Terminal Services Client Cannot Connect to a Server Running 128-bit Encryption

You may be unable to connect to a Terminal Services computer that is running 128-bit encryption with its Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) encryption level set to High. In addition, the following error message may be displayed in the event log:

This behavior can occur if you install the Terminal Services client from the Terminal Services client folder before the 128-bit encryption pack is installed on the Terminal Services server computer.

To resolve this behavior, use one of the following methods:

• Change the RDP encryption level on the Terminal Services computer to Medium or Low.
• Uninstall the Terminal Services client, and then reinstall the Terminal Services client from the Windows 2000 Server computer on which the 128-bit encryption pack is installed.

To change the encryption level on the Terminal Server, follow these steps:

1. Open the Terminal Services Configuration snap-in.
2. Click the Connections folder, and on the right pane, right-click on the RDP-TCP connection, and then click Properties.
3. On the General tab of the property sheet, change the encryption level.

This behavior is by design.

For additional information about Terminal Services connections, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: