| | | The other day, I wanted to send my husband a message and have it appear on his computer screen. Seems simple enough! We’re on the same router. We’re on the same Workgroup.
The command to use for this is C:\Windows\System32\MSG.EXE
The syntax is easy too. The command I used:
MSG * /SERVER:Tabby "Please make coffee!!!"
My system paused for a second or two, then displayed an error message:
Error 5 getting session names
Wow! What an informative error message. Sure make it clear what went wrong. NOT!
Time to do some Internet searching.
Apparently, the computer(s) need to be configured to accept Remote Procedure Calls. To do this, I needed to alter the Registry on his computer. Specifically, I needed to add the REG_DWORD AllowRemoteRPC to the Registry Key HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server and set its value to 1.
To do this, I had a couple of choices: Use a .REG file or use a .CMD file.
I picked using a .REG file because it’s simpler. The contents of my .REG file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Enable local system to receive messages
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server]
"AllowRemoteRPC"=dword:00000001
Now that I had his computer configured to accept my messages, I tried again.
Error 1825 getting session names
OK, the error number changed. Something must be different, but what? Again, an Internet Search seemed like an appropriate strategy. Unfortunately, the fix for this error was the same as the fix for the previous error -- A fix I had already applied. Gotta be something else.
I continued making changes and testing. Same results, but with some new Error numbers, with 1722 appearing on occasion.
By now, I’m a few pages deep into Internet searching and I discovered that for MSG to work, the UserName and PassWord must be identical for both the sender and recipient.
Now this makes a LOT of sense. How often are computers connected to the same LAN given the same UserName and PassWord? Wouldn’t one think that MOST people would choose DIFFERENT UserNames and PassWords for different computers? Clearly, this is wrong.
I needed a different approach. For testing, I created a new User account on my system using my husband's UserName and his PassWord for this account.
Success! The MSG worked as expected.
I restored my system from a backup image to get rid of my "Husband's" user account.
But I can’t abide this identical UserName and PassWord nonsense.
I turned to Windows Credential Manager.
Here, I added the Credentials for my husband’s computer.
When the Credential Manager window opens, click on Windows Credentials
Under (beside) Windows Credentials, click on Add a Windows credential
In the Add a Windows Credential window, I put his computer name in the Internet or network address box,
his UserName in the User name box, and his PassWord in the Password box, and clicked OK.
To enable him to reply using MSG, I made the corresponding Registry edits on my computer and added my credentials to his.
So to make a long story short. . .
To get MSG.EXE to work, two things are needed:
Set the AllowRemoteRPC value to 1 on the receiving computer.
Add the intended recipient’s credentials to the sending computer.
Note: If there are any sites on the Internet which explains that BOTH these requirements are necessary, I couldn’t find them – and it would’ve saved me a ton of work if I had.
And one more thing. . .
Many sites suggest executing the MSG command from a window opened with Run as Administrator. This DOES NOT WORK. I had to use my Limited User account to execute MSG.
Cheers, PW.
P.S. I mentioned that I used a .REG file because it seemed simpler than a .CMD file. To use a .CMD file, this is the command that's needed. . .
C:\Windows\System32\reg.exe ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v AllowRemoteRPC /T REG_DWORD /D 1 /F
P.P.S. Lazy me; I put my message into a shortcut that I placed on my desktop. Now, when I want a coffee, I just click it. Note: It's often more work training a spouse than configuring a computer, but in this case, I made quite a few cups of coffee for myself before I finally got MSG working properly. |
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