Question : Windows XP RDP session disconnects immediately

I have spent several hours on this, including searching for solutions here and elsewhere. I have applied several suggested fixes with results ranging from no effect to trashing my archaic video drivers. Aargh!!

I am switching to a new XP Pro system that I am building from scratch. My old system of 5+ years still works fine, but, well, you know. I have tons of software that I still use on the old system , but don't necessarily want to install all of it on the new system. Both systems are set up with 3 displays so that I can manage them from the XP Display properties box. I want to RDP into the old box from the new so that I see all 3 displays as though I was sitting at the old box. Other free solutions I've tried, such as VNC and LogMeIn, don't provide the seamless and speedy experience I want. Switching between inputs on all three monitors is a royal pain.

When I try to connect, I get disconnected I get the following message, "Your Remote Desktop session has ended, possibly for one of the following reasons." Three possibilities are given, of which only one is at all likely: "An error occurred while the connection was being established." Sometimes there is a black window behind the error message, sometimes not.

I have captured 3-4 sessions using WireShark and found that about 20-30 packets are exchanged; it seemed to me that the closing is initiated from the calling workstation, but it's all encrypted except for the first few packets, so who knows?

This is all occurring within one class-C subnet on a LAN. I have tried to connect from at least four different computers with the same result. The problem does not occur on any other system. I am experiencing no other network or IP-related problems on the old system. I can RDP from the old PC into other systems. Interestingly, I can get into the old system with Remote Assistance.

I was able to do this up until some time ago, but I'm not sure how far back and what I've changed since then; it's too long ago for a system restore. I've changed network cards, IP addresses, video drivers (aargh!), edited TermSvcs entries in the registry, checked running services, checked group permissions and local policies, uninstalled LogMeIn and tightVNC, turned off Windows Firewall (no other one running), started in Safe Mode with Networking, yadda yadda...

I'd consider running the old system as a virtual machine on the new box if I thought the transfer would work easily and the display was acceptable, but I've never done that. It would be a big virtual disk.

This is my first time asking a question, so I don't know much about point values, but it sure seems like a 500-pointer to me.

Answer : Windows XP RDP session disconnects immediately

Well, it seems like there are no more suggestions coming, so for the time being I'm going to live with VNC for remote control and, when I need better video performance using the old system, using the KVM and switching between the dual inputs on the other two monitors.

Not really a solution, as I was already doing this. The old system is stable on SP2, but has had so much software installed -- and uninstalled -- and registry patching and tweaking and hacking, I'm not going to shotgun it with SP3 without a clear indication that it has a chance of fixing the problem. Or I have the time and patience and spare HDDs to image the drives and try SP3 with a solid fallback position.

Thank you for considering solutions for this question.