Remote Desktop keeps asking me to accept a Certificate?

The certificate needs to be added to your Local Computer's "Trusted Root Certification Authorities" store. Adding it to the user's "Trusted Root Certification Authorities" store is not enough! If this sounds confusing don't worry - it is.

If you think you already installed the certificate, skip to "Move Certificate on Client."

Export Certificate on Server

First the certificate needs to be exported to a file. On the server, i.e. the computer you'd like to connect to:

1. Run %windir%\System32\mmc.exe
2. Menu File -> Add/Remove Snap-in...
3. Select Certificates -> Add > -> Computer account -> Local computer -> Finish
4. OK the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog. The console should now contain Certificates (Local Computer).
5. Select Certificates (Local Computer) -> Remote Desktop -> Certificates. There should be a single certificate with your computer's name.
6. Open the certificate.
7. Open the Details tab.
8. Copy to File...
9. Select any format, e.g. DER encoded binary X.509 (.CER).
10. Type in any file name, e.g. <computername>.cer.
11. Copy the file to your client computer.

Another way to get the certificate is to follow steps 6 to 10 on your client computer, on the Remote Desktop warning dialog mentioned in the question. But you're trusting the network in this case. At least compare the fingerprints, so you can be sure you trust the right certificate.

Import Certificate on Client

On the client, i.e. the computer you're connecting from, an receive the warning popup, do:

1. Run %windir%\System32\mmc.exe
2. Menu File -> Add/Remove Snap-in...
3. Select Certificates -> Add -> Computer account -> Local computer -> Finish
4. OK the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog. The console should now contain Certificates (Local Computer).
5. Select Certificates (Local Computer) -> Trusted Root Certification Authorities -> Certificates.
6. Menu Action -> All Tasks -> Import....
7. Enter the path to the exported certificate, e.g. <computername>.cer.
8. Place all certificates in the following store -> Trusted Root Certification Authorities.
9. Finish. You should no longer receive the warning.

Move Certificate on Client

If you already installed the certificate through the warning dialog, you can find the certificate in the current user's store. Skip the steps above and just move the certificate to the right place:

1. Follow steps 1 to 3 as described in "Import Certificate on Client."
2. Add another Certificates snap-in, this time for My user account.
3. The certificate should be here somewhere. Try Certificates - Current User -> Intermediate Certification Authorities -> Certificates first.
4. Drag-and-drop or cut-and-paste the certificate to Certificates (Local Computer) -> Trusted Root Certification Authorities -> Certificates. Note that the certificate stores stack, so you will still see the certificate in you user's store! You should no longer receive the warning.

I think you need to check the path of the certificate and have your computer trust the actual root and/or intermediates and not the certificate itself. You can also see under the path tab where the actual problem lies...

On the pictures the certificate you're installing doesn't seem to be invalid - the root of the problem is.. eh.. that was a stupid pun, sorry ^^

If you created the certificate yourself, then you must have the Certification Authority installed on your server. You need to obtain the root certificate from your certification authority, and install that into the Trusted Root Certification Authorites store - not the certificate that it issued to the RDP server.

I could not get the certificate to be accepted using anything suggested however you can adjust the certificate handling functionality in the RDP settings so that it is not required to start an RDP session.

1. Open RDP instance and click options
2. Then click advanced tab
3. Select "Connect and don't warn me" from the Server authentication section
4. Then just set the other details as normal and press connect.

This will stop the certificate authentication block occurring.

1. Click "View Certificate..."
2. Click "Install Certificate"
3. Click "Next" in the import wizard
4. Select the "Place all certificates in the following store" radio button
5. Click "Browse..."
6. Check the "Show physical stores" checkbox
7. Expand Third-Party Root Certification Authorities
8. Select "Local Computer"
9. Click "OK"
10. Click "Next", then "Finish" to complete the wizard

I just sorted this out on my own system, I hope it isthe same issue refereed to here. It appears that the certificate import wizard that remote desktop invokes does not store the certificate in the trusted root certification authorities store even though the wizard indicates that the the import was successful.

This can be verified by invoking mmc from the counsel and adding the certification snap-in to view the contents of the trusted root certification authorities store.

The workaround is to save the certification (from the host) to a file, then on your client import the file using mmc to the trusted root certification authorities store on your client computer.

I think that this may be a bug introduced in win 7 sp1 (or a feature...)

When selecting the certificate store check the 'Show physical stores' box and save the certificate to 'Trusted Root Certification Authoritites > Local Computer'

Right above the View Certificate button, you have a checkmark stating Do not ask me again for connections to this computer. Check it.

I've only had brief and painful experiences with certificates, but my suggestion would be to try the Personal store instead of Trusted Root Certification Authorities.