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Remote Desktop - XP in Vista

Question
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I am having trouble using the remote desktop feature of Mesh. I am trying to RDP into a Vista machine from an XP machine.
When I initiate the connection, the Vista machine shows a dialog box informing that someone wants access and if I click "allow" the machine get's locked. Just like if I had hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and selected "lock this computer."
On the XP machine it just goes back to the main Mesh screen and says it could not connect.
Thoughts?
Sunday, January 25, 2009 2:17 PM
Answers
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A while back there were reports of IE8 not working with remote desktop properly - I imagine that the team are still investigating and will have support out before IE8 goes live.e
- Proposed as answer by Ben [Live Mesh] Monday, February 2, 2009 5:39 PM
- Marked as answer by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Monday, February 2, 2009 6:19 PM
Sunday, February 1, 2009 2:51 AM
All replies
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What happens when you do not touch the Vista machine to answer the dialog?
What should happen from the XP machine is that it needs to wait for a response or not from the remote machine (the Vista machine in your case) and then proceed with the connection. The dialog on the Vista machine happens in case you are connecting to a machine that someone is actively using, to prevent interruption.
When the connection initiates after the requisite delay, you should be presented with the Vista login desktop, where you need to provide authorized login credentials for that machine.
-steve
Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare Forum Moderator- Proposed as answer by Ben [Live Mesh] Monday, January 26, 2009 5:55 PM
- Unproposed as answer by Ben [Live Mesh] Wednesday, January 28, 2009 4:29 PM
Monday, January 26, 2009 3:54 PMModerator -
Stephen-
Whether I respond to the dialog or let it run for 30 seconds the behavior is the same - the Vista box gets locked. And by that I mean it goes to the screen it would go to if I hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and then selected lock this computer.
Also, I only have one user setup on my Vista box (myself) and there is no password. So when I just normally boot up my Vista box there is no login screen - it just starts up and goes directly the the desktop.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 2:26 AM -
shahman2 said:
Stephen-
Whether I respond to the dialog or let it run for 30 seconds the behavior is the same - the Vista box gets locked. And by that I mean it goes to the screen it would go to if I hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and then selected lock this computer.
Also, I only have one user setup on my Vista box (myself) and there is no password. So when I just normally boot up my Vista box there is no login screen - it just starts up and goes directly the the desktop.
Hi,If you password-protect your Vista account (i.e., add a password to the account that does not currently have one) and then try remoting in from your XP computer, does that work? I believe that Live Mesh Remote Desktop goes into non-admin mode when connecting to a computer that is not password protected - and non-admin mode can result in some odd behavior (a blank screen being one such behavior). If we can trace the issue you're having to the lack of a password on the Vista computer, that would be a good start. Please let me know.
Thanks,
Ben.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 4:28 PM -
Ben, this does not seem to be an issue as I can remote into all of my computers and none of them are password protected.
JimWednesday, January 28, 2009 4:54 PMModerator -
JimR1 said:
Ben, this does not seem to be an issue as I can remote into all of my computers and none of them are password protected.
Jim
Hi Jim,Unfortunately it's not an entirely straightforward situation. Live Mesh Remote Desktop does work with computers that aren't password protected (obviously, since you're doing it), but a number of different factors come into play. If we can rule out the password (or rather, lack thereof) as a factor in shahman2's case, we'll have a better sense of where to go next in our troubleshooting.
Perhaps you could let us know the details of your setups, to see if there's anything that would help shahman2?
Thanks,
Ben.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 5:41 PM -
Ben and Jim-
-Paras
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 6:41 PM -
shahman2 said:
Ben and Jim-
-Paras
Hi Paras,I think at this point we need to take a look at the Live Mesh logs from both computers. Please go ahead and open a bug (instructions), then post the Connect Feedback ID here (so that I can follow up on it with you). Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Ben.
- Marked as answer by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Wednesday, January 28, 2009 9:13 PM
- Unmarked as answer by shahman2 Friday, January 30, 2009 2:41 AM
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 6:59 PM -
Hello Ben, unfortunately there is nothing about my setups that I think would be of any help. Currently using Live Mesh - 1 desktop w/ Windows 7 X64, 1 Desktop w/ Vista X86 SP2, 1 notebook w/ Windows 7 X86. I am able to remote in from all. If I close a remote session then remote in again to the same computer it will appear locked but since there is no password just clicking my picture unlocks the desktop. I know shaman2 is having this issue XP to Vista and I am not currently using XP,but I have in the past used Live Mesh to remote into XP to Vista and Vista to XP without passwords.
JimWednesday, January 28, 2009 7:03 PMModerator -
JimR1 said:
Hello Ben, unfortunately there is nothing about my setups that I think would be of any help. Currently using Live Mesh - 1 desktop w/ Windows 7 X64, 1 Desktop w/ Vista X86 SP2, 1 notebook w/ Windows 7 X86. I am able to remote in from all. If I close a remote session then remote in again to the same computer it will appear locked but since there is no password just clicking my picture unlocks the desktop. I know shaman2 is having this issue XP to Vista and I am not currently using XP,but I have in the past used Live Mesh to remote into XP to Vista and Vista to XP without passwords.
Jim
Hi Jim,Well, it was worth a shot. ;)
Thanks for the reply. Once we get Paras' logs, hopefully we'll be able to determine what's going wrong.
Ben.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 7:06 PM -
The Connect Feedback ID is 407081. The logs from the Vista machine are attached. The Mesh client is not installed on the XP machine, so I am not sure what, if any, log I can get for that machine.
-Paras
Thursday, January 29, 2009 1:21 AM -
Hi Paras,
Interesting! So this is happening with the webclient - have you tried connecting from another machine connected to your mesh, instead of through the browser app? I wonder if that could cause a difference?
In addition, what version of IE are you using?
OrenThursday, January 29, 2009 4:00 AM -
I have not tried using another machine connected to the mesh. I guess I could, but to me that kind of defeats the purpose of remote access. You should be able get in from any machine.Thursday, January 29, 2009 5:40 AM
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Hi, Paras.
Yes, using the Live Desktop in the browser to initiate the connection should work as well as the client connection. However, the browser adds another layer of complexity to the mix. So, the first thing to check is if it works from one machine to the other using the client app. Once that is seen to work, we can focus on what might be wrong with the IE path. If it does work from the client, I'd suggest resetting the IE settings to default under Tools/Advanced in IE. Of course, using the latest version of the IE8 beta might also resolve it.
-steve
Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare Forum Moderator- Proposed as answer by Ben [Live Mesh] Thursday, January 29, 2009 4:56 PM
- Unproposed as answer by shahman2 Friday, January 30, 2009 2:41 AM
Thursday, January 29, 2009 3:38 PMModerator -
shahman2 said:Very true! Just to clarify that this request was for the sake of attempting to narrow the problem down - if you can connect from another machine (as a matter of fact, from a live mesh client rather than the web interface) then that would narrow the problem down to the plugin running under IE8.
I have not tried using another machine connected to the mesh. I guess I could, but to me that kind of defeats the purpose of remote access. You should be able get in from any machine.
I wasn't indicating that if you could connect from another machine then your problem is resolved :)
Good Luck!
Oren
Thursday, January 29, 2009 3:56 PM -
OK. I installed RC1 of IE 8 and that did not change anything.
I will try intalling Mesh and see if that helps.
ANyone able draw conclusions from the logs I submitted?
Thursday, January 29, 2009 7:59 PM -
So I installed the Mesh client and now I can connect.
So looks like the problem is with the browser on the XP machine. Is there some reason IE 8 (Beta or RC 1) should not work?
Friday, January 30, 2009 2:42 AM -
Did you try resetting IE via the advanced tab under Tools/Internet Options.
-steve
Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare Forum ModeratorFriday, January 30, 2009 5:02 PMModerator -
Yes, I tried the reset and that did not work either.Saturday, January 31, 2009 6:11 AM
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A while back there were reports of IE8 not working with remote desktop properly - I imagine that the team are still investigating and will have support out before IE8 goes live.e
- Proposed as answer by Ben [Live Mesh] Monday, February 2, 2009 5:39 PM
- Marked as answer by Stephen BootsMVP, Moderator Monday, February 2, 2009 6:19 PM
Sunday, February 1, 2009 2:51 AM