This Azure article will discuss how to fix the error “Remote desktop cannot connect to the remote computer” that I got while connecting to my Azure Virtual Machine.
Remote desktop can’t connect to the remote computer for one of these reasons
Below is the complete error message.
The remote desktop cannot connect to the remote computer for one of these reasons:
- 1-Remote Access to the server is not enabled.
- 2-The remote computer is turned off.
- 3-The remote computer is not available on the network.
Make sure the remote computer is turned on and connected to the network, and that remote access is enabled.
You can see the same error in the screenshot below.
Problem Cause and Solutions
There could be multiple reasons for and solutions to this issue. Let’s discuss them one by one.
Solution
To fix the issue, you need to follow the below steps
1. Log in to https://portal.azure.com/
2. Search for Virtual machines there.
3. You will see the list of VM created in your Azure subscription. It will show the VM name, Type, Status, resource group, Location, etc.
4. Now click on the VM name. “MyNewVM” in my case. You can see the details of your virtual machine like Public IP address, status, Computer name, Operating system, Size, etc.
As you can see, the VM status is Stopped(deallocated). The status should be running.
5. Now click on the Start button.
6. As you can see, the VM Status is changed to “Running”.
7. Now, you should be able to connect to the virtual machine successfully without any issues. Click on the Connect button.
If the above solution doesn’t work, then you can check out the solutions below.
1. You should check the network connectivity.
One of the most common reasons for this error is an issue with the network’s connectivity. For example, there might be a chance that the firewall is blocking access to the Azure Virtual machine.
You can use the Telnet client to check the connectivity to the Azure Virtual machine. One key advantage of using the Telnet client is that you can easily check whether the RDP port 3389 is open.
You can use the below command from the command prompt to enable the Telnet from the command prompt
dism /online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:TelnetClientIf you are using PowerShell, then you can use the below PowerShell cmdlet to enable the Telnet
Install-WindowsFeature -name Telnet-Client2. Check the User Permissions
Cross-check the user permissions that might be the reason for this error. Note that if the user does not have administrator privileges, there is a group called the local Remote Desktop Users group; the user should belong to that group to access the Remote machine via RDP. Normally, there won’t be any member who belongs to the local Remote Desktop Users group by default unless and until any of the users are added manually. So, only the Administrator’s group members