Remote Assistance, Application Sharing, or Whiteboard Session Does Not Start After Remote Computer Accepts Your Invitation

After a remote computer accepts your invitation to a Remote Assistance, Application Sharing, or Whiteboard session, the session for which you sent an invitation may not start, and nothing happens at all. For example, the Remote Assistance, Sharing, or Whiteboard dialog box is not displayed on your screen.

This issue may occur in if you are running both Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger 5.0, and your invitation to the Remote Assistance, Application Sharing, or Whiteboard session is not processed correctly. For example, this may occur in the following scenario:

1. You start and sign in to one Microsoft Messenger Service program (either Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger 5.0).
2. You start and sign in to the other Messenger program (either MSN Messenger 5.0 or Windows Messenger).
   
   Note When you sign in to one Messenger program, and then sign in to the other one by using the same Microsoft .NET Passport, you are automatically signed out of the first Messenger program.
3. You send an invitation to use Remote Assistance, Application Sharing, or Whiteboard.

To work around this issue, quit both Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger 5.0, and then restart one Messenger program. Then, start the Remote Assistance, Application Sharing, or Whiteboard session. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Quit Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger 5.0:
   1. In the notification area at the far right of the taskbar, click the Windows Messenger icon, and then click Exit.
   2. In the notification area, click the MSN Messenger icon, and then click Exit.
2. Restart and sign in to either Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger 5.0. To do so:
   1. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Windows Messenger.
      
      -or-
      
      Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click MSN Messenger 5.0.
   2. If you are not signed in automatically, click Click here to sign in or Sign In (as appropriate), type your .NET Passport e-mail address and password in the .NET Messenger Service dialog box, and then click OK.
3. In the notification area, click the Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger icon (as appropriate), and then click Open or Open MSN Messenger.
4. Right-click the contact to which you want to send an invitation, and then click one of the following:
   • Ask for Remote Assistance
   • Start Application Sharing
   • Start Whiteboard
   When the contact accepts your invitation, the correct program starts, and the Remote Assistance, Sharing, or Whiteboard dialog box is displayed on your screen.

The Remote Assistance feature in Windows XP permits you to allow another user to make a remote connection to your computer. This connection can be used to view your computer screen, participate in a real-time chat, and with your permission, remotely control the computer.

For additional information about Remote Assistance, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Windows Messenger is included with Windows XP and is installed when you install the operating system.

For additional information about how to use Windows Messenger, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about how to download the latest version of Windows Messenger, visit the following Microsoft Web site: MSN Messenger 5.0 is included with MSN 8.0 and is also available as a separate download. It is installed on the computer when you install MSN 8.0 or when you run MSN Messenger 5.0 Setup. For more information about MSN 8.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site: