Upgrading to Windows 11 24H2 causes remote desktop connections to Windows 7 machines not to show graphics correctly.

Alessandro Cipriano 155

After having upgraded Windows 11 to 24H2, the remote desktop connections to machines that use Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008R2 do not show graphic content correctly.

Returning to the previous Windows 11 version (23H2) has resolved the problem.

No problems with remote desktop connections to other machines with more recent operating systems. Unfortunately, the above-mentioned Windows 7 machine is "special", as it is used to control some very old industrial system control and it is not upgradable.

RemoteDesktopProblemAfter24H2

marc tofsted 10 Reputation points

2024-10-07T12:42:43.9766667+00:00

This same issue just popped up for me. I just "upgraded" to Win11 24H2 and my remote connection to my OLD development machine is now showing corrupt graphics or blank boxes.

Hitting the Experience settings on the remote session helped.
I set that to "LAN" and checked all the option boxes.

I tried both the Bitmap Caching options and neither setting fixed the graphics display.

Microsoft, if you're listening, HELP!
Antoine-9167 30 Reputation points

2024-10-07T14:49:33.8566667+00:00

I have the same problem, on a windows server 2008, the display of certain applications like oracle sql develloper is unreadable.
Antoine-9167 30 Reputation points

2024-10-07T14:49:56.44+00:00

I have the same problem, on a windows server 2008, the display of certain applications like oracle sql develloper is unreadable.
Ryan Jackson 0 Reputation points

2024-10-10T10:06:24.7233333+00:00

We have noticed this issue as-well, not attempted to Rollback yet
Leonardo Zarate 0 Reputation points

2024-10-18T14:20:18.5766667+00:00

Hi, I have the same problem! someone could downgrade windows 11 update or fix this issue?
Leonardo Zarate 0 Reputation points

2024-10-18T14:43:38.59+00:00

me too, do you solve it?
Alessandro Cipriano 155 Reputation points

2024-10-18T15:04:16.5766667+00:00

I "rolled back" to the previous Windows 11 version, which temporarily resolved the problem. However, in this way, I blocked many other good improvement present in the 24H2.
Michal Kumela 15 Reputation points

2024-10-21T07:39:25.7633333+00:00

I have the same problem when connected to Windows Server 2008. Please help!!!
Michal Kumela 15 Reputation points

2024-10-21T08:53:42.8833333+00:00

Try to download Remote Desktop App from Microsoft Store - it is still working fine.
Poyo Poyo 0 Reputation points

2024-10-22T01:06:30.53+00:00

I also encountered this issue and was confused for a long time, until I finally discovered it was a problem with the new version of the mstsc client in Windows 11 24H2.
Mikael Andersen 0 Reputation points

2024-10-31T09:08:03.83+00:00

Any word from Microsoft on this issue? This causes massive issues for me, who RDPs into older systems, but where I am forced to update.
Alessandro Cipriano 155 Reputation points

2024-10-31T12:48:09.5266667+00:00

Unfortunately, the only solution now is to return to the previous version (23H2). You should do that quickly, or it will become unavailable after a while.
DiegoCarmona-4368 0 Reputation points

2024-10-31T21:06:47.19+00:00

We are also affected by this. We've reached out to Microsoft but it doesn't seem they're aware of the issue.
Guilherme Rodrigues Da Costa 0 Reputation points

2024-11-11T20:06:41.1366667+00:00

Algum conseguiu ajustar ?
Horse Merry 0 Reputation points

2024-11-17T08:07:44.03+00:00

I also encountered a similar problem! When is Microsoft going to solve it? It is impossible to work fully with a remote desktop!!!!
Jason Beaumont 0 Reputation points

2024-11-19T00:13:53.0733333+00:00

November Cumulative update hasn't fixed this issue
HenriquedaCunhaTeixeira-8514 0 Reputation points

2024-11-21T12:13:17.61+00:00

The same happened to me, but when accessing applications that needs Java. Windows Explorer and Browsers runs fine.
Алексей Степин 0 Reputation points

2024-11-25T16:44:59.15+00:00

Аналогичная проблема. Очень жду скорейшего решения!
Frederic DM 0 Reputation points

2024-12-06T20:31:18.2833333+00:00

Same problem here. Thunderbird menus on the remote computer are unusable.

I have recovered mstsc.exe and mstscax.dll from Windows.old ; and both .mui files from subdirectory en-US.

When launched from that location, it fixes the problem, but creates another.

The top menu bar is absent, so that you cannot disconnect from the remote session or reduce it in a window.

Frédéric, from Belgium
Stéphane Girard 0 Reputation points

2024-12-10T12:53:34.4233333+00:00

Same problem with windows 11 24h2 and a 2008 server with excel 2002. All the buttons are hidden and appear when I move the mouse over them.
Manie Van Der Raad 0 Reputation points

2024-12-10T13:00:08.2966667+00:00

Not a very helpful answer?
Don 0 Reputation points

2024-12-14T00:16:48.16+00:00

Same problem with Remote Desktop accessing an older Windows 7 machine after updating to 24H2. At first I thought it was a video card issue, until I noticed that another laptop just updated to 24H2 also had the problem. I will not update my remaining laptop for the time being!
Michael Glocker 0 Reputation points

2024-12-17T10:05:35.44+00:00

Same problem with our Win11 24h2 update: A lot of artefacts in RDP-windows. Moving mouse creates stripes. It's more than annoying...
Marc Picart 5 Reputation points

2024-12-17T18:59:25.7+00:00

Hi Frederic,

To fix the menu bar problem

I copied the following files from the 23H2 version, from the Windows.old folder:

C:\Windows\System32\mstsc.exe

C:\Windows\System32\mstscax.dll

C:\Windows\System32\en-US\mstsc.exe.mui

C:\Windows\System32\en-US\mstscax.dll.mui

C:\Windows\SystemResources\mstsc.exe.mun

C:\Windows\SystemResources\mstscax.dll.mun

It worked fine
Frederic DM 0 Reputation points

2024-12-17T19:07:31.83+00:00

Hello @marc picart, I already tried that (except that I have put a target location outside c:\windows) and the behaviour is a bit different. The remote desktop comes immediately a full-screen, and the top menu bar is absent.

Hence you cannot put the remote desktop in a window, neither close it in order to disconnect.

I cannot test anymore as I have reverted to 23H2 within the 10-days timeframe.
Takorn 0 Reputation points

2024-12-17T23:56:48.1466667+00:00

resolved https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Jux5xWdSk/
translate THAI to ENG
sullivanjc 0 Reputation points

2024-12-24T00:17:51.9+00:00

Is anyone experiencing this issue with Windows 2008R2 or Windows 7 running RDP 8 on their machines (which was an update, not what was released with the OS)? I'm wondering if that changes anything in regards to this issue as I don't think Microsoft will view it as a problem. The OSes of the servers being connected to are past end of of life and running versions of RDP that were not installed to currently supported versions of their PC and server products.
Dominic_Knight 0 Reputation points

2024-12-24T13:22:24.7633333+00:00

I cleared out the group policy history cache and know it works
sullivanjc 0 Reputation points

2024-12-27T20:01:58.4166667+00:00

I believe I found a workaround, albeit a low quality one. I found this while tinkering with mRemoteNG and was able to do this with the Windows Remote Desktop Client with an .rdp file. When I set the color depth to 256 colors, I did not get the bars across my screen running sqldeveloper. I viewed table contents and ran a sql script without issue. It is an ugly screen, but it is legible. The Windows 11 RDP client does not offer 256 colors as an option but you can save a .rdp file and edit the file in notepad to set it there. The value you want to change is session bits per pixel (session bpp). It normally looks like "session bpp:i:32". It could be 15 or 16 depending on color depth picked when you saved the .rdp intially. Change it to the following: "session bpp:i:8", save the file, and then launch your remote desktop session using that .rdp file.

11 answers

sullivanjc 0 Reputation points

2024-12-27T20:27:32.8433333+00:00

I believe I found a workaround, albeit a low quality one. I found this while tinkering with mRemoteNG and was able to do this with the Windows Remote Desktop Client with an .rdp file. When I set the color depth to 256 colors, I did not get the bars across my screen running sqldeveloper. I viewed table contents and ran a sql script without issue. It is an ugly screen, but it is legible. The Windows 11 RDP client does not offer 256 colors as an option but you can save a .rdp file and edit the file in notepad to set it there. The value you want to change is session bits per pixel (session bpp). It normally looks like "session bpp:i:32". It could be 15 or 16 depending on color depth picked when you saved the .rdp intially. Change it to the following: "session bpp:i:8", save the file, and then launch your remote desktop session using that .rdp file. If this does work for others, maybe this will help futher determine what the actual issue is. My hypothesis at this point is it's something with data compression and that it only comes into play when color depth exceeds 8 bits per pixel or 1 byte.
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Upgrading to Windows 11 24H2 causes remote desktop connections to Windows 7 machines not to show graphics correctly.

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