Share via

Windows 10 Professional remote desktop error 0x4

Anonymous
2018-07-11T13:29:14+00:00

Hello,

I have been connecting to a computer at another location (Windows 10 Professional) using my Mac for quite some time now. Suddenly, last week the remote desktop program gave an error code "0x4". I tried connecting with the previous version of the RDP client to no avail. I also tried connecting with iPhone and another Windows 10 Professional – nothing seems to work.

The connection is over the public internet and I do know the correct IP for the device. No changes have been made to the network structure (e.g. port settings, or such). The environment in which the target computer resides is exactly the same as before.

How could I fix the problem? I'd like to note it is extremely hard for me to access this computer physically, so if it is possible by any means to fix this remotely I'd love to give it a try. I have not allowed other connection than RDP to the computer so I cannot SSH or use other measures to change the target computer.

Windows for business | Windows Server | User experience | Remote desktop clients

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

19 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2018-08-25T21:31:54+00:00

    Like you, I never had a problem until I started using version 10.

    I only started using 10 when a recent update announced the end of updates for 8 and recommended upgrading to the new version. I had no idea there was a newer version until this time. 

    Since "Microsoft Automatic Updates" seems to run several times a month, it would be nice if it could be just a tad more comprehensive, as the name implies, or be renamed to "Microsoft Office Automatic Updates" instead.

    (FWIW - I'm an equal opportunity critic. There are as many things that make me crazy about Mac as Windows)

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2018-08-27T19:54:00+00:00

    Interesting, Christian. FWIW, using 8.0.44 (the soon to be deprecated client) does not work for me.

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2018-08-30T05:40:14+00:00

    Like others, I get the same error.

    Ironically, I can remote control the computer using TeamViewer (which I use when away from home) and log in. Whilst logged in, I can then connect using the latest Microsoft Remote Desktop (10.2.1). As soon as I log out of the TeamViewer Session, I'm unable to establish new connections to the remote computer which suggests that the RDP protocol is disabled somehow at the lock screen.

    I do use a PIN login on this account.. I'm going to explore if that is causing issues as the Remote Desktop App authenticates with username & password.

    A bug at the host end methinks...

    (UPDATE: Removing the PIN made no difference)

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2018-09-13T14:37:14+00:00

    I was running into this same problem for the past week with Microsoft Remote Desktop Version 10.2.1 (1143) for Mac, and I may have just solved it. This does not help if you are stuck already and do not have access at all, but once you do have access, configuring this should prevent the problem in the future. The solution I used is to enable keepalives for remote desktop connections:

    1. If you can manage the remote machine through group policy, follow the instructions posted here:

    http://jbcomp.com/keeping-remote-desktop-connections-alive/

    Otherwise keep reading.

    1. Open the registry editor (just search for it-- win-S, "regedit").
    2. In the tree view, navigate to HKEY_Local_Machine -> SOFTWARE -> Policies -> Microsoft -> Windows NT -> Terminal Services
    3. In the pane on the right-- right-click, New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value
    4. Name it "KeepAliveEnable", then double click it and enter a value of 1
    5. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with the name "KeepAliveInterval"
    6. Close the registry editor.
    7. To be sure the setting will be used, reboot the machine, or restart Remote Desktop Services from the Services management console (Win-S, "Services"). 

    That's it. So far this has prevented the issues I was having multiple times a day with receiving the 0x4 error on attempting an RDP connection. As usual with Microsoft products, YMMV.

    10 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2018-09-18T17:03:13+00:00

    I thought this had resolved the problem for me but, after a longer than usual period of non-failure, it's still producing the same error. I've been through the steps to ensure they were completed correctly several times. Anyone else try this and find no change?

    0 comments