-09 at 08:18:49ID22156616
Tags

cannot

,

remote

,

server

,

desktop

Topic

Windows Networking

Participating Experts
2
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0
Comments
12

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Answers

 

by: stevenlewisPosted on 2007-02-09 at 08:25:25ID: 18502413

1st can you ping the server by name and ip?
are you sure the server restarted?
check for any firewall changes

 

by: stevenlewisPosted on 2007-02-09 at 08:26:49ID: 18502423

also check to make sure all the services restarted

 

by: OneSeventeenPosted on 2007-02-09 at 10:19:53ID: 18503366

I can ping the server by name and IP
I can log into the server via keyboard, mouse, and monitor in the server room
I'll check the firewall, but as I said I can telnet into it via port 3389 (the port used for RDP)

All of the services that I am aware of have restarted properly, but I don't know if there is an obscure service somewhere I need to start.

 

by: stevenlewisPosted on 2007-02-09 at 11:17:29ID: 18503786

check the secondary logon service

 

by: kadadi_vPosted on 2007-02-09 at 12:24:34ID: 18504266

 

by: OneSeventeenPosted on 2007-02-09 at 12:30:17ID: 18504302

I will not be at the server again until Monday, but I will check out the firewall and services at that time.

I should also mention I can connect to the server by \\servername\C$ and browse the C:\ drive just fine, and can still telnet in through port 3389.

I will check the secondary logon services Monday and post back.

 

by: OneSeventeenPosted on 2007-02-10 at 17:03:50ID: 18508951

The secondary logon service is enabled.
Windows Firewall is not even turned on.  (Possibly because this is an internal server.)

 

by: stevenlewisPosted on 2007-02-11 at 05:39:55ID: 18510095

"1. I upgraded some software via Remote Desktop"
what software did you update?

 

by: OneSeventeenPosted on 2007-02-11 at 16:42:57ID: 18512136

Radio event software called Wick's Software Visual Traffic.

It is used to schedule spots, breaks, etc on radio stations.

That software installed .net Framework 2.0, then installed their software and rebuilt their database.

 

by: OneSeventeenPosted on 2007-03-27 at 08:43:16ID: 18800794

This is a low moment for me, the solution was to reboot a third time.

Simply rebooting after updates didn't work, but logging into the machine itself, shutting down, then starting up again allowed me to use remote desktop again.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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