The remote computer that was reached is not the one you specified

What's going on:
I've been noticing this issue a couple times lately - I try to open a Remote Desktop Connection to another computer that's

on my company network
was just turned on
using the remote computer's name (e.g. 'ACME-001')

and I get the following error:

If I'm at the remote computer, I can connect to the original computer, so that's all working fine. If I had to guess, I'd say it is related to an outdated entry in a DNS cache somewhere, but I tried clearing my local DNS cache and it didn't help (> ipconfig /flushdns).

After a while (>10 minutes), it does fix itself and I can connect to the remote computer using the computer name, which seems to support the DNS cache theory.

Question:
Is there a way to establish a RDC to a computer in such a state as described above, without physically going to the remote computer? For instance, is there another DNS cache I can send a request to to update itself?

tehDorf

Posted 2017-11-09T17:38:07.737

Reputation: 697

Answers

Ping it first by name, then connect by IP address.

EDIT: You can also try to use these below commands in order, to refresh DNS table:

ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns

pbies

Posted 2017-11-09T17:38:07.737

Reputation: 1 633

Thanks, I'll try that next time it happens. I recall trying to ping the computer last time it happened and I got a response, but I didn't try opening an RDC to the IP address. (Seems 'no-duh' now that I'm saying it) – tehDorf – 2017-11-09T18:35:18.527

This will still result in the same computer being accessed. It's more likely to be the case that the DNS hostname entry for the machine is pointing to the wrong IP address, in which case using that wrong DNS entry to determine the correct IP address won't work. – I say Reinstate Monica – 2017-11-09T19:14:15.243

Despite what the error message says, if there have been no changes to the DNS or computer names, this is often a time synchronization problem (see relevant answers on ServerFault). Make sure the server's clock is properly synchronized, and that the client you connect from is within 5 minutes from the correct time. To connect despite the problem (e.g. to correct a configuration error on the server), simply do what is mentioned in the error message, i.e. connect using the IP address of the server.

Ale

Posted 2017-11-09T17:38:07.737

Reputation: 920