Cannot enable Remote Assistance (Please help)

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Francis_De_Pe=F1a?=]

I'm trying to use remote assistance between 2 computers. When I try to
acept an invitation through MSN Messenger nothing happens. Something I
noticed is that the box of Remote Assistance is not enabled, but when I
check it if I close the tab and reopen it the box goes back to
unchecked. Is there a way around this? I'm having the same problem with
the 2 computers of my house. The only thing in common they have is a
Speedstrem router from which both computers connect to the internet.


Francis

 

[Robin Walker]

I'm trying to use remote assistance between 2 computers. When I try to
acept an invitation through MSN Messenger nothing happens. Something I
noticed is that the box of Remote Assistance is not enabled, but when
I check it if I close the tab and reopen it the box goes back to
unchecked. Is there a way around this? I'm having the same problem
with the 2 computers of my house. The only thing in common they have
is a Speedstrem router from which both computers connect to the
internet.

There are a number of different issues here.

Firstly, what operating systems are in use at each end? If XP Home, ensure
that the Novice is using an Owner account.

Second, where either or both ends are behind NAT routers (such as yours
appear to be), then the NAT router must support UPnP, UPnP must be enabled
in the router, and Windows firewall must be configured to allow "UPnP
framework" as an Exception. If the router does not support UPnP, then it is
very difficult for Remote Assistance to work, and certainly not with MSN
Messenger based requests.

Third, if the "Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this
computer" box will not stay checked, please check that the owner of that PC
has not disabled any normal Windows services from running, and check also
that no Group Policies have been applied to that PC which would prevent
Remote Assistance.

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Francis_De_Pe=F1a?=]

There are a number of different issues here.

Firstly, what operating systems are in use at each end? If XP Home, ensure
that the Novice is using an Owner account.

Second, where either or both ends are behind NAT routers (such as yours
appear to be), then the NAT router must support UPnP, UPnP must be enabled
in the router, and Windows firewall must be configured to allow "UPnP
framework" as an Exception. If the router does not support UPnP, then it is
very difficult for Remote Assistance to work, and certainly not with MSN
Messenger based requests.

Third, if the "Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this
computer" box will not stay checked, please check that the owner of that PC
has not disabled any normal Windows services from running, and check also
that no Group Policies have been applied to that PC which would prevent
Remote Assistance.

Both computers use XP Pro. I'm testing to use Remote Assistance with my
two computers that are connected with one router because as it is easier
for me to solve the problem than trying to test with other persons. I
have tried both options that the router has on UnPNP: SSDP and IGD. I
have checked the services needed in both computers as I believe they
should be at least in manual, which are: unPNP Device Host, SSDP host
discovery.

I also took the precaution of disabling the firewall on both machines
and haven't had any luck so far. I hope you have any ideas.

Francis

 

[Robin Walker]

Both computers use XP Pro. I'm testing to use Remote Assistance with
my two computers that are connected with one router because as it is
easier for me to solve the problem than trying to test with other
persons.

If both PCs are behind the same NAT router, then you are unlikely to get
Remote Assistance working between them using MSN Messenger to pass the
request, as both PCs both share the same WAN IP address. The connection
will fail unless the router supports fold-back connections, and even if it
does, the potential for confusion is high. Better to try with PCs on
different WAN addresses.

I have checked the services needed in both computers as I
believe they should be at least in manual, which are: unPNP Device
Host, SSDP host discovery.

You need SSDP Discovery running, but not "UPnP Device Host".

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Francis_De_Pe=F1a?=]

If both PCs are behind the same NAT router, then you are unlikely to get
Remote Assistance working between them using MSN Messenger to pass the
request, as both PCs both share the same WAN IP address. The connection
will fail unless the router supports fold-back connections, and even if it
does, the potential for confusion is high. Better to try with PCs on
different WAN addresses.




You need SSDP Discovery running, but not "UPnP Device Host".

Thanks for the tip that I can't use the same router, that's new for me.
After starting the services required I am still not able to check the
box of "Allow remote assistance to be sent from this computer".
Shouldn't this box be checked to have any success at all to use remote
assistance? Isn't this totally independent of the router problem? Do you
have any ideas of the cause of this problem?

Hope I didn't overwhelm you with my questions.


Francis