Remote Desktop Freezes When Connecting Through Windows Vista
April 10th, 2007 | Posted by in Tech/Web
So ever since I installed Windows Vista, I’ve been having problems connecting to our Windows Server 2003 workstation through terminal services. Looks like I finally found an answer to the problem. After connecting to the server, I am able to see the desktop, but the connection typically freezes on this screen for about a minute with the following message:
The connection has been lost. Attempting to reconnect to your session…
Connection attempt: x of 20
Apparently this problem is because Windows Vista has a low initial setting on it’s Auto Tuning feature. What Auto-Tuning does is continually adjusts the TCP/IP receive windows size based on current (and changing) network conditions. It seems that many people have reported problems with auto-tuning causing various network timeout issues with some applications and routers. If you’re experiencing any of these problems, you can turn off Auto Tuning as described below.
Here’s what I did to fix this Remote Desktop Connection problem:
- I had to create a new shortcut on the desktop. Enter the command “cmd” as the shortcut command.
- Right-click on the shortcut and select “Run as Administrator”. This will open up a DOS window.
- Enter the following command
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
Here’s another version of how to disable auto-tuning as seen on ComputerBits
- Open up an Elevated Command Prompt
- Enter the following command to disable auto-tuning
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
And if you find that disabling auto-tuning doesn’t fix your problem, you can turn it back on as follows:
- Open up an Elevated Command Prompt
- Enter the following command to enable auto-tuning
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal
And if you’d like to just view the states of your current TCP parameters, you can use this command:
netsh interface tcp show global
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Wanted to drop a ‘thank you’- I work from home, haven’t been able to connect to the office w/my laptop since my Vista upgrade. Surfed around a bit this afternoon to see what I could find. Quick, easy fix, outstanding!
worked like a charm. thanks!
You have restored my sanity! Thank you!
What was weird is that to some servers (win2k3), it was working fine, and I had no trouble, but certain ones I did.
This fixed the problem. THanks muchly.
I see this same problem with Windows XP. You know how I can resolve it
I have the same issue when connecting from Windows XP -> Vista Ultimate, and a wireless Dlink router between.
Excellent results here. I’ve been coming very close to removing Vista in favor of XP over this and a couple of other annoying problems. Many thanks. Unfortunately, we remote desktopers will have for forfeit the benefits of Auto Tuning, whatever they might have been.
I haven’t yet missed out on any “benefits” of having autotuning enabled.
Let me know if you come across anything that is lost by disabling it.
Pingback: Solved: “The connection has been lost. Attempting to reconnect to your session…” when attempting to access a Windows 2003 server from a Windows Vista Remote Desktop Session « the back room tech
Fantastic, this has bather me a long time now and this solved the remoted desktop to win2k3 prob.
Thanx.
I had to stop and say thank you for this. Worked beautifully!
Thank you so much. This totally fixed my problem, haven’t been able to connect since the new laptop came with Vista.
Thanks worked for both my connect to our server and to the windows xp workstation..
Thanks
This did not work for me. I still get the: The connection has been lost. Attempting to reconnect to your session…
Connection attempt: x of 20
Any more options
Thanks
You know what… this doesn’t work for me either. I think it could either have to do with a networking issue (either at your location, or at the location of the remote computer) or someone has suggested to me that it is due to a lack of resources on the remote computer. Either way, I have not yet found a solution to my problem and I am getting very frustrated.
For me a similar solution worked, see:
http://www.vesic.org/english/blog/networking/vpn-remote-desktop-vista-and-mtu/#comment-6827
netsh interface ipv4 set subinterface “Wireless Network Connection” mtu=1440 store=persistent
(presuming your wireless interface is called Wireless Network Connection
Thanks a lot. This fix worked great!
I tried Marcel M.’s suggestion and still the same outcome…..
Thank you Marcel. It was driving me round the bend. Vista Remote Desktop would work wired connection to XP , but not via Wireless. Changing the MTU size of the wireless connection worked great. This should be a technet article…
I started having this problem after I installed D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router Dir-655 ver 1.02. Above solution does not work for me. Could someon help? Thanks.
Thanx much… you have no idea how long i’ve been pounding on my machine looking for a solution! Worked like a charm.
many thanks buddy – I was almost going to uninstall the “Vista” resources-hungry-beast and go back to xp, you saved me a lot of hours and the money I invested in the worthless vista pro
cheers
H
This is the best post I have read all year.
If I had one dollar for every minute I sat waiting out the freeze in remote desktop I’d be rich.
Thanks
You saved me, and my client. thanks
THANKS A MILLION !!!!!!
THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!
THIS WAS BOGGLING MY MIND, BUT YOUR TRICK FIXED IT PERFECTLY.
Hi there,
well.. i do have the same issue.
am using Vitsa as a client to access the TS Win2003 Server ent edition.
in my case, whenever i try to connect to the TS, it takes long time until the user name n password window appears!
i tried the above mentioned way and it didnt work….
Other servers can be accessed easily without any trouble! AND without implementing the above??!!
PS. sometimes it works fine without any delay and sometimes it takes time.. , its not stable!
Its people like you that make the world a better place.
Thanks so much for this
I know this post is old, but I think it solved my remote desktop issue with Windows 7. Thank you so much!
Holy crap thank you. This saved me tonight. Your great.