I'm stuck with a RDP problem that has to be minor, but I simply can't see what it is. Essentially, I have two VMWare VMs on a Windows 7 PC and I can talk to the 1st VM setup, via RDP, but the second VM is unresponsive and never advances beyond the message: 'initiating remote connection' and errors out after thirty secs. In detail, I created a VMWare VM (called VM0), populated it with Windows 7 Pro and everything else I needed for the project, configured it to operate off of port 33890, then successfully tested it from the projected client PCs. I explicitly opened the RDP port (on client and host) via Windows Firewall. Next, I created a clone of this VM (called VM1), changed the RDP port to 33900, adjusted the custom Windows Firewall rule for the custom RDP port, and tried the new VM. No joy. Access to the VM1 stalls at the Remote Desktop client with the message: 'initiating remote connection'. As part of troubleshooting this, I completely disabled the Windows Firewall on client and host. Still no joy. I also tried 'netstat -aon 3 | find "33900"', then attempted to remote in. Windows is listening on this port, but the two PCs don't communicate ! I've checked the Event Logger, while attempting to login. Windows seems to be completely oblivious my attempts to login via RDP, that is there are no warnings, errors, or any other indication being emitted from Windows. I can see three Remote Desktop services running in the Services Management applet. I long ago downloaded and installed the latest RDP client from Microsoft, on every client PC. And just for grins, today I installed TeamViewer (on VM1) to verify that remote access is actually possible on the VM. Can access VM1 from completely across town, using the PC on which I'm typing this message. I didn't find any mainstream users of port 33900 via Google, so I'm out of options for the moment except for possibly redoing the VM from scratch, which is really an absolute last resort. Any ideas ? TIA....

Hi, Based on your problem descirption, I understand that the problematic VM1 was cloned from the working VM0. Actually after we clone VMs, we should do additional steps on the cloned VM to get rid of the same SID, etc. So currently I advise you run sysprep /audit /generalize /shutdown on the problematic VM1. If the issue still occurs after that, please try to install below hotfixes: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;2590550&wa=wsignin1.0 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2752618 Regards, Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi, Based on your problem descirption, I understand that the problematic VM1 was cloned from the working VM0. Actually after we clone VMs, we should do additional steps on the cloned VM to get rid of the same SID, etc. So currently I advise you run sysprep /audit /generalize /shutdown on the problematic VM1. If the issue still occurs after that, please try to install below hotfixes: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;2590550&wa=wsignin1.0 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2752618 Regards, Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

The actual issue was several minor things capped by the fact that the User Admin capplet changes the Full Name and not the actual Username ! I'd explicitly disabled authentication for RD on the original VM0, which worked flawlessly. Subsequently, the clone never responded to any login request (local or remote), which initiated my initial message. Eventually, by adding passwords to the accounts on VM1 and attempting to login (via RD) from another VM (on the same host), I was able to determine and correct the real problem. Thank you for use of your brain cells.... PS: One other thing I had to fix was that Windows 7 screwed up the IP addressing ! As I was planning to use port forwarding to access the VMs from outside the office (I have to administer them), I explicitly assigned a static, private IP to VM0 and VM1. When I was closed the adapter property box, I clicked the 'Validate' button. NEVER, EVER DO THAT ! Windows "fixed" the IP address for that adapter by reverting back to DHCP !