Win 10 RDP gives black screen after minimizing

[symmetal]

In the past few days I've found that if you minimize a Windows Remote Desktop session and leave it minimized for around 30 secs or so when you restore it the remote screen is black.  According to this tenforums topic it may be related to a recent Windows update. Suggested fixes don't work. I have two imaging mini PCs that I RDP into and this has occurred on both. They are both kept up to date which may not have been a good strategy. ? Does anyone else have this problem? I have Win 10 Pro 64 bit on all machines. The remote session is still active, it's just the screen doesn't get re-drawn anymore. To get around it I have to shut down and reopen the RDP session which is annoying. 

Alan

Edited March 17, 2019 by symmetal

[Uranium235]

Why not use a more dedicated remote utility? Something like teamviewer or tightVNC? That would solve your problems in a single stroke

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I have fully patched, including the latest, multi Win 10's & Server 19's, & don't see the issue, have you tried updating the video drivers to the latest versions, as they are not always updated via the Windows update system....

[Guest]

After 20+ years in the IT business I have a healthy hate of RDP.  My weapon of choice is Dameware!

[symmetal]

37 minutes ago, Uranium235 said:

Why not use a more dedicated remote utility? Something like teamviewer or tightVNC? That would solve your problems in a single stroke

I've used both. Teamviewer is fine but needs internet connection to their website in order to save logon info. I prefer TightVNC because of this but both don't enable easy full screen working like RDP. You can't minimize full screen TightVNC without pressing Ctrl-Alt-Shift-F then minimize and vice versa. If they aren't true full screen you have scroll bars and I kept using the wrong menu bar as the remote one isn't in view. The only way is to use a smaller remote desktop but then the remote programs won't fit nicely. The choice of remote resolutions is too limited to find one that works. Hence I used RDP as my latest mini-PCs were Win 10 Pro. If anyone knows how to have 1920x1080 on local and remote with easy switching between them or easy remote full screen minimizing on TightVNC or Teamviewer let me know. 

 

29 minutes ago, Sland said:

After 20+ years in the IT business I have a healthy hate of RDP.  My weapon of choice is Dameware!

I haven't heard of that. Does it resolve the issues I mentioned above?

Alan

52 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

I have fully patched, including the latest, multi Win 10's & Server 19's, & don't see the issue, have you tried updating the video drivers to the latest versions, as they are not always updated via the Windows update system....

The mini-PCs have standard onboard Intel HD Graphics. I'll see if there are any updates.

Alan

[Guest]

Free trial,see if it solves your problems:  https://www.dameware.com/

[symmetal]

Device manager said the graphics driver was up to date. Went to Intel site and eventually found an Apollo Lake Celeron N3450 graphics driver. Installed it even though it reported it was older than the installed driver. No change on black screen. Went back to device manager to update driver back to latest which it did.  However the black screen problem seems to have now gone away. I've had RDP minimized  several times for durations up to 30 mins or so and it's been OK. It sometimes takes half a second on un-minimizing before the screen redraws but I'm OK with that. It's possible the latest windows update done a few days ago didn't update the graphics driver properly but forcing a re-install of the driver has fixed it. Hope so. Thanks Julian.  

I'll try it on the other Mini-PC tomorrow and see if it's 'cured' there too. 

Looked at dameware site and it's £290 for a single licence so I think I'll give that a miss at the moment.  

Alan

[stash_old]

RealVnc would have been the best alternative to RDP (I use both) but today you can only use a free version for Internet only connection except RPI's which is non internet and free. It now costs £42/yr/Server ?

[symmetal]

My only real preference for RDP is the easy full screen minimizing with a single mouse click. Full screen mode is necessary for multiple desktop working but other remote control applications seem to require multiple key presses to get in and out of full screen mode then a mouse click to minimize. I'm happy to be proved wrong though and if anyone knows of one that's as easy to use as RDP and doesn't cost a lot let me know. 

Alan

Edited March 18, 2019 by symmetal

[SlimPaling]

I like RADMIN to link between my house computer (Win7) and my Observatory Laptop (Win7) allowing me to take complete control of my scope from the warmth of my house. ... quite easy to set up and works great

Mike

[stash_old]

1 hour ago, SlimPaling said:

RADMIN

But isnt free ?

[symmetal]

Thanks SlimPaling but it would cost $98 to use on two remote computers. You're paying for 24hr tech support which isn't required for all of us just using a local network.

I tried the video driver reinstall on the second PC but it hasn't fixed the problem on that one.  Oh well, one out of two ain't bad. This has apparently been a problem reported with RDP going back to XP with a multitude of 'fixes' suggested, none of which are actual fixes as far as I can see. As it happened to me on 2 PCs around the same time as a Windows update I thought that might be the culprit.

Alan

Edited March 18, 2019 by symmetal

[Guest]

Teamviewer is free for personal, non-commercial, use.  I use it to remote into my Dad's laptop (Win10) every time he screws it up

 

https://www.teamviewer.com/en/

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Guest

[symmetal]

Thanks Sland, I've used Teamviewer and TightVNC in the past but they aren't as convenient to use full screen. 

Alan

[pikecraig]

I'm experiencing the exact same issue. The problem started last week or the week before. If the remote desktop connection screen is minimized for more than 30 seconds or so, it appears black on maximize. The screen isn't being redrawn. I'm messing around with the "Experience" settings (RDP connection on Remote) and the "Visual Effects" (on Host). So far nothing but I'll let you know. I'm guessing we'll be waiting for a patch from Microsoft.

[symmetal]

Hi pikecraig, at least it's not just me.  I tried changing those same settings too to no avail. What processor/chipset is your PC. Is it a mini? As nobody else here seems to have the issue it doesn't seem to be a widespread problem. According to the tensforum link I posted Microsoft are aware of it and suggested disabling remote audio but that doesn't work for most. Consensus is that the March 12, 2019—KB4489899  update caused it. I just uninstalled that update and it hasn't cured it so hmmmm!. As you say hope there's a patch coming soon.

Meanwhile just use 'Restore Down' instead of 'Minimize' and make it a little window in the corner of the desktop. Then 'Maximize' from there when needed. 

Alan

Edited March 20, 2019 by symmetal

[4EverMaAT]

Connect an rdp into another rdp session on the same computer (two different users).  user 2 will then keep rdp session/gui alive.

 

Then you just login to user2 whenever you need to use user1's gui desktop.  Or you can use teamviewer AnyDesk to login to user1's desktop.  Because the rdp session is alive, it will appear like any other desktop