B
Barry Watzman
Flightless Bird
Microsoft Remote Assistance (RA) is great when it works, but it often
fails to work. The most common cause is that port 3389 is blocked. The
second most common cause is that Remote Assistance cannot resolve the IP
address of the client side of the connection (the person needing help).
If Microsoft Remote assistance does not work, try this:
1. Before beginning, note that for Windows remote assistance to work,
port 3389 must be open and passed by all networking equipment on both
ends of the connection. This includes routers, VOIP boxes (e.g. Vonage,
etc.), DSL and Cable modems with built-in routers, etc. It also
includes software firewalls and other security software installed on the
computers (at both ends). Fortunately, MOST such hardware and software
opens port 3389 by default. Most, but not all. Configuration of these
items is way beyond the scope of this note, but port 3389 must be “open”
by all hardware & software at both ends.
2. Have the person needing assistance (the “client”) go to
http://www.whatismyip.com and get their public IP address. Write this down.
3. Have the client start Remote Assistance and create an invitation
using “Invite Someone To Help You” and then the “Save Invitation As A
File (Advanced)” option. Leave Remote Assistance open but minimized.
Note: Invitations created in this manner are reusable multiple times
until they expire or are explicitly canceled by the client. The
expiration period and password (which is optional) are set when the
invitation is created. Open invitations can be canceled and deleted
from within the Remote Assistance application.
4. Have the client send an E-Mail to the “provider” (the person
providing assistance). Put the IP address from step 2 into the E-Mail
as text in the body of the message. Include the saved invitation (from
step 3) as an attachment.
5. The “provider” should save the invitation attachment as a file on
their computer and open it using Notepad (it’s an XML text file).
6. Find the text “RCTICKET="65538,1,xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:” in the
invitation, where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is some IP address (possibly a local
rather than a public IP address, e.g. 192.168.xxx.xxx).
7. Replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the actual IP address of the client,
which was obtained in step 2 and included in the body of the E-Mail.
Save the invitation file.
8. Double click on the saved file, which will probably successfully
initiate a remote assistance session when it previously failed.
(Posted by Barry Watzman)
fails to work. The most common cause is that port 3389 is blocked. The
second most common cause is that Remote Assistance cannot resolve the IP
address of the client side of the connection (the person needing help).
If Microsoft Remote assistance does not work, try this:
1. Before beginning, note that for Windows remote assistance to work,
port 3389 must be open and passed by all networking equipment on both
ends of the connection. This includes routers, VOIP boxes (e.g. Vonage,
etc.), DSL and Cable modems with built-in routers, etc. It also
includes software firewalls and other security software installed on the
computers (at both ends). Fortunately, MOST such hardware and software
opens port 3389 by default. Most, but not all. Configuration of these
items is way beyond the scope of this note, but port 3389 must be “open”
by all hardware & software at both ends.
2. Have the person needing assistance (the “client”) go to
http://www.whatismyip.com and get their public IP address. Write this down.
3. Have the client start Remote Assistance and create an invitation
using “Invite Someone To Help You” and then the “Save Invitation As A
File (Advanced)” option. Leave Remote Assistance open but minimized.
Note: Invitations created in this manner are reusable multiple times
until they expire or are explicitly canceled by the client. The
expiration period and password (which is optional) are set when the
invitation is created. Open invitations can be canceled and deleted
from within the Remote Assistance application.
4. Have the client send an E-Mail to the “provider” (the person
providing assistance). Put the IP address from step 2 into the E-Mail
as text in the body of the message. Include the saved invitation (from
step 3) as an attachment.
5. The “provider” should save the invitation attachment as a file on
their computer and open it using Notepad (it’s an XML text file).
6. Find the text “RCTICKET="65538,1,xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:” in the
invitation, where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is some IP address (possibly a local
rather than a public IP address, e.g. 192.168.xxx.xxx).
7. Replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the actual IP address of the client,
which was obtained in step 2 and included in the body of the E-Mail.
Save the invitation file.
8. Double click on the saved file, which will probably successfully
initiate a remote assistance session when it previously failed.
(Posted by Barry Watzman)