Remote desktop error

Question

I am receiving the error "the remote session was disconnected because the remote desktop client access license stored on this computer has been modified" when trying to connect to a server 2003 machine.  I am running Windows 7 but have no trouble connecting to two other server 2003 machines or XP.  It seems to be some type of conflict with this specific machine and Windows 7.  I can connect to this server from an XP machine.

Answer 1

Hi Russ,

First, I would suggest you to create a System Restore Point manually, so that in case, something goes wrong while performing these steps, you may always perform a System Restore and revert back.

Normally we receive this error message if the TS license in the computer is damaged or corrupt, you may need to remove it from the TS client. The license is stored in the client's registry.

1.  Click on Start

2.  In the start search box type REGEDIT and press enter.

3. In the registry editor access the following key:  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing.

To clean the client's license cache, just delete this key and its sub keys. The next time the client connects to the server, it will obtain another license.

Registry Disclaimer:

Sometimes this problem is caused by two Windows registry entries that have become corrupted. To fix the problem, you have to use Registry Editor to delete the corrupted Registry entries.

However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, follow the steps as in the KB Article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/

Hope this helps. Let us know the results.

Thanks and Regards,

**Srinivas R Microsoft Support.**Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

Answer 2

I deleted any values UNDERNEATH 'Store' (e.g. LICENSE000) and was able to connect. Hope this helps.

The path i think that was meant is:

1.  Click on Start 

2.  In the start search box type REGEDIT and press enter.

3. In the registry editor access the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing\Store

then delete what you find in the "Store" folder.

**And then always start Remote Desktop 'as admin' to prevent this from happening again.**If you ever forget and sign in again without elevated privileges, every subsequent attempt will fail (no matter whether those subsequent attempts are elevated or not) until you do the regedit again.

Answer 3

"the TS license in the computer is damaged or corrupt"

Let's call a spade a spade - "corrupt" to most people implies a one-off episode where the data's gotten jumbled or incorrectly recorded. THIS is a repeatable BUG... the programming is not achieving what's intended - and MS could easily fix whatever's "off".

Answer 4

Hi guys I found a fix for this which was a combination of fixes to solve this.

In Regedit go to the key below and delete it (whole thing not just the subkeys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSLicensing\

Recreate the empty key "MSLicensing" at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\

Run mstsc.exe as administrator privileges and then log in to your remote gateway using an Admin account (not the user you want  to fix) < This part is critical

Check in regedit that they HardwareID and Store subkeys have been recreated at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSLicensing\

Then log in as normal without administrator privileges using mstsc as the user you want to fix and the connection should be repaired and you will not have to continually delete the subkeys to fix anymore

Took me a few hours of trying all the fixes. You need them all in this order or the problem will just keep coming back (or you will get errors about elevation, Bad Gateway errors etc.

Hope this helps someone!

Answer 5

I was having the same problems and this fix worked for me. Thank you very much for putting in the time to figure this out and share it with the community!!!