Bug in Win11 RDP host - hardware graphics are used by default

MTG 1,201 Reputation points
2024-05-22T12:09:39.1866667+00:00

I found out what seems to be a bug in windows 11:

When you use RDP to logon to a win11 system, the hardware graphics adapter is used while by default, the Microsoft basic render driver should be used (and is used on windows 10).

This has some negative implications: when remote users need support, our IT uses RDP shadowing. So far, on Win10, this worked always. On Win11, whenever IT tries to shadow a user that himself is remoting to his workstation, the shadowed screen stays black.

As workaround we had to deactivate the following policy: Use hardware graphics adapters for all Remote Desktop Services sessions which, by description of the policy should NOT be needed since the deactivated state wears the same description as the "not configured" state.

So in conclusion: either the policy description needs to be corrected or the default behavior needs to be restored to what it was.

Problem environment: IT support and person being shadowed both use Win11 23H2. Shadowed computer uses nvidia Geforce 2080 TI graphics with their latest driver (May 2024) (in fact, the problem only surfaces with nvidia cards as intel cards don't seem to be affected [or incapable of hw graphic usage?]. This happens on all systems, even clean installations with no additional software nor settings.

Remote Desktop
Remote Desktop
A Microsoft app that connects remotely to computers and to virtual apps and desktops.
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Windows 11
Windows 11
A Microsoft operating system designed for productivity, creativity, and ease of use.
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