Last Update: Sep 04, 2024 | Published: Jul 25, 2012
Recently we came across a nasty issue when remotely connecting to Windows Server 2008 R2 machines via RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). In this case, these servers were actually Domain Controllers and not full featured terminal servers, but we’ve seen issues with these as well. Failing to use RDP to these servers caused the administrators to have to physically go to the servers and log on locally, or use some other sort of remote management software such as HP iLO. If these are virtual machines, it’s also possible to connect to their console using the virtualization software management suite. Either way, failing to use RDP to manage these servers may cause a significant issue for some.
The symptoms for the RDP problem include the following:
Note: It seems that in some cases, this issue also happens for Windows 7 machines as well.
And:
Log Name: System
Source: Service Control Manager
Date: 04/06/2012 14:12:40
Event ID: 7034
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer:
Description:
The Remote Desktop Services service terminated unexpectedly. It has done this 4 time(s).
And:
Log Name: System
Source: Service Control Manager
Date: 04/06/2012 14:12:10
Event ID: 7011
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer:
Description:
A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the UmRdpService service.
It turns out that the cause for the problem is two important Windows security updates:
These updates were part of MS012-20, and were downloaded to the servers sometime in the second half of March 2012, if their settings were configured so.
The solution to the problem begins by uninstalling both updates. First, we uninstall KB 2667402:
Then we reboot the server.
Next, we uninstall KB 2621440:
Then we reboot the server again.
Now, we need to reinstall the updates, but we need to do so in this particular order.
First, install KB 2667402:
Then reboot the server.
Next, we install KB 2621440:
Then reboot the server again.
This will solve the RDP problem on your Windows Server 2008 R2 machine.