Audio and Video won't work in version 5.0

[Kevin]

I am trying to get voice and video to work on two systems. I have Messenger
5.0 and my friend is using 4.7. We both have Zone Alarm Pro running. We
both are running Windows XP Home Edition. We both are on DSL lines and, in
fact, are with the same ISP, MSN. We can use the chat feature with no
problems. I can send him a file and he receives and views it all ok. He
sends me a file but I don't get it. He got an error message regarding some
kind of blocking. I am not blocking his messenger and I get no such message
when I successfully send him a test file.

When we try to use either voice or video I lose my internet connection and
can't browse. I get the "page not found" error. Messenger indicates it is
trying to make the connection, but it never does and shuts down the
attempted session. I have to reset my modem and I get my connection back.
Any attempt to connect a voice and/or video session drops my ability to
browse the internet. My friend retains his browsing capability throughout
the connection attempts and failures.

I've checked the help files in Messenger and they indicate that a firewall
should be no problem for Messenger, just make sure the program is allowed
access by the firewall. What services does Windows Messenger depend on?
Could one of them be disabled or on automatic and not running when it is
called by Messenger? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Melvin \(clever alias\)]

I've checked the help files in Messenger and they indicate that a firewall
should be no problem for Messenger.

ha ha ha (somewhat ironic laugh)

Kevin we keep getting the same questions posted here over & over again.
Before posting you should really read back to see if someone has asked a
similar question and if it has already been answered. I know it's a lot of
work and that it really would be better if we had a "best of" section
(commonly asked questions and the standard answers).

Anyway you will definitely have problems using the advanced (aka voice /
video / file xfer) features of messenger going through the ZoneAlarm
firewall. If you were to disable or uninstall ZoneAlarm and instead enable
the built-in Windows XP firewall you would have much more luck. The primary
reason for this is that both Messenger and the built-in XP firewall are
implemented by the same company: Microsoft. As such, there is
interoperability between the two.

If you were to check the support forum on the Zone Labs website (makers of
ZoneAlarm) you'd find info on what you'd need to do to open up the relevant
socket ports using ZoneAlarm but you will find that the solution is a bit
convoluted and should really only be attempted by "trained professionals".

Lastly - with regard to what "services" Messenger uses: what you really
mean here is "sockets", "ports" or "socket ports". You can read up on which
"ports" Messenger uses by choosing "Help" from the Messenger menu and then
selecting "Help Topics". From there, enter the word "ports" in the "Search
for Help:" box and follow the links.

Hope this is somewhat helpful yet still moderately challenging.

"Melvin"

 

[Joel Estes]

Zone Alarm, just set it to MEDIUM.

Joel

ha ha ha (somewhat ironic laugh)

Kevin we keep getting the same questions posted here over & over again.
Before posting you should really read back to see if someone has asked a
similar question and if it has already been answered. I know it's a lot of
work and that it really would be better if we had a "best of" section
(commonly asked questions and the standard answers).

Anyway you will definitely have problems using the advanced (aka voice /
video / file xfer) features of messenger going through the ZoneAlarm
firewall. If you were to disable or uninstall ZoneAlarm and instead enable
the built-in Windows XP firewall you would have much more luck. The primary
reason for this is that both Messenger and the built-in XP firewall are
implemented by the same company: Microsoft. As such, there is
interoperability between the two.

If you were to check the support forum on the Zone Labs website (makers of
ZoneAlarm) you'd find info on what you'd need to do to open up the relevant
socket ports using ZoneAlarm but you will find that the solution is a bit
convoluted and should really only be attempted by "trained professionals".

Lastly - with regard to what "services" Messenger uses: what you really
mean here is "sockets", "ports" or "socket ports". You can read up on which
"ports" Messenger uses by choosing "Help" from the Messenger menu and then
selecting "Help Topics". From there, enter the word "ports" in the "Search
for Help:" box and follow the links.

Hope this is somewhat helpful yet still moderately challenging.

"Melvin"

 

[Melvin \(clever alias\)]

Zone Alarm, just set it to MEDIUM.

Joel - this is what they have to say on the topic in the Zone Labs user
forums: http://forums.zonelabs.com/zonelabs

---begin snip---
Please, please help. I'm trying to have an audio conversation in MSN
Messenger and can't. For the life of me I can't work out why. I have
messenger set to allow and that works fine but webcam and audio
conversations aren't playing ball. If I disable ZA it works fine. Any
ideas?

Bill

reply:

---

[Zone Labs Support Person]: Go to the firewall tab and under internet zone
security, set the slider to medium. Does it work then? [This, by the way, is
ment for troubleshooting, the internet zone slider should not be kept on
medium]

---

Thanx for that, it now works. But that said, if this is only for trouble
shooting purposes what is my long term fix?

Bill

---

[Zone Labs Support Person]: I found a person with a similar problem Here.
Basically, in order to use audio for MSN you have to open up almost
EVERYTHING up in your firewall. Needless to say, this is absolutely
unacceptable. Once again, Microsoft shows that it just does not understand
security, as they want you to open everything just to use the audio feature.
You should use a different program for audio conference.

---end snip---

In short - if you drop your security in ZoneAlarm from Hight to Medium you
might as well just uninstall the program because it won't be doing anything
useful for you.

 

[Peter S.]

Well Melvin, I've followed the trail which says that the built-in XP
firewall will keep the ports (5004-65535) open for Messenger to work whereas
other firewalls such as ZoneAlarm block them. I shut down ZoneAlarm enabled
the XP firewall then rebooted XP. Guess what: The same ports are still
blocked - stealth mode - just as with ZoneAlarm and I still cannot get the
Logitech webcam to display anything but a black screen and there is
similarly no sound. So W. Messenger still doesn't function with AV,
suggesting that the MVPs don't really understand why neither MSN nor Windows
Messenger doesn't work for so many users like myself.
I have a feeling that Microsoft doesn't know it either. If they knew they
would let us know what to do and probably they'll figure it out in the
fullness of time.
Interestingly Yahoo Messenger has no problem with video and sound using
whatever firewall I enable so the fact that I cannot use the M.S. messengers
is not much of a problem.

Peter