Remote assistance not working through msn messenger

Terry Summers · External Since: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4

Hi all,

I have an interesting problem which is confusing me.
I help support a number of people world wide and when need be use remote
assistance.
However when the person submits the request through msn messenger I get the
request, I click on it, and nothing happens. The remote assistant connection
client does not start.
Getting them to save the request through help and support and send it to me
works fine.
I've de-installed then re-installed msn messenger and windows messenger.

A couple of points I've noticed.
When I go into help and support and go through as if I am going to invite
someone (So I can hand hold the remote person through the screens), help and
support says windows messenger is not installed. (Windows messenger shows as
installed in windows components)

When I try to start Windows messenger it shows up in task manager for about
1 second then promptly disappears.

It USE to work even if it couldn't connect sometimes because of incorrect IP
addresses because they were behind a router. Either way it would TRY to
connect. It does not now.

Any help would be appriciated.

Terry

Nepatsfan · External Since: Mar 12, 2005 Posts: 3032

In 8A8E4C7A-13A7-4746-A458-6CCD438FA399.TakeThisOut@microsoft.com Terry
Summers wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have an interesting problem which is confusing me.
> I help support a number of people world wide and when need
> be use remote assistance.
> However when the person submits the request through msn
> messenger I get the request, I click on it, and nothing
> happens. The remote assistant connection client does not
> start.
> Getting them to save the request through help and support
> and send it to me works fine.
> I've de-installed then re-installed msn messenger and
> windows messenger.
>
> A couple of points I've noticed.
> When I go into help and support and go through as if I am
> going to invite someone (So I can hand hold the remote
> person through the screens), help and support says windows
> messenger is not installed. (Windows messenger shows as
> installed in windows components)
>
> When I try to start Windows messenger it shows up in task
> manager for about 1 second then promptly disappears.
>
> It USE to work even if it couldn't connect sometimes because
> of incorrect IP addresses because they were behind a router.
> Either way it would TRY to connect. It does not now.
>
> Any help would be appriciated.
>
> Terry

I can't say for certain that this will solve your problem but
one thing I do know is that in order to stop seeing "Windows
messenger is not installed" within Remote Assistance, I had to
uninstall Windows Messenger 5.1 and reinstall version 4.7.

You can obtain version 4.7 from the web site listed below.
Scroll down to the section titled "For remote assistance" and
click on "Click here" within the second bullet point.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp

Direct download of Windows Messenger 4.7
http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/4/0/44035C82-FEFC-49BB-965F-A...F645AD0

Good luck

Nepatsfan

Terry Summers · External Since: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4

Thanks for your help Nepatsfan,

It yielded some interesting results.
Windows messenger was uninstalled going by add/remove programs, windows
components.
Tried installing it from the link, it said a newer version was installed so
it couldn't install.
I de-installed msn messenger, tried installing Windows messenger same thing.
I went through the registry looking for references to c:\program
files\messenger
and deleted all I saw.
THEN it would let me install windows messenger.
I then re-installed msn messenger.

The re-install of Windows messenger means help and support now see's I have
it, so I feel it's 3/4's of the way to being fixed.
Now when someone sends me a request via msn I get "The invitation from
someones RemoveThis @somewhere.com to start Remote Assistance was declined. The program
is disabled or is not installed on your computer".

I know I've struck that before and overcame it.
But if anyone can help short track me it would be muchly appriciated.

Terry

"Nepatsfan" wrote:

> I can't say for certain that this will solve your problem but
> one thing I do know is that in order to stop seeing "Windows
> messenger is not installed" within Remote Assistance, I had to
> uninstall Windows Messenger 5.1 and reinstall version 4.7.
>
> You can obtain version 4.7 from the web site listed below.
> Scroll down to the section titled "For remote assistance" and
> click on "Click here" within the second bullet point.
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp
>
> Direct download of Windows Messenger 4.7
> http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/4/0/44035C82-FEFC-49BB-965F-A...F645AD0
>
> Good luck
>
> Nepatsfan
>
>
>
>
>
>

tjenkins · External Since: Dec 11, 2004 Posts: 5

Don't mean to intrude, but I have a very similar problem with remote
assisstance. Would like to use this to help my Mom with her computer, but am
trying to work the bugs out using my two desktop computers first. Both
computers are in the same room, and both run XP (one Home Edition, the other
MCE). Symptons seem similar to this original post; invitation received ok, I
accept, but nothing happens. Remote Assistance is enabled on both computers.

I've searched MS's KB, but found no solutions. Getting a bit frustrated
with this, and wonder if I would be better off with a separate application?
Maybe something like LapLink? My first preference is to use the basic
Windows application, so if anyone is aware troubleshooting guides, I would
really appreciate the help.

Todd

"Terry Summers" wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I have an interesting problem which is confusing me.
> I help support a number of people world wide and when need be use remote
> assistance.
> However when the person submits the request through msn messenger I get the
> request, I click on it, and nothing happens. The remote assistant connection
> client does not start.
> Getting them to save the request through help and support and send it to me
> works fine.
> I've de-installed then re-installed msn messenger and windows messenger.
>
> A couple of points I've noticed.
> When I go into help and support and go through as if I am going to invite
> someone (So I can hand hold the remote person through the screens), help and
> support says windows messenger is not installed. (Windows messenger shows as
> installed in windows components)
>
> When I try to start Windows messenger it shows up in task manager for about
> 1 second then promptly disappears.
>
> It USE to work even if it couldn't connect sometimes because of incorrect IP
> addresses because they were behind a router. Either way it would TRY to
> connect. It does not now.
>
> Any help would be appriciated.
>
> Terry

Terry Summers · External Since: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4

Hi Todd,

Yes it is a frustrating problem.
A work around is to use Start, then help and support, and create the request
through "Ask for assistance". (Theres an option of saving the request as a
file)
Then it can be e-mailed to you or sent through msn by dragging the file
created into the chat.

If the request is created as a file it works fine.
Another thing I've found is sometimes if they are ADSL an incorrect IP
address is put into the request.Open the request in notepad or your favourite
text editor, look for
RCTICKET="65538,1,xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:3389

The x's are the IP address. 3389 is the port.
So if the IP address is wrong, you can get the correct one by getting them
to goto
www.whatismyip.com, That tells them their REAL internet IP address
and allows you to check and/or change it if needed.

My originial problem as described by my first post was because Windows
messenger was not totally installed. De-install and re-install does not work.

As put in the reply from Nepatsfan
You can obtain version 4.7 from the web site listed below.
Scroll down to the section titled "For remote assistance" and
click on "Click here" within the second bullet point.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp

BUT for me to be able to install it again I needed to search and delete any
branch that contained "C:\program files\messenger" as any part of it.

The problem I have now I think is that my version of windows messenger is
not the same as the person sending the request.
I'll try to find an updated Windows messenger as I know SP2 rolled out a new
messenger.

Use the work around for now, it works a treat.

Terry

"T. Jenkins" wrote:

> Don't mean to intrude, but I have a very similar problem with remote
> assisstance. Would like to use this to help my Mom with her computer, but am
> trying to work the bugs out using my two desktop computers first. Both
> computers are in the same room, and both run XP (one Home Edition, the other
> MCE). Symptons seem similar to this original post; invitation received ok, I
> accept, but nothing happens. Remote Assistance is enabled on both computers.
>
> I've searched MS's KB, but found no solutions. Getting a bit frustrated
> with this, and wonder if I would be better off with a separate application?
> Maybe something like LapLink? My first preference is to use the basic
> Windows application, so if anyone is aware troubleshooting guides, I would
> really appreciate the help.
>
> Todd
>
>
> "Terry Summers" wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I have an interesting problem which is confusing me.
> > I help support a number of people world wide and when need be use remote
> > assistance.
> > However when the person submits the request through msn messenger I get the
> > request, I click on it, and nothing happens. The remote assistant connection
> > client does not start.
> > Getting them to save the request through help and support and send it to me
> > works fine.
> > I've de-installed then re-installed msn messenger and windows messenger.
> >
> > A couple of points I've noticed.
> > When I go into help and support and go through as if I am going to invite
> > someone (So I can hand hold the remote person through the screens), help and
> > support says windows messenger is not installed. (Windows messenger shows as
> > installed in windows components)
> >
> > When I try to start Windows messenger it shows up in task manager for about
> > 1 second then promptly disappears.
> >
> > It USE to work even if it couldn't connect sometimes because of incorrect IP
> > addresses because they were behind a router. Either way it would TRY to
> > connect. It does not now.
> >
> > Any help would be appriciated.
> >
> > Terry

Nepatsfan · External Since: Mar 12, 2005 Posts: 3032

Did you reboot your computer after you uninstalled Windows
Messenger 5.1? If you didn't, that may account for the messages
you received about a newer version still being installed when
you went to install version 4.7. Deleting the registry keys you
found may have caused the problems you're dealing with now.

One thing you might want to try is reinstalling Windows
Messenger version 5.1. It's available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a8d9eb73-5f8c...9a-940f

You'll be asked to restart your computer when the installation
finishes. Once your system restarts, check Remote Assistance
and see if Windows Messenger shows up as a viable option.

I did find an old post on this subject that you might want to
take a look at.

http://tinyurl.com/cfn74

Good luck

Nepatsfan

In 134AD410-20EA-497D-B206-2D03932E175E.TakeThisOut@microsoft.com Terry
Summers wrote:
> Thanks for your help Nepatsfan,
>
> It yielded some interesting results.
> Windows messenger was uninstalled going by add/remove
> programs, windows components.
> Tried installing it from the link, it said a newer version
> was installed so it couldn't install.
> I de-installed msn messenger, tried installing Windows
> messenger same thing. I went through the registry looking
> for references to c:\program files\messenger
> and deleted all I saw.
> THEN it would let me install windows messenger.
> I then re-installed msn messenger.
>
> The re-install of Windows messenger means help and support
> now see's I have it, so I feel it's 3/4's of the way to
> being fixed.
> Now when someone sends me a request via msn I get "The
> invitation from someones.TakeThisOut@somewhere.com to start Remote
> Assistance was declined. The program is disabled or is not
> installed on your computer".
>
> I know I've struck that before and overcame it.
> But if anyone can help short track me it would be muchly
> appriciated.
>
> Terry
>
> "Nepatsfan" wrote:
>
>> I can't say for certain that this will solve your problem
>> but one thing I do know is that in order to stop seeing
>> "Windows messenger is not installed" within Remote
>> Assistance, I had to uninstall Windows Messenger 5.1 and
>> reinstall version 4.7.
>>
>> You can obtain version 4.7 from the web site listed below.
>> Scroll down to the section titled "For remote assistance"
>> and click on "Click here" within the second bullet point.
>>
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp
>>
>> Direct download of Windows Messenger 4.7
>> http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/4/0/44035C82-FEFC-49BB-965F-A...F645AD0
>>
>> Good luck
>>
>> Nepatsfan

Terry Summers · External Since: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4

Nepatsfan,

MANY THANKS!
We fixed it.
Once I imported the reg entries and rebooted she was away and racing.

You've helped me fix something thats been bugging me for 2 months odd.
Hope I'll be able to repay the favour sometime.

Terry

"Nepatsfan" wrote:

> Did you reboot your computer after you uninstalled Windows
> Messenger 5.1? If you didn't, that may account for the messages
> you received about a newer version still being installed when
> you went to install version 4.7. Deleting the registry keys you
> found may have caused the problems you're dealing with now.
>
> One thing you might want to try is reinstalling Windows
> Messenger version 5.1. It's available here:
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a8d9eb73-5f8c...9a-940f
>
> You'll be asked to restart your computer when the installation
> finishes. Once your system restarts, check Remote Assistance
> and see if Windows Messenger shows up as a viable option.
>
> I did find an old post on this subject that you might want to
> take a look at.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/cfn74
>
> Good luck
>
> Nepatsfan
>
>
>
> In 134AD410-20EA-497D-B206-2D03932E175E.RemoveThis@microsoft.com Terry
> Summers wrote:
> > Thanks for your help Nepatsfan,
> >
> > It yielded some interesting results.
> > Windows messenger was uninstalled going by add/remove
> > programs, windows components.
> > Tried installing it from the link, it said a newer version
> > was installed so it couldn't install.
> > I de-installed msn messenger, tried installing Windows
> > messenger same thing. I went through the registry looking
> > for references to c:\program files\messenger
> > and deleted all I saw.
> > THEN it would let me install windows messenger.
> > I then re-installed msn messenger.
> >
> > The re-install of Windows messenger means help and support
> > now see's I have it, so I feel it's 3/4's of the way to
> > being fixed.
> > Now when someone sends me a request via msn I get "The
> > invitation from someones.RemoveThis@somewhere.com to start Remote
> > Assistance was declined. The program is disabled or is not
> > installed on your computer".
> >
> > I know I've struck that before and overcame it.
> > But if anyone can help short track me it would be muchly
> > appriciated.
> >
> > Terry
> >
> > "Nepatsfan" wrote:
> >
> >> I can't say for certain that this will solve your problem
> >> but one thing I do know is that in order to stop seeing
> >> "Windows messenger is not installed" within Remote
> >> Assistance, I had to uninstall Windows Messenger 5.1 and
> >> reinstall version 4.7.
> >>
> >> You can obtain version 4.7 from the web site listed below.
> >> Scroll down to the section titled "For remote assistance"
> >> and click on "Click here" within the second bullet point.
> >>
> >> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp
> >>
> >> Direct download of Windows Messenger 4.7
> >> http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/4/0/44035C82-FEFC-49BB-965F-A...F645AD0
> >>
> >> Good luck
> >>
> >> Nepatsfan
>
>
>
>

Nepatsfan · External Since: Mar 12, 2005 Posts: 3032

You're welcome. Glad to hear you were able to get that fixed.

Nepatsfan

In ED11168F-C7B1-4410-92DA-CD564760A1DD RemoveThis @microsoft.com Terry
Summers wrote:
> Nepatsfan,
>
> MANY THANKS!
> We fixed it.
> Once I imported the reg entries and rebooted she was away
> and racing.
>
> You've helped me fix something thats been bugging me for 2
> months odd. Hope I'll be able to repay the favour sometime.
>
> Terry
>
>
> "Nepatsfan" wrote:
>
>> Did you reboot your computer after you uninstalled Windows
>> Messenger 5.1? If you didn't, that may account for the
>> messages you received about a newer version still being
>> installed when you went to install version 4.7. Deleting
>> the registry keys you found may have caused the problems
>> you're dealing with now.
>>
>> One thing you might want to try is reinstalling Windows
>> Messenger version 5.1. It's available here:
>>
>> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a8d9eb73-5f8c...9a-940f
>>
>> You'll be asked to restart your computer when the
>> installation finishes. Once your system restarts, check
>> Remote Assistance and see if Windows Messenger shows up as
>> a viable option.
>>
>> I did find an old post on this subject that you might want
>> to take a look at.
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/cfn74
>>
>> Good luck
>>
>> Nepatsfan
>>
>>
>>
>> In 134AD410-20EA-497D-B206-2D03932E175E RemoveThis @microsoft.com Terry
>> Summers wrote:
>>> Thanks for your help Nepatsfan,
>>>
>>> It yielded some interesting results.
>>> Windows messenger was uninstalled going by add/remove
>>> programs, windows components.
>>> Tried installing it from the link, it said a newer version
>>> was installed so it couldn't install.
>>> I de-installed msn messenger, tried installing Windows
>>> messenger same thing. I went through the registry looking
>>> for references to c:\program files\messenger
>>> and deleted all I saw.
>>> THEN it would let me install windows messenger.
>>> I then re-installed msn messenger.
>>>
>>> The re-install of Windows messenger means help and support
>>> now see's I have it, so I feel it's 3/4's of the way to
>>> being fixed.
>>> Now when someone sends me a request via msn I get "The
>>> invitation from someones RemoveThis @somewhere.com to start Remote
>>> Assistance was declined. The program is disabled or is not
>>> installed on your computer".
>>>
>>> I know I've struck that before and overcame it.
>>> But if anyone can help short track me it would be muchly
>>> appriciated.
>>>
>>> Terry
>>>
>>> "Nepatsfan" wrote:
>>>
>>>> I can't say for certain that this will solve your problem
>>>> but one thing I do know is that in order to stop seeing
>>>> "Windows messenger is not installed" within Remote
>>>> Assistance, I had to uninstall Windows Messenger 5.1 and
>>>> reinstall version 4.7.
>>>>
>>>> You can obtain version 4.7 from the web site listed below.
>>>> Scroll down to the section titled "For remote assistance"
>>>> and click on "Click here" within the second bullet point.
>>>>
>>>> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp
>>>>
>>>> Direct download of Windows Messenger 4.7
>>>> http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/4/0/44035C82-FEFC-49BB-965F-A...F645AD0
>>>>
>>>> Good luck
>>>>
>>>> Nepatsfan

Roytato · External Since: Apr 25, 2009 Posts: 1

The link you gave is broken. I am having this error too

"Nepatsfan" wrote:

> In 8A8E4C7A-13A7-4746-A458-6CCD438FA399 DeleteThis @microsoft.com Terry
> Summers wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I have an interesting problem which is confusing me.
> > I help support a number of people world wide and when need
> > be use remote assistance.
> > However when the person submits the request through msn
> > messenger I get the request, I click on it, and nothing
> > happens. The remote assistant connection client does not
> > start.
> > Getting them to save the request through help and support
> > and send it to me works fine.
> > I've de-installed then re-installed msn messenger and
> > windows messenger.
> >
> > A couple of points I've noticed.
> > When I go into help and support and go through as if I am
> > going to invite someone (So I can hand hold the remote
> > person through the screens), help and support says windows
> > messenger is not installed. (Windows messenger shows as
> > installed in windows components)
> >
> > When I try to start Windows messenger it shows up in task
> > manager for about 1 second then promptly disappears.
> >
> > It USE to work even if it couldn't connect sometimes because
> > of incorrect IP addresses because they were behind a router.
> > Either way it would TRY to connect. It does not now.
> >
> > Any help would be appriciated.
> >
> > Terry
>
> I can't say for certain that this will solve your problem but
> one thing I do know is that in order to stop seeing "Windows
> messenger is not installed" within Remote Assistance, I had to
> uninstall Windows Messenger 5.1 and reinstall version 4.7.
>
> You can obtain version 4.7 from the web site listed below.
> Scroll down to the section titled "For remote assistance" and
> click on "Click here" within the second bullet point.
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp
>
> Direct download of Windows Messenger 4.7
> http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/4/0/44035C82-FEFC-49BB-965F-A...F645AD0
>
> Good luck
>
> Nepatsfan
>
>
>
>
>
>