Windows 10 remote desktop RDP mstsc.exe won't start

Question

I have recently upgraded from win 8.1 to Win 10. Since the upgrade RDP wouldn't work correctly.

I couldn't use a recently used connection. Instead I had to open a new window each time. Today it stopped working completely.

If I tried to run mstsc.exe directly it would appear in task manager for less than a second before dissapearing.

Edit: Issue was traced to "custom scale factors" in display settings. See answer below.

@magicandre1981 i did look but couldnt find anything obviously related. — Sir Swears-a-lot, Mar 29 '17 at 06:26

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 29 '17 at 15:05

4

Issue was traced to "custom scale factors" in display settings.

This fix on technet worked for me. I am reposting here for others. (since most links in my search results were way off the mark)

Hit the Windows key and then type "display".
Tap on the "display settings" link that is found.
You should see the following text in red: "A custom scale factor is set"
Click on the text underneath which states "Turn off custom scaling and sign out".
Sign back in.

I would add that if you have it pinned to the task bar it would be worth unpinning and re-pinning it also.

edited Mar 29 '17 at 15:05

magicandre1981

answered Mar 29 '17 at 06:32

Sir Swears-a-lot

nice to hear that you can find the fix. Next time ask this on superuser.com, this question is not about coding, so stackoverflow is wrong place. – magicandre1981 Mar 29 '17 at 15:06
@magicandre1981 ahh. My apologies. Thank you for the explanation. – Sir Swears-a-lot Mar 29 '17 at 18:06

1 Answers1