# Solved: Server 2003-RDP suddenly stopped working



## Vinman

Windows Server 2003 SP2 Enterprise Edition

Had RDP up and running for well over a year now. It needed the occasional re-boot, but this time the re-boot didn't do the trick.

I have a port-forwarding in the NAT settings. T1 to Cisco Router to Static IP on Internet card. NAT settings worked well for that port and two others that I forwarded to work stations. 

Anyone able to give me a "primer" on what settings to check? I was afraid to make changes as settings previously worked for such a long time. It would be easy to blame an update, but I do not see how that would mess me up. 

Workstations do "grind away" when attempting a connection for a bit, then the dreaded 
"This computer can't connect to the remote computer
Try connecting again. If the problem continues, contact the owner of the remote computer or your network administrator." message appears.

No changes have been made other than an automatic security update. The update took place and gave me a reboot message. Beyond that things have been stable and working well.

Did check settings, just to be sure, but perhaps I missed something, or maybe I didn't have it quite correct to begin with. 

Server has static IP xxx.xxx.xx9.98 on "internet card"
Server has static IP xxx.xxx.0.1 on "internal card".

DHCP is running on server, each workstation has reserved internal IP from this server based on MAC. ipconfig /all shows those on each station and on server are correct.

I can ping server from "outside" to xxx.xxx.xx9.98 and I get appropriate response. So something is not happy on my side of the router. Frustrating when something that worked well just suddenly stops, as I am sure you all know. 

Suggestions on what I should be testing/checking/changing would be much appreciated.
Thanks.


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## ip2host

yes it is easy to blame update but that is probably the problem.
I also had that kind of situation and had to restart three times before RDP worked.
So try restart couple of times.
I cannot tell you which update exactly to blame couse I dont remember but it is documented.


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## Vinman

I will try the multiple restarts. Thanks for letting me know. I will do 3 full shutdowns then post again one way or the other. I did not think of restarting more than once. Thanks for the suggestion.


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## avisitor

Is the Terminal Services service actually running?


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## Vinman

I did shutdown, turn on, let run about 10 min, and repeated 3 times. The first two worked normally. The third turn off was normal, however when I turned server back out it took over 20 minutes... Very odd.

I did check the services, and Terminal Services is running. --Thanks for the tip, I would not have checked that w/o the suggestion. 

Things seemed slow, but I ran an extra set of backups, just to be safe, and ran full virus scans (AVG) on the server & workstations just to err on the safe side. 

Loading a desktop initially on the workstations seemed slow, but once up, workstations seemed "normal".

Still no RDP. So I'm back to the drawing board.

I know I need the Terminal Services Service running - That looks correct (it is on).
I need NAT to have the ports for RDP open - Those settings are correct.
I need NAT to have TCP port forwarding to Workstation IP - Those settings are correct.
I need DHCP running. - That is "up".
I need DHCP to reserve workstation addresses - Reservations are listed, and workstations have correct IP addresses per the reservation.
I need System Remote tab to have Correct User ID to run RDP on Server - That is listed.
I need NAT to allow RDP to server for the above user, That port is listed.
I need workstations to have RDP port set to match NAT - Those match.
I need workstations to have RDP port in Windows Firewall Open - Those are correct.

I can not see what I am missing. I don't mind checking again, guess I'm looking for direction from "another pair of eyes". Your continued help has been great. Thanks.

--Are there other services besides Terminal Service I should be checking?


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## wedor

Just for clarity, is this rdp to the server? or to the workstations?

RDP from where to where?


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## Vinman

Sorry, I should have been more clear.

When necessary, I do RDP from home directly to server - That connection does not work. I have not used this direct to server connection often. It was used for the occasional after-hours backup job check, a peek at Virus Vault, or to see if a connection was happening if the owner/manager called when they could not connect to their workstations after hours.

There are also 2 workstations that connect via RDP after hours when necessary. These also do not work. One of these two is connected most evenings as either the owner or the manager may get a customer request after hours, so the RDP allows them to connect from home to get/enter information. These seem to have been used 4-5 times a week.

Both types of connections were working, now neither is.

I am looking to re-establish the RDP to the server first, as this is the "less complicated" / "more direct" connection. I expect the Workstations will not take many additional steps (if any) to solve once the direct to server connection is working.

_____

I tried to RDP to server from one of the Server's workstations, just to see if it would work. I tried the "local" 192.xxx.xxx.xxx:yyyy address, and, it too, did not connect. It also tells me that the "outside" NIC at 206.xxx.xxx.xxx:yyyy may not be the problem. 
I got the "credentials" message, then the can not connect-- contact your network administrator message after that.

'Tis a puzzlement. I'm going in after hours again tonight to stop & start the individual services, and take a look at the error log to see if that points me toward a solution.

_____

Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this.


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## wedor

There was an issue a while back related the video drivers on some systems creating symptoms like that, do you have either ATI or nVidia graphics?


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## Vinman

Yes, I do have ATI graphics card on the system. Is there a search I should perform to look for a conflict?


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## wedor

Just try updating the graphics driver or roll back to an older version to see if it restores access, there is a known issue with certain driver versions that breaks rdp.


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## Vinman

Yup! That did it! Rollback of the ATI video driver, restart, server restarted much more back to normal, AND my RDP is up and running again! Thank Wedor!


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## wedor

Good to hear you got it fixed, thanks for letting us know!


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