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Downgrade Windows 2008 Server R2 RDP 7.1 for older thin clients?

Answered Downgrade Windows 2008 Server R2 RDP 7.1 for older thin clients?

  • Thursday, December 13, 2012 7:45 PM
     
     
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    Can the RDP 7.1 in Windows Server 2008 R2 be downgraded to be compatible with older client operating systems?

    We have several HP t5700 XP-Embedded thin clients deployed at the client site, connecting currently to a Windows Server 2003 running terminal services. I believe these thin clients will connect to a terminal server running as high as RDP 6.1

    We're replacing the old 2003 server with a new server running Windows Server 2008 R2 and terminal services.

    I've been unable to get the thin clients to connect to the new server, and the old desktops running XP SP2 would not connect either. The error message is something about unable to connect because of security. Only after I upgraded the desktops to XP SP3 were they able to connect. The HP t5700 thin clients running XP-Embedded cannot be upgraded, as far as I've been able to research.

    What I'd really like to do is downgrade the RDP from 7.1 to something lower like 6.1. I'm quite sure they will work with 6.1 because we have another server running Windows Server 2008 (not R2) and it is running RDP 6.1 and the thin clients can connect to it fine.

    I have already tried the suggestions of leaving the Network Level Authentication option unchecked, setting the Security Layer to Negotiate, nothing has worked.

     

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  • Friday, December 14, 2012 12:09 PM
     
     
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    I don't know of a way of downgrading RDP 7.1 to 6.1 and I'd be surprised to learn that RDP 7.1 on a server can not be made to connect with a client that is at version 6.1.

    Perhaps you might use Network Monitor on the server to dissect the RDP negotiation between the server and the HP t5700 to identify the source of the failure?

     
  • Saturday, December 15, 2012 2:13 AM
     
     
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    I'm not sure if the client (HP t5700) is running RDP 6.1. But I do know that it can connect to a Windows Server 2008 (not R2) which is running RDP 6.1. I had the same exact issue with Windows XP desktops which were SP2. After I upgraded the desktops to SP3, they could connect to the Windows Server 2008 R2.

    OK, so if I can't downgrade Windows Server 2008 R2 from RDP 7.1, is there another way to get the HP t5700 thin clients to be able to connect to the server? Or are we looking at replacing them with with new thin clients or desktops as the only option?


     
  • Saturday, December 15, 2012 2:13 AM
     
     
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    I'm not sure if the client (HP t5700) is running RDP 6.1. But I do know that it can connect to a Windows Server 2008 (not R2) which is running RDP 6.1. I had the same exact issue with Windows XP desktops which were SP2. After I upgraded the desktops to SP3, they could connect to the Windows Server 2008 R2.

    OK, so if I can't downgrade Windows Server 2008 R2 from RDP 7.1, is there another way to get the HP t5700 thin clients to be able to connect to the server? Or are we looking at replacing them with with new thin clients or desktops as the only option?


     
  • Saturday, December 15, 2012 2:13 AM
     
     
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    I'm not sure if the client (HP t5700) is running RDP 6.1. But I do know that it can connect to a Windows Server 2008 (not R2) which is running RDP 6.1. I had the same exact issue with Windows XP desktops which were SP2. After I upgraded the desktops to SP3, they could connect to the Windows Server 2008 R2.

    OK, so if I can't downgrade Windows Server 2008 R2 from RDP 7.1, is there another way to get the HP t5700 thin clients to be able to connect to the server? Or are we looking at replacing them with with new thin clients or desktops as the only option?


     
  • Saturday, December 15, 2012 1:12 PM
     
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    According to http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11643_na/11643_na.pdf , an RDP version 5.2 client is included.

    I think that you might find the accepted answer to the question in the thread http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/sv/winserverTS/thread/6d4218ef-eaae-481d-8e57-c5eef9692c27 to be useful. Assuming that your t5700 is using RDP 5.2, you may already have the policy indicated in this thread set on your Windows Server 2008 but not have it set on your Windows Server 2008 R2.

    Please let us know if this policy fixes your problem.

     
  • Tuesday, December 18, 2012 12:00 AM
     
     
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    Thanks. Tried this, changed the following in Group Policy Editor of Windows Server 2008 R2:

    Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Remote Desktop Services -> Remote Desktop Session Host -> Security

    Changed "Require use of specific security layer for remote (RDP) connections"

    From "Not configured" to "Enabled"

    Selected Security Layer "RDP"

    Still no change. My HP t5700 thin clients (supposedly running RDP 5.2) cannot connect to the server.

    Does the server need to be rebooted since the change? No ability to restart the TS service, restart button is grayed out.

    HP t5700 thin client connection error message

    HP t5700 thin client RDP version

     
  • Tuesday, December 18, 2012 12:48 AM
     
     
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    check your remote desktop security setting. There are 3 settings do not allow remote user connection, allow remote connection with less secure client, or allow connection with secure client. Then if that is set to allow the less secure client you can also check the network policy settings if you are using remote desktop session host servers they can be set to enforce secure connections, and client health checks, turn that off as welll and voila your in!!
     
  • Tuesday, December 18, 2012 10:07 AM
     
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    Referring back to your first post, the ability to establish a remote desktop connection with WS2K8 R2 after installation of SP3 on XP makes sense because SP3 installs the RDP 7.0 protocol on XP. RDP 7.1 can negotiate RDP sessions with an RDP 7.0 client.

    BruceD1973's suggestion is good and worth a shot: that's the first place where troubleshooting starts and I guess I assumed that this had been checked .

    If you still don't get in, you might like to try the troubleshooting steps suggested in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2477176