Greetings Edward,
It's possible that Windows XP has turned on your firewall (and therefore is blocking the
transfers). You can either shut down the firewall (see below), or just configure it. Click
Start, then click the Control Panel. If you're in category view click Network and Internet
connections then click Network Connections. Right click your connection, then click
Properties. For cable modem/broadband users, your connection will usually be called Local
Area Connection. For dialup, it should be the name of your Internet Service Provider. Click
the Advanced Tab, verify the Internet Connection Firewall is turned on (or turn it off here,
and don't bother configuring it). Then click the Settings tab. Click the add button and then
in the Service Settings, type in the following information. For Description enter MSN
Connection for Name or IP address enter 127.0.0.1, for both External and Internal ports enter
1863. Verify TCP is selected and click OK. Now you need to repeat the last step but
changing the ports to 5060, 1503, 6891, 6892, 6893, 6894, 6895, 6896, 6897, 6898, 6899, 6900.
Yes, 13 (including the first one) will now be selected.
Then click the 'Remote Desktop' entry (that was there before you started) and click Edit.
Enter 127.0.0.1 as the IP, and click OK (can't change anything else). Make sure all 14 (the
13 you added + Remote Desktop) connections are selected then click OK. For screenshots on
this procedure, see
http://messenger.jonathankay.com/problem.aspx?ID=16
If you're using any other firewall, you'll need to set it to 'Permit All' or 'Allow All' to
make sure file transfers work. As well, if you're going through any type of router, it will
need to support Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) or have some type of built-in Messenger
support (which it doesn't if it's not working). If it does support UPnP, you'll also need to
use MSN Messenger 5/6:
(
http://messenger.msn.com) or Windows Messenger 5:
(
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp) as they support UPnP file transfer.
As well, you and your contact might try using MSN Messenger 6, which supports a newer file
transfer protocol:
http://messenger.msn.com
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com