Windows XP SP3 Remote Desktop Broken – Fixed!
(Originally posted 19 September, 2008. Copied from Google cache because this info is useful!)
After weeks of on-and-off searching, Ive finally found the solution to my issue with remote desktop. My problem was I could no longer connect to my workstation using remote desktop. The remote desktop client would attempt to connect and immediately reset itself. No connection and no error message.
This occurred after I had installed windows updates, including service pack 3. I tried turning remote connections on and off with no success. Checked ports and firewall, uninstalled updates, reinstalled updates, messed with the registry, all to no avail. I had resorted to using VNC, which, lets face it, doesnt perform quite as well as the MS client.
Turns out the problem is with the latest Nvidia drivers.
W.T.F.
The latest 175.xx Nvidia drivers have a faulty RDPDD.dll driver. This causes any remote desktop connections to fail.
Solution: Install any of the older Nvidia display drivers. I have installed 169.32 and they are working correctly. 174.xx series drives are also reported to be working.
Nvidia has yet to come out with a fix for this, so if you use remote desktop, do not install the latest drivers until this is fixed.
More information here: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=67147
If this helped you, please leave a comment!