Unable to Access or Connect to VM

Hello Larry Yaffe

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

The connectivity issues with your VM, even after redeploying, resetting the NIC, and rebooting. Let's try a few more troubleshooting steps together so that we can get this sorted out.

Steps -

• First, check in the Azure Portal to make sure the VM is actually running and not stuck in a failed or deallocated state.
• Then, take a look at Boot Diagnostics—check the screenshot and logs for any startup issues like Windows boot errors or blue screens.

NSG settings :

• Head over to the VM’s Network Interface (NIC) and subnet NSGs.
• Make sure there’s an inbound rule for TCP port 3389 (RDP), the priority’s set right, and no higher-priority deny rule is getting in the way.
• Check that the VM has a public IP and that nothing like an upstream firewall or company security policy is blocking it.

Firewall Rules:

If accessible via Azure Serial Console, log in using local administrator credentials and run the following:

• View firewall rules:

    netsh advfirewall firewall show rule name=all | findstr 3389
  

• Temporarily disable the firewall for testing (restore afterward):

    netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off
  

Validate RDP Service and Permissions.

• Using the Azure Serial Console:
  • Check if the Remote Desktop Services are running:

        Get-Service -Name TermService
    

  • Restart the service if needed:

        Restart-Service -Name TermService
    

  • Ensure "Allow remote connections to this computer" is enabled in System Properties.
  • Confirm the user account is part of the "Remote Desktop Users" group.

Reset RDP Configuration (Advanced)

If you suspect registry corruption, open ''Registry Editor'' via Serial Console and:

• Navigate to:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server
  

• Ensure the value for “fDenyTSConnections” is set to 0.

Reattach NIC or Replace with a New NIC

• Sometimes, the NIC might stop responding. If that happens, just remove the current NIC and add a new one using the Azure Portal.
• If you need to, you can move the original public IP address over to the new NIC too.

Recreate RDP Listener

If the RDP listener is missing or misconfigured:

• Check for active RDP sessions:

    qwinsta
  

• If no listener is found, recreate it via registry:

    reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp"
  

• You may also attempt to repair system integrity:

    sfc /scannow
  

If nothing else does the trick, you can always try redeploying the VM as a last resort. This can sometimes fix tricky connectivity problems.

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

Regards,
Manish.