On my new Acer TravelMate 5530G I run Windows Vista Home Premium. I use Windows Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) to connect to my server which has been working just fine.
But this weekend after setting up a new Windows 2008 server and trying to connect to it, RDC shows a dialog “Looking for Credential Tiles”. The dialog is up for ever and if I click cancel instead of getting a login screen RDC hangs and I have to shut it down from the Task Manager.
The workaround seems to be to enter the correct credentials into Vistas Advanced User Accounts panel (I later changed password on my server and had the same problem all over again)
This solution is thanks to Denz and can be found as a comment to this Terminal Services Team blog post
1. Type control userpasswords2 into the Start menu search box and hit Enter
2.On the resulting User Accounts screen, click on the Advanced tab and then click the Manage Passwords button
3. On the Stored User Names and Passwords window, click Add button
4. On the Log on to: Type the IP of your server or the Server name, and user name and password
5. Denz instructions says to choose “A Windows Logon Credential” but this option is greyed out for me. However “A web site or program credential” works fine too
Denz and others also have Acer TravelMate laptops (but other models than me) so my theory is that this is a problem with the Acer software that comes with their laptops. Maybe the Bio protection software (fingerprint scanner).
[Update: I can confirm that the problem is related to the Acer fingerprint software. After uninstalling Acer Bio Protection ATU the issue is solved. I had Acer Bio Protection ATU version 6.0.00.16 installed which is the latest version available from Acer at this time]
It’s definately because of the fingerprint password database. It tries to store the credentials.
If you start up the configuration for you Acer Bio Protection, you might find that the remote desktop connection has been added there.
Thankfully this workaround works, so we all can log into our RDC’s again.
Acer realy needs to update the bio protection software. Its causing a lot of problems for me. A lot off password dialogs in FireFox keep jumping out of focus unless i press ctrl+alt+delete or lock the computer before trying to enter a password.
I think everyone having problems with bio protection needs to contact acer support and let them know of the issues.
Thanks for posting about this though, bet it helps a lot of people. Have seen a lot of posts on this.
Hi Thorbjörn. Some time back I uninstalled the Acer Bio Protection software and the issue was solved so the problem in indeed has to do with that. I will update my post to reflect this.
Have you tried using any alternaive software for the fingerprint reader?
I’m considering getting rid of the acer software myself, seeing as it causes so many problems, and doesn’t work with vista.
It looks like the hardware is pretty standard, and used by a lot of manufacturers, so there might be better software out there.
I’m going to look into this in the near future, ill send you a message if i discover anything of interest 🙂
Actually I have not tried any other software but I think you are right, that the hardware is generic and should work with other drivers/software.
However though a cool idea i found the fingerprint reader less useful mainly because
a) it was too slow, it was faster to type password (maybe other software will solve this too)
b) to many misreads (which makes it even slower)
c) the placement between the mouse buttons which makes the fingerprint software launch by mistake every now and then (maybe this can be fixed by some setting)
If you find out something useful, please post here.
SOLUTION =
Uninstall acer bio Protection Software.
FIXED!
I experienced the same problem on my hp 6510b, also with fingerprint reader. I agree the problem is probably related to the fingerprint software, but there is another workaround in http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en/InternetExplorer/thread/89fa578e-6c1a-4463-bce0-111eb09f8ff1: add your site to IE’s trusted sites list. I worked for me.
fixed my inability to rdp to server, also with Acer. thanks
Removing the Acer Bio Protection sorted it out for me too. This is really disappointing from Acer that they included duff software. I tried to call the Acer support number from the website to let them know, but that no longer works either….