Vista - Remote Desktop + Can't connect using host name

Hi,

I am writing because I have recently experienced an issue with my remote desktop. I can connect to my Windows 2003 server using Remote Desktop using its IP address, but not its host name. My desktop is a Windows Vista Ultimate box, and both machines are configured to use a Workgroup instead of a domain. Remote Desktop works great when I connect by IP, but will not even connect when attempting to use hostname.

The reason that this is important is that I am attempting to use Virtual Server on my server, and when starting up a new virtual machine, I do not always know what the IP will be. It would be very handy to be able to RDP using the host name.

Any thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time,
Everett

Hi everettcomstock,

The best thing you could do here is to set both the server and PC up in a domain as this makes it easier to manage the DNS. When you are in a workgroup you always get this sort of error problems.

What I would do is setup W2K3 server to be also be a DNS and a DHCP server. The reason you only can use an IP address is down to each node not being registered correctly and the best way is to add each device into the DNS configuration. When you setup the server and put every PC into the domain it will then register each nodes settings in the DNS configuration automatically. Then just set the gateway as your router address for internet access.

It sounds complicated but it isn't

Another cheat and way around this if you are not using a domain is to edit your hostfile on the PC and add in the IP address and hostname, make sure you reboot. This is not best if you are using the several PC's to do the same thing as you would have to put this on each PC.

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost

Follow the example
IP Address SERVERNAME

Thanks for the reply MDE740. I was afraid of that. It just seems like a lot of unnecessary work for a small two or three computer network. I guess if I want the flexibility of the virtual machines though, it will be necessary.
Thanks again,

Everett