If it is timed out, then ask the novice to resend his request again.
Very often this is the case with my experience being as an assistor.

phill@lcsltd2.demon.co.uk wrote:
> I am attempting to get remote assistant working between two computers
> over the internet.
>
> The novice PC (my friend) is running Windows XP Home + SP2 and has
> Norton Internet Security 2005 running. A USB modem connects the PC
> directly to the interent.
>
> The expert PC (mine) is running Windows XP Professional + SP2 and also
> has Norton Internet Security 2005 running. My PC is attached to a
> Netgear router with a firewall, which in turn accesses the internet via
> a Netgear Modem. I have setup port forwarding on the router, on port
> 3389 to my PC's IP address.
>
> Both copies of Norton Internet Security have been configured to permit
> inbound/outbound communication on port 135 (epmap).
>
> Windows XP firewall is switched off on both PC's.
>
> When my friend asks me for remote assistance using MSN Messenger 7.5 I
> can accept his request and a window then appears saying that it is
> attempting to connect. At this point nothing happens on either PC and
> eventually I get a timeout error.
>
> If I reverse the request and ask my friend for remote assistance and he
> accepts, a connection between both PC's is immediately made and he is
> able to see and control my PC.
>
> Why is my friends request for remote assistance not working? We have
> tried switching off both our firewall software (NIS) but this makes no
> difference so I don't believe it is Norton IS causing the problem.
>
> My router firewall is configured correctly as far as I can determine.
>
> The strange thing is that we did get this working in both directions
> about a month ago, but today when he needed some help I could no longer
> connect to his machine.
>
> Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as I have already spent far too
> much time trying to resolve this issue.
>