I’m working from home, controlling a workplace computer via a combo of VPN + the Mac version of Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection. Not too long ago, the workplace upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
I do most of my work on my local box, only remoting for select tasks; sometimes I close the Remote Desktop Connection window when I’m done for the moment, other times I get logged out due to inactivity; either way, I need to log back in with my Windows password to reconnect.
Some of the time, the resulting Windows screen says AHunter3 welcome; but more often it shows OtherUser welcome. (Not some other person’s account name, but the literal text “OtherUser”). I’m logging on as me in all cases. So that’s the question du jour (or du fil?): why is Windows 11 welcoming me as “OtherUser” when I’m logging in as me, and why is it inconsistent? What’s happening differently that results in the welcome screen recognizing me part of the time and “othering” me elsewhen?
It’s not a problem for me (as far as I can tell at any rate), just curious.
My guess is that when it shows your user name, you aren’t actually logged out from the remote PC, but the desktop has timed out and locked. You’re not logging in, you are just reconnecting to your inactive session.
When it shows “OtherUser”, you are logged out of the remote PC and are logging in to create a new session.
There is a good chance that “Mac” is the culprit. Any problems we get here that we normally don’t get are reported by our small but, unfortunately, stubbornly loyal Mac users.
Some years ago I too was working from home in much the same way, with a VPN and remote desktop.
But in my case it was Windows at both ends. The Windows machine in the HQ lab though was basically just functioning as an Xterm… the development and testing was all done on FreeBSD.
Never encountered an example of a remote desktop between MAC and Windows, so I can’t add much….
Here’s what I do know: Windows displays “OtherUser” whenever the account attempting to log in either doesn’t exist on that computer, or is not a member of the Remote Desktop group.
Technically you don’t have to be a member of the Remote Desktop group to log in—you could also be an administrator or something.
But the inconsistency is odd. Shoeless’s idea makes sense: maybe if you are still logged in, it shows your user name, but when you aren’t it shows OtherUser.
But Windows 11 is also rather buggy. I have a problem with not being able to see a fileshare that every other computer on my network (all of which run Windows 10) can see and access. There are just so many little bugs that Microsoft doesn’t really care to fix. A purely cosmetic one would probably not get dealt with.
Yeah, that’s the part that piques my curiosity. If it were consistent with either behavior, or if there were some discernable pattern, it would be easy to accept as “that’s how it behaves”.
In the mornings I start the VPN session first, requiring two-factor ID verification using my cellphone. Then I connect to the Windows computer using Remote Desktop Connection. I think it is likely to welcome me as AHunter3 at that point.
I rummage around in Windows, open email from myself to myself that has files that need to be filed in Windows directories for processed files, maybe open SQL and paste in a generated SQL command and run it if I’ve received data that goes into SQL, then close the RDC window. Or I don’t and it times out and switches to the login screen. Either way, it seems to me that it is more likely to welcome me as OtherUser at that point.
The Mac version of RDC is a bit buggy, as others have hinted; sometimes, if I closed the RDC window hours ago and haven’t had reason to reconnect, it won’t successfully reconnect, and I have to quit out of RDC then relaunch it to be able to connect to my Windows work computer. Doing so doesn’t seem to make it more likely that it greets me as AHunter3.
Sometimes I get that Windows message that software has been installed that requires a reboot and do I want to do it now or postpone for X hours. Reconnecting after reboot seems somewhat more likely to cause it to recognize me as AHunter3 but I’m not sure it’s consistent.
I should take methodical notes. There must be some kind of pattern to it.
I was actually wondering if it meant that the IT department had logged in to do stuff and didn’t close their session, and I was nuking their logon session each time it welcomed me as OtherUser. Or that someone had sat at my physical desk and actually logged into Windows to use the computer when I wasn’t using it or something.
Hmm. That suggests it might be the opposite of what we suggested: that “OtherUser” means you are still actually logged in. Going back to the login screen, or just closing the Window wouldn’t necessarily log you out. Your account would still be running in memory—you just would have disconnected