Remote Desktop Problem [unable to access remotely]

I have been reading with interest all the posts in this forum relating to RDP connections. I have similar problems on my machine whereby I cannot connect to RDP except on the LAN. I used to be able to connect remotely over the internet but not anymore. I don't remember me changing any settings. The firewall is disabled, port forwarding is active on my D-Link router for 3389 and remote desktop is enabled. I cannot ping my public IP as I get a time out. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

Welcome to the forum gbusuttil. Your post deserves to be treated independently, so I have moved it to its own thread.

I expect that this means there is an underlying problem and that being unable to access RDP is one symptom.

The first thing to check is that your external IP is still the same as you think it is. The best way to check is to go into your router's management system and see what IP address the router is using on its external port. The specifics of how to find this out depends on the router, so post make and model of router if you are having problems finding this setting.

I'd strongly advise you to enable a firewall - even if only Windows in-built one. You sometimes have to disable the firewall to diagnose a problem, but it is best to limit the time the firewall is disabled. If something doesn't work while the firewall is active, you need to fix the firewall or get an alternative firewall. Leaving it switched off is not a good policy.

 

many thanks. however I am sure of my IP as I am on a fixed IP due to work. as for the firewall it is normally on and only disabled it to try out RDP. The starnge thing is that I was using it just last monday and after a reboot due to windows update, it just stopped. I checked all the necessary services and they seem to be running.It must be something to do with the router.

 

Check your firewall settings. You might find that the update has reset the firewall to default.

Was that update SP3 on XP?

 

yes it's SP 3 on XP Pro. I've tried with the firewall disabled so it can't be because of the firewall being set to default.

 

One of the major updates included with SP3 was an update to RDP. Basically its a new version (6.1). I expect the SP3 install didn't go properly.

I don't think this is a network problem. Sounds more like an SP3 problem. If you do a google search for "xp sp3 rdp problem " there are a lot of hits from people getting problems with the same combination as you. I think you should work your way through those and see if they include a fix.

The other option is to reinstall SP3.

 

Hi gbusuttil

Do the below on the computer you want to connect to!

You need confirmation of the WAN IP.

Go to http://canyouseeme.org and confirm this is your Internet IP.

Confirm your LAN IP does not begin 169.xxx.xx.x!

You say port forwarding is enabled so confirm it points to the LAN IP.

In services confrim Treminal Services is set to start.

In System properties confirm RDP is enabled.

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On the computer you are using to connect with confirm it will connect to another RDP if you can.

Mike