Remote Desktop Web connection

[Hector Toledo]

I'm trying to use Remote Desktop web connection to log into my home computer from my work computer. Both run XP Pro and all relevant Windows components (ISS etc.) have been installed. When I direct Explorer to the url (http://external IP:port/tsweb) I get the Remote Desktop Web Connection log-in screen. I type in my home computer's name in the server field, click connect, and I get a log-in screen where I type in my username and password. There's also a field titled "Log on to:" which can only be changed with a drop-down menu of preset domains. I can't type anything in it or leave blank. The domain choices are all associated with my work network. Do I need to type a domain into the "Log on to" field? How can I leave this field blank? Is this something my employer has done to restrict Remote Desktop access to certain domains?

[Scarecrow Man]

You should be able to leave this blank and log on as you normally would. That is usually used in a Domain environment to direct where the log on should go. For example, I have my domain, and novell network (for the novell server). I either leave it as my domain to log in normally, or change it to eDirectory to log into novell.

[Hector Toledo]

That's what I thought. I've never had to fill in the domain (or Log on to:) field before. Unfortunately I can't leave it blank. It's a dropdown menu with 5 options, all of them domains we use at work, and no way to type into the field. I'm starting to think this was done intentionally to prevent connections to outside domains.

[Scarecrow Man]

Perhaps it was not intentional, but Remote Desktop will not work from within a domain environment. You should ask your IT department about this.

Open up Active Directory Users & Computers, open the user object properties for the users you need to be able to use remote desktop. Click the "Terminal Services Profile" tab and make sure the "Allow logon to terminal server" check box is selected.

Failing both of these the only other likely problem is if the default security has been changed on XP. Open Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy. Open Local Policies > User Rights Assignment. By default the "Administrators" and "Remote Desktop Users" groups are listed under "Allow logon through Terminal Services". Also, make sure no groups have been added to the "Deny logon ..." policies.

I don't think this helps you at all, but I think the whole domain thing is what is causing your problems.