Remote Desktop with port forwarding

Question

In Vista and prior, I could use a tunneling protocol like ssh to forward a local port (like 3390) to 3389 on the computer I wished to connect to, then use remote desktop to connect to localhost:3390.

I can't do this in Windows 7 (I get a complaint about the fact that there is alread a session on localhost).

This is an absolute showstopper for me, as it means I can't connect to my corporate network. Can someone suggest a workaround?

Is there a reason the check for localhost isn't looking at the connection port anymore?

Answer 1

Thanks, none of these option are available to me; however I discovered that by using a port number sufficiently far away from 3389, I can make the connection

 (I tried 5000, but don't know the exact limit).

Answer 2

These days SSL VPN seems to be the most popular method for connecting to corporate networks.

They have 64 bit support and installation is through the web browser plug-in

I don't work for nor have any vested interest in the following companhy but the most popular product line is Juniper Networks.

Their product line for SSL VPN appliances is:

http://www.juniper.net/au/en/products-services/security/sa-series/

Another strategy is to use a new features called "Remote Desktop Gateway".

The steps are:

1. Use a Windows Server 2008 R2 server with this built-in role (that must be explicitely added/enabled).
2. Setup the corporate firewall to port forward to this server.
3. From the Windows 7 RC Remote Desktop Connection "advanced" tab click on "settings" and enter the approriate settings.  The "Auto detect" may work for you without having to specify anything