Remote desktop Connection and VNC issue

[scorney]

Hello Tek-Tips users,

I have in my lab a laptop which I use to either VNC to it or RDC, It runs on Windows XP pro. It works fine when I do not leave the connection on idle for a long period of time. I setup the power settings to never shut or always on for all the options.
When I disconnect for a few hours and try to reconnect it doesn't work I can't access it. I have to physicaly login at the laptop, I can't do such of remote thing. Once I logged in directly on it I can log out and perform all what I want remotely. It's a questions of time, when I leave it idle for too long It refuses any remote connection.

Any Ideas ? Is anyone expereinced something similar ?

Thanks,
Sylvain

 

[boulder38]

When you try to connect to but can't what messages do you get?

 

[scorney]

On the VNC I got failed to connect to server (Ip_Address)

On the RDC I got a pop up Remote Desktop Disconnected
The client could not connect to the remote computer....

But If I go in the lab and touch the laptop it looks like it wakes up the machine... I'm sure my trouble is the laptop that goes in sort of sleep mode even if I set it up to always on....It's weird...

 

[Grenage]

It sounds like that is your problem, probably worth double-checking every power-saving setting you can find.

"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area" - Major Mike Shearer

 

[boulder38]

yeh it definately sounds like its going to sleep, when its been left a while, if possible see if your router still has the laptop on the DHCP client list, if it does you could always set the laptop to wake on LAN activity thus when you wanted to connect it would wake the laptop up if its not possible to stop the laptop sleeping.

 

[scorney]

We had to set it up with a static IP.
The wake on LAN activity is interesting...
How do I do that ?

 

[Grenage]

Should be a setting in the BIOS

"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area" - Major Mike Shearer

 

[goombawaho]

Power options should be checked thoroughly as that overrides everything in terms of turning off the machine.

Also try setting the network card to NOT go into power save mode in Device Manager. (UNCHECK the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" item).

That and the above suggestion, but I don't believe you should have to do anything in terms of "wake on lan". The network card should stay active 24/7 as long as the PC doesn't go into sleep mode or hibernate mode. I've left many PCs on for days and have been able to VNC into them.

 

[DTracy]

Make sure that the local Administrator account is set to Always On. Log in as Administrator and reset. I've found this problem on several laptops that the power settings only honor the administrator account, not the user account.

regards,
David.

 

[scorney]

No luck !!
I looked at the "Allow the Computer to turn off this devive to save power" and it wasn't checked....

Everything is at Always on in the power settings...

I'm the Admin..
There is no Admionistrator user... My login/user is Administrator. Should I found Administrator ?

The only thing I haven't done is the wake on lan in the BIOS. This is the next step...But like Goombawaho said he would be surprised and me too.... as I see green LED flashing on the port itself, so for me there is actvities.. on the LAN.

 

[cdogg]

When the connection problems start, are you able to ping the workstation from a command prompt?

If you are not able to, then it's likely some kind of problem with the network power settings, Windows power settings, or something in the BIOS (be sure to disable power management altogether in there temoporarily as a test).

The wildcard here is if 3rd-party software is causing an issue of some kind. Before you go uninstalling things, your time would be better spent on getting your hands on a spare hard drive. Load a fresh install of Windows and see if the issues persists. If it does, then I would have to assume it's an issue somewhere in the BIOS or on your network.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[scorney]

I'm always able to ping it.... Like at this moment I can't access it via VNC or RDC, but I'm able to ping it...

 

[scorney]

I just found out the Display Properties under Screen saver tab has the checked in the On resume, password protect. and the Power options Properties checked prompt password when computer resumes from Standby.
These 2 checks are grayed out, which I think mean a local Security Settings is enabled.
How can I get rid of the grayed out ? If it's the check I have to remove.

 

[cdogg]

That's an indication you do not have admin rights on the computer. If that's the case, you should make sure you are a member of the Remote Desktop users group (for RDP anyway).

By the way, it shouldn't matter if both of those are checked. If the computer never goes into standby, then you're good. The screensaver can lock the screen without affecting Remote Desktop.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.