A program could not start - remote assistance error

[Donald]

I am trying to solve a remote assistance invitation to a user in my domain. Both of our computers are running Windows XP SP2. Both policies of "Offer Remote Assistance" and "Solicited Remote Assistance" are enabled for our domain GPO. When I send invitations then it works fine with all other machines. I have done some troubleshooting stuff like checking the registry keys under HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/Terminal Server. The same keys in my machine and others are also on this users pc. After checking inside the System Properties, both both RDP and RA are checked and enabled. I then saw the "Remote Desktop Help Session Manager" which was not listed in the services console, but it is listed in mine. So I checked the
sessmgr.exe under \Windows\System32 and noticed that wasn't there either on her PC. Instead, there was a file called sessmgr.setup.log. Inside that file shows this towards the bottom:

********* Install/uninstall sessmgr service *********
Uninstalling sessmgr service

Any help would be appreciated.

[MattyBoy]

Follow the article written on "You receive an "A program has not started. Please try again" error message if you try to start Remote Assistance on a Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer" from here - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900904

[Donald]

Thanks for the reply, I have searched on microsoft before but was not able to find any good information. The article that you have given me seems to be the one that I was looking for. I will check it out and let you know about the details.

[Donald]

So, after checking the article that you gave me it didnt fix my problem. I am getting an error message "a program could not start" when trying to solicite a remote assistance invitation. I checked the System Properties to make sure both the remote assitance check box is checked. I also went to computer management and checked the "remote desktop help session manager" service is not listed. After that I tried "sessmgr.exe service" and it was not listed. Any other ideas? Thanks

[HELLIAN]

Can you check whether the Remote Desktop Help Session Manager service now listed, after running the Sessionmgr command-line? Also check the Event log for any errors. It can sometimes provide vital clues on RA failures.

[Rawko]

Can you try to export the below registry key from another Windows XP system:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RDSessMgr

After that try to merge the exported file to the subject computer. That should restore the missing Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (RDSessMgr) service.

[claytonpaul]

Finally...all day working on this....but i finally figured it out..i think. While i've gone thru every other step listed on every website and forum out on the web...the trick that finally made this work for me was to ENABLE "TERMINAL SERVICES."

from a command prompt: services.msc
Under "SERVICES" find TERMINAL SERVICES, rt click it, properties and then choose STARTUP TYPE as AUTOMATIC and then START the service...this finally did it for me...hope this helps!! cpb

[geniuss]

Here is solution for this problem, that is working on both Russian and English version of Win XP SP3:

Algorithm:
0. Login as user with administrative privileges.
1. Start regedit.exe.
2. Find key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Remote Desktop\Pending Help Session
3. Right click on it, select permissions.
4. In permissions window click Add... button.
5. Enter the login with which you logged in (I used <my comp name>\Administrators group) and click OK.
6. Set checkbox Allow Full Control and OK.
7. Close regedit.
8. Navigate to your Windows folder and delete file "sessmgr.setup.log" if it is there.
9. Open cmd.exe and execute command: sessmgr -service
10. It should create new file "sessmgr.setup.log". Inspect it. It should contain the string *** Finish Setup with Status 0x00000000 ***. This means that everything is OK.
11. Reboot the system.
12. Open Start -> Help & Support -> Invite a friend to connect to your computer with Remote Assistance ->
Invite someone to help you -> Save invitation as a file (Advanced) -> Continue -> uncheck "Require the recipient to use a password" -> click on Save Invitation.
13. If the problem persists, here the magic starts
;)
14. Don't close page opened in 12. for now.
15. Open Control panel -> System Properties -> Remote.
16. Invert the settings of checkboxes "Remote Assistance" & "Remote Desktop".
17. Switch to the page from item 12. and click on Save Invitation.
18. If the problem persists, play with different combinations of checkboxes "Remote Assistance" & "Remote Desktop". For me it started to work on Russian version when "Remote Desktop" was unchecked and on English version, when both were unchecked.
:)
19. Once after clicking Save Invitation, Save As dialog box appears, make desired settings of "Remote Assistance" & "Remote Desktop" checkboxes.
20. Check windows firewall, ensure that there is exception "Remote Assistance".

Notes:
a. When the item 9. is done, there should be disabled account HelpAssistant. This is OK.
b. After the item 12. is done, "Help and Support", "Remote Desktop Help Session Manager" and "Terminal Services" should be in "Started" status.
c. The algorithm was developed after half-day dancing around Win XP, installed on vmware workstation by doing changes and reverting the snapshot.
d. This articles could also be useful:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900904