Troubleshooting Remote Desktop

Remote Desktop allows you to connect to your computer remotely using the RDP protocol. For example, if you are at home and need to access your office computer, you can use Remote Desktop to remotely access your office computer from home. Remote Desktop is built on the same technology and uses the same protocols as Windows Terminal Services.

During work sessions, sometimes things don't go as expected. This article will guide you through some ways to troubleshoot Remote Desktop problems.

Ways to fix Remote Desktop problems

1. Unable to connect to remote computer

Not being able to connect to a remote computer is a common problem. First, check your network settings to see if both computers are connected to the network. If so, check the IP address or name of the Windows Remote Desktop Connection console that is required.

Troubleshooting Remote Desktop

You need to make sure you find the correct IP address for the remote computer. On the remote computer, you can log in https://www.whatsmyip.org/and copy the address. If you are not near the remote computer, ask someone to find the IP address and send it to you.

Similarly, to find out the computer name of the remote device, go to Start Menu > Control Panel > System and look at the computer name and workgroup.

2. Remote connection not allowed

Another common problem is that remote connections are disabled on the terminal you're trying to reach. You can change this setting on the System page. To the right of the computer name and workgroup, select Change Settings to open the System Properties menu , then select the Remote tab .

Troubleshooting Remote Desktop

Windows 10 provides the same Remote Desktop Connection options as older versions of Windows. In Remote Desktop, there are two options:

  • Allow remote connections to this computer .

  • Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication (recommended) .

When allowing remote connections, you also have the option to only accept remote connections with Network Level Authentication. Network Level Authentication is an authentication method that completes user authentication before you establish a full Remote Desktop connection and the login screen appears.

It provides an extra layer of security to prevent malware . However, if you have difficulty establishing a remote desktop connection after enabling Network Level Authentication, turn it off.

You can check if your version of Remote Desktop supports Network Level Authentication by clicking on the top left of the dialog box as above and selecting About .

Troubleshooting Remote Desktop

3. Remote Desktop Connection for Windows 10 Home using RDP Wrapper Library

Windows 10 Home users often have difficulty creating Remote Desktop connections. Why is that? The reason is that Windows 10 Home does not actually support inbound connections. You can only create Remote Desktop connections to other computers (other than computers running Windows 10 Home) but not the other way around. However, there is a simple software-based way to overcome this problem: using the RDP Wrapper Library.

RDP Wrapper Library uses the existing Windows Terminal Service and adds new firewall rules to allow remote desktop connections. In addition, RDP Wrapper Library also provides a remote connection management interface for you to easily manage. (since Windows 10 Home does not have a built-in solution).

Here's how to enable remote desktop connections on Windows 10 Home using the RDP Wrapper Library.

Step 1. Go to this website to download the RDPWInst.zip file.

Step 2. Once downloaded, right-click the file and extract it to a new folder. For example, using 7-Zip, you would select 7-Zip > Extract to RDPWrap-v1.6.2 .

Step 3. Open the new folder, then run install.bat.

Step 4. After installation is complete, run update.bat.

Step 5. Now, run RDPcheck.exe to make sure the process is working.

Step 6. You can use RDPConf.exe to manage advanced configuration settings.

Refer to the following video for steps to set up Windows 10 Home remote connection using RDP Wrapper Library.

Remember, Windows Remote Desktop isn’t the only application you can use to remotely control another computer. If you can’t get Remote Desktop up and running, why not check out Quantrimang.com’s list of the best remote access and screen sharing software for an alternative?

4. Cannot copy text from remote computer

You can use Remote Desktop Connection to copy text from a terminal to your own device. If the text copy feature does not work, you need to enable Clipboard redirection to be able to use it on the remote computer.

Open the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box by typing remote in the Start menu search bar , selecting the appropriate result. Then select Show Options , go to the Local Resources tab , under Local devices and resources check the Clipboard box .

5. Remote window size is incorrect

Incorrect window size is another common Remote Desktop connection issue. When you create a remote desktop connection, the window is either too large, too small, or not the same as the settings you entered. There are two ways to fix this. The first is that you can force the Remote Desktop connection to use a specific size through Run. Press Windows + R , then type.

mstsc.exe /h:X /w:X

Here, X is the height and width of the Remote Desktop viewing window you want. Remote Desktop will remember this setting for future remote viewing settings.

The second way is to adjust the size on the Remote Desktop Connection client. It has a handy screen resolution slider, ranging from 640×480 to full screen.

Troubleshooting Remote Desktop

6. Clear credentials to reset remote desktop connection login

Sometimes Windows Remote Desktop Connection gets "confused" when your system or the remote system's login information is different from the last time you connected. You can delete and replace the current login information to fix this problem.

On the Remote Desktop Connection client, go to the Advanced tab , select Settings and select Automatically detect RD Gateway server settings .

7. How to save remote desktop connection custom settings

If you frequently connect to several different servers or clients, saving a custom configuration for each Remote Desktop can save you a lot of time. You can set optimal width, height, color settings for each server or endpoint.

Open the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, select Show Option . You will see the Connections settings option , select Save As , specify a save location, and then select Save to create a remote desktop connection file (.RDP).

Now, browse to the Remote Desktop Connection configuration file. You can edit the configuration file using a text editor like Notepad or Notepad++. Right-click the configuration file and select Open with… , then select your text editor.

Troubleshooting Remote Desktop

The first four lines show your remote connection screen size options (multiple screens are possible). You can edit the screen mode to set the remote window session to screen mode. For example “id:i:2” sets full screen where “id:i:1” sets the remote connection to appear in window mode.

If screen mode “2” is set for full screen, the screen width and height dimensions will automatically match the client screen size. However, if screen mode 1 is used, you can use the screen width and screen height settings with a specific window size.

After confirming your settings, add the following string to the end of the file:

smart sizing:i:1

Smart sizing allows you to change screen settings without damaging configuration files while a Remote Desktop connection is active.

8. How to resolve Remote Desktop Connection port assignment conflicts

Microsoft sets TCP port 3389 as the standard port for Remote Desktop Connection. This means that whenever you use RDC to remote into another computer, your network access will use port 3389 for connections. However, sometimes something or someone can accidentally assign a different service to port 3389 or another service on the Remote Desktop server is using the port. On some systems, you may actually find that port 3389 is blocked for security reasons.

When that happens, you can change the Remote Desktop Connection port using Windows PowerShell. First, use the following command to check the port you're currently using.

Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp' -name "PortNumber"
Troubleshooting Remote Desktop
Resolve Remote Desktop Connection port assignment conflicts

Now use the following command to change your port to 3390.

$portvalue = 3390
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp' -name "PortNumber" -Value $portvalue
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'RDPPORTLatest-TCP-In' -Profile 'Public' -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort $portvalue
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'RDPPORTLatest-UDP-In' -Profile 'Public' -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol UDP -LocalPort $portvalue

9. Shortcut to connect to remote computer

Here are some handy Remote Desktop connection shortcuts. These shortcuts work when accessing Remote Desktop using the Run dialog box.

  • Start Remote Desktop in full screen mode: mstsc /f
  • Start Remote Desktop in Admin Mode: mstsc /admin
  • Set up a Remote Desktop session that matches the local virtual display: mstsc /span
  • Set up a Remote Desktop session appropriate for the Client Layout: mstsc /multimon
  • Open the .RDP file to edit, change the connection file name before running the command: mstsc /edit “connection file”

You can use Remote Desktop shortcuts after connecting to Remote Desktop.

  • Switch the Remote Desktop client between full screen and windowed mode: Ctrl + Alt + Pause
  • Set Remote Desktop to full screen mode: Ctrl + Alt + Break
  • Take a screenshot of the active Remote Desktop window: Ctrl + Alt + Minus
  • Take a screenshot of the entire Remote Desktop: Ctrl + Alt + Plus
  • Restart the computer remotely: Ctrl + Alt + End

Although Remote Desktop works pretty well most of the time, it can sometimes be difficult to establish an initial connection. In this article, we've covered some troubleshooting tips for Remote Desktop and some handy shortcuts for using the feature.

Good luck!

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