Remote Access Problem -- Wrong Logon Screen on Vista Client

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JohnBick

Been experiencing a weird problem the last couple weeks after 6+months of
easy remote access to my Vista client via my Windows Home Server. It started
when I was using a remote connection on 6/19 and an update came through as I
was actively using it. The connection "broke" and I went to log back in.
Problem is that I no longer see my usual Vista log-in screen!

I can properly log in to the MSS server, access Photo WebShare, see photos
in WHIIST, see a (very preliminary) ASP.NET web page, log in to the server,
access shared files and "see" my list of clients. BUT, when I try to access
the Vista client (the only one that can be remotely accessed) I do not see my
normal log-in screen when I am remote. If I go in locally using the IP
address (http://192.168.1.xxx) then all is normal.

Normally I would see a screen giving me two userids to choose from: John1 &
John2. (Guest is disabled, John1 has Administrative privileges, John2 does
not.) This is what I see on a local/IP connection but if I go in remotely (or
through a loop-back) with the name then I see "Administrator" and "Other".
When I go to the other selection I am allowed to enter name and ID but
nothing works. Using John1 I get "invalid password" errors. Using John2 I get
messages telling me it is not in the correct group for remote access. I
created a John3 ID (administrative) to see if that would work, but it doesn't.

Initially I thought it was something in the Vista user setups but that makes
no sense as I can get in locally with IP addressing. I do not see anything
obvious blocked in my Firewall (Windows Live OneCare) of in my router
(Linksys WRT-54G v1.1) but those are my current areas of focus.

It is almost like I am trying to log into a different client than my own.

And it is definitely frustrating.

Anyone know what's going on here?

(This is also posted
athttp://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1661 )
 
I would try turning off remote access settings on the Vista client, then
restart and turn it back on, to toggle the setting to on, if the update
changed it. Control Panel, System, Tasks pane, "Remote Settings" link.
Uncheck, apply, restart, recheck, apply
 
Thanks, Mark! That got me part way -- the least important 2/3, but making
progress! (I did need a restart after the re-enabling of the setting -- no
big deal.)

Unfortunately only the John2 and John3 UserIDs can log on remotely at this
point, not the one I really need - John1. (FYI, this was the one in use at
the time of that update -- essentially the only UserID that is used on this
computer.)

Thinking there must be another "stuck" setting somewhere, this time one
unique to the UserID rather than at the system level. Looked around for a
while but have not found anything yet. Any further ideas, Mark?
 
Hi,
I think you need to check that your John1 User is still a member of the
'Remote Desktop Users' Group. To do that you will probably need to Log on
locally to that administrator account and then go to the Computer Management
App. From there expand the Local User and Groups and select Users. Then
right click on your John1 account in the left hand pane and select
properties. Now under the Member Of tab check whether you have the 'Remote
Desktop Users' Group showing in the list. If not click the Add button and
add that group. You will then need to reboot the system to make sure the new
setting takes, but after that you should then be able to log in to the John1
account remotely.

HTH,

Jonathan.
Technical Director,
PQSA Services.
 
Jonathan: Thanks for your reply and insight into the problem. For some reason
I had not thought to look at that section in Computer Management -- should
have, but it took your reminder to look there. (I had been under the
impression that users that had Administrative access were automatically
allowed Remote Access, but that really was the key once I had fixed the
problem that Mark pointed out.)

I did have one further anomally in this: The "Name" and the "Full Name" for
John1 were different. The "Name" was actually "BICK" and the "Full Name" was
"John1". I could not find a way to add John1 to the group, but did get BICK
in there. At that point BICK worked and John1 still had problems. (Had worked
before.) So I took the easy way out and renamed BICK to John1 (making the two
names the same). Remote now seems to work just fine and it does not seem to
be a problem for my Windows Home Server so I believe I am OK, unless
something else depended on that other name,

For education and future reference, how could I have gotten John1 to work
without renaming BICK?

Mark/Jonathan: Thanks again to both of you!

....JohnBick
 
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