SOLVED: Remote Desktop Shows Black Screen in Windows 7 and 8

If you RDP (remote desktop) to a Windows 7 or 8 PC and see only a black screen the computers involved appear to be arguing over screen resolution.  The easy way to resolve it is to:

1. Click on the black RDP windows (to select it) and press CTRL-ALT-END to bring up the Windows Security screen and select LOG OFF, then log back in
2. Start a new RDP client on your desktop but BEFORE you click CONNECT, click the SHOW OPTIONS link, click the DISPLAY tab and set the DISPLAY CONFIGURATION to a low resolution like 640×480

To actually solve the problem in the future:

1. Disable BitMap Caching in your RDP client (on the EXPERIENCE tab).
2. You can use THIS process to reduce the RDP compression to none.

For more details see, THIS Microsoft KBase article or THIS blog.

For the record, I like the phrase BLACK SCREEN OF DOOM that has been coined by others.