The NET SEND command may not work correctly on a computer that is running Windows XP Service Pack 2

After you install Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) on your computer, you may not be able to send or to receive messages by using the Windows operating system NET SEND command. You may notice this problem in one or in all the following scenarios:

• When you use the NET SEND notification method to notify a SQL Server operator about the events that have occurred on the instance of SQL Server.
• When you run the NET SEND command by using the xp_cmdshell extended system stored procedure to send a message to a user or to a computer on the network.

Additionally, you may receive the following error message when you try to send a message by using the NET SEND command:This problem occurs when one of the following conditions is true:

• The source computer is running Microsoft Windows XP SP2.
• The destination computer is running Microsoft Windows XP SP2.

As a result, the destination computer does not receive the messages that are sent by the NET SEND command.

This problem occurs because the Messenger service is disabled. The messenger service must run on the destination computer to enable the NET SEND command. By default, the Messenger service is disabled on computers that are running Microsoft Windows XP SP2.

To work around this problem, change the Startup type of the Messenger service to Automatic, and then start the Messenger service. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. In the left pane, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
3. In the Computer Management window, expand Services and Applications in the left pane, and then click Services.
4. In the right pane, double-click Messenger.
5. In the Messenger Properties (Local Computer) dialog box, click the General tab.
6. On the General tab, select Automatic from the Startup type list, and then click Apply.
7. Under Service status, click Start, and then click OK.

This behavior is by design.

You can use an alternative method such as sending an e-mail message to communicate with Windows users or with computers instead of using the NET SEND command.

Caution Do not enable the Messenger service if your computer is connected to the Internet.

For more information about the NET SEND command, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: