Remot desktop fail

[Alhaj]

I have a Windows 2003 server that was exhibiting symptoms of the

Blaster/Sasser virus shutting down the machine. Installed SP1 and

the problem has gone away. But now there is a strange problem. I

cannot access the server remotely using either Remote Desktop or

UltraVNC. Terminal Services is enabled. Before this problem, I could

access it using both Remote Desktop and UltraVNC.

Appreciate any help is resolving this problem.

Thanks...

[Sooner Al]

Sounds like a possible firewall issue on the W2K3 server machine. Have you checked to see if TCP Port 3389 (Remote Desktop) or TCP Port 5900 (VNC) are open on the firewall?

Are you testing over a local LAN or from the public internet? If its the latter make sure any router your behind also has those ports open and that your using the correct public IP address to call the server from a remote location.

Otherwise check the server logs to see if they provide any clues.

[Alhaj]

Thanks for the reply.

I can access the Server from the local LAN using UNC name and also Remote Desktop but not from the public internet. Nothing has changed on the DSL router that connects the server to the internet.

Regarding the firewall, I cannot open Windows Firewall -- I get an error message saying, "Windows Firewall cannot run because another program or service is running that might use the network address translation component (Ipnat.sys)."

How do I check the ports in this situation?

Regards...

[Sooner Al]

If you can successfully connect over the local LAN from another PC then you know your W2K3 server is accepting Remote Desktop (RDP) requests correctly. Then it becomes an issue with port forwarding or addressing through your router.

When you test through your router make sure your NOT calling the public IP for the router from another PC on the LAN. Generally this loopback test is not valid with consumer grade routers. You must test from a remote location, ie. outside your router...

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.org/RemoteDesktop/TroubleshootingDiagrams/Basic.html

You can go to http://www.canyouseeme.org while logged in on the W2K3 server and see if the test passes...

What router are you behind, ie. manufacturer and model?
You have verified port forwarding is configured correctly in the router?
Has the LAN IP of the W2K3 server changed negating your old port forwarding scheme?

I don't do W2K3 but I do know the XP SP2 Windows Firewall can be configured so the allowed address scope will allow incoming RDP requests from any IP on the internet, only the local subnet or specific IP addresses. Here is an example for File & Print Sharing (F&PS) on an XP Pro box. Perhaps that is an issue also?

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.org/ScreenShots/SP2WindowsFirewall/FirewallCustomScope.JPG

Are you the system administrator for this server? If not you need to contact the system admin for help with the firewall.

Hopefully someone else can chime in with help with that issue...