Having lots of dropping connections to a WIndows 8.1 virtual desktop

[SnoBoy]

When making a connection to my Windows 8.1 virtual desktop, I am having the connection start being unresponsive - there's a mouse cursor, but nothing else works. Then about 30 seconds later, the connection goes away and I get the massage, "The connection to the remote computer ended." It used to work fine - I did all my server patching and had the connection open for 1-2 hours with no problems, but now it is very sketchy and will drop the connection several times in less than 1/2 hour. I've had it disconnect from my office and from home. I have tried both the 5.3 and 5.4 clients, but no improvement. There is nothing logged on the connection server system.

Suggestions?

[Linjo]

You should try the latest client, currently version 2.3.

// Linjo

[SnoBoy]

Client numbers are very confusing to me, but 5.4 > 2.3. Why do they have two different sets of clients and 8is 2.3 really later than 5.4?

[vcpguy]

I don't think 8.1 is supported as of yet. Some time back when I spoke to VMware about this confusing version numbers, they gave a reason "Marketing people decided" this version scheme.

[SnoBoy]

So which is the latest/best client? The 2 series or the 5 series?

[ijeevan23]

For now 2.3X will be the latest. You may try with it. But I would personally recommend not to try Win 8.1 until VMWare announces their next release. It is still good to go with Win 8.

[mpryor]

SnoBoy wrote:

Client numbers are very confusing to me, but 5.4 > 2.3. Why do they have two different sets of clients and 8is 2.3 really later than 5.4?

Yes, the client numbers are a little confusing on first glance. The old-style client (commonly referred to as wswc after the binary name) used to be revved in line with the server version. This did gain a little flexibility towards the end but was essentially linked.

The newer clients have a completely different code base and release schedule, in order to add user experience improvements without being tied into the server release schedule. Both the name and version numbers are different, the new client has Horizon in the name as well. At this point, everybody should be migrating away from the legacy wswc client.

[SnoBoy]

I will try the 2.3 client and see if things are more stable. The odd thing in all this is that I was running 8.1 for a while with zero connectivity problems. Some patch along the line messed me up - probably in the January time frame. With todays patches, comes Windows 8.1 Update 1, so I will try that as well, but only after I've tried the 2.3 View client for awhile.

[SnoBoy]

Gee, I just traded one problem for another, but I'll take it. The stability is much improved with client 2.3. The gotcha is that the client resolution is not sizing correctly - my screen is 1900 x 1080 and it insists on using 1900 x 1200 no matter what option I choose (full screen, custom with 1900 x 1080 ). I always get a vertical scroll bar. Sigh!

That beats the heck out of getting knocked off all the time. I guess I'll wait for the Horizon View server 5.5 update to see if things improve.

[SnoBoy]

Darn - spoke too soon. Just dropped my connection again. I guess I'll quit using it until VMware comes out with a new version of the server software.