Remote Desktop – Access Remote Computer Using Microsoft Account

networkingremote desktopwindowswindows 10

Description of the problem: I am not able to connect through Remote Desktop
Connection to access Computer A from Computer B. More specifically, when I am on Computer B, I am not able to access Computer A through Remote Desktop Connection. I was asked to provide
username and password, but I kept getting told by a "Windows Security" window
that said: "Your credentials did not work."

enter image description here

Observation 1: I was able to access Computer B from Computer A. (The other way
around.)

Observation 2: The only difference as I can tell, is that: I used a Microsoft
Account to log-in (locally and natively) on Computer B, and used a username
alone to log-in on Computer A. The usernames on the two computers (locally
speaking) are:

  • Computer A: DESKTOP-XXX/username

  • Computer B: username@hotmail.com

Both computers are running Windows 10 Pro.

Observation 3: I have made sure that the there is no firewall
between the two computers. (They are connected through a Ethernet switch in my
home network, connecting to the outside world through the home router.)

Question: what has been going wrong? Do I have to assign and use the same
Microsoft Account on Computer A? I have made sure that the password has been
correct all the times, but the problem is persistent: I cannot connect from
Computer B to Computer A, yet I can connect from Computer A to Computer B.

PS: I has also asked the same question in the TechNet forum, yet I am not counting
on it quite a lot. Ref url.

Additional Information

The address for Computer A and B

As I only have dynamic IP on both machines, I used No-IP's service. Thus, for the two computers, for example:
* Address for Computer A: computer-A.ddns.net
* Address for Computer B: computer-B.ddns.net

Additional Experiments

Shutting down Computer B

When I shut down Computer B, using the address computer-B.ddns.net to connect still gets me the same error message (as in the screenshot above).

Getting a different IP for Computer B

Per the initial experiment, two computers are hosted in the same home network. Thus, the public IP for the two machines should be the same. To get Computer B a different IP, I disconnect the machine from the home network and used the Personal Hotspot on my phone. This time, I get a new error message:

enter image description here

Best Answer

I had the same with a couple machines linked to MicrosoftAccount\user from installation, remembered my previous installs started with a local account and were later linked to my Microsoft account and that worked fine.

Decided to change my Account so to sign in with a local account, tested RDP and that worked fine, decided to "re-link" my Microsoft account... tested again and it was still working without issues. Not sure exactly what causes the issue but it seems that creating a local account fixes the behavior, likely reg keys or gpedit settings not correctly configured with the Microsoft account.

Further to the above, I believe (from later found articles) that if the user signs in with the Microsoft's account password at least once rather than the PIN the issue may also be fixed. (Have confirmed this as the best fix)

https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2047664-remote-desktop-fails-after-changed-to-microsoft-account

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