{"id":19455,"date":"2020-10-22T06:03:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-22T06:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=19455"},"modified":"2020-10-22T06:22:05","modified_gmt":"2020-10-22T06:22:05","slug":"mouse-without-borders-timed-out-auto-connect-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/mouse-without-borders-timed-out-auto-connect-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"Mouse without Borders “Connection timed out” and does not auto-connect at startup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mouse without Borders<\/strong> is a Microsoft Garage<\/a> product that lets you control up to four computers from a single mouse and keyboard. With Mouse without Borders (MwoB), you can copy text or drag and drop files across computers.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, MwoB may not be able to establish a connection with the other computers — causing errors like “Connection timed out,” etc. This happens even though MwoB picks up the correct IP address of the other computer(s), whether or not you use the hostname-to-IP mapping option in that program.<\/p>\n

\"mousewithoutborders<\/p>\n

In some cases, only the one-way connection (inbound or outbound) would work.<\/p>\n

\"mousewithoutborders<\/p>\n

As you can see in the above screenshot, the inbound connection is allowed, but the outbound connection to the other computer (e.g., OptiPlex 9020) is timed out.<\/p>\n

The MwoB log (generated by right-clicking on the MwoB taskbar icon and clicking Generate log<\/strong>) would show these errors or similar:<\/p>\n

tcpClient.Connect: 8814: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond [::ffff:192.168.0.101]:15101\r\n\r\ntcpClient.Connect: Unable to connect after a timeout: OptiPlex-9020:192.168.0.101 : An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket [::ffff:192.168.0.101]:15101\r\n[251] The clipboard socket could have been closed. Not listening. You must call the Start() method before calling this method.<\/pre>\n
Due to the “connection timed out” error (one-way connection), Mouse without Border would fail to establish a connection to the other computer(s) automatically after every startup. To work around this issue, many users open the Mouse without Borders dashboard on the other computer (e.g., OptiPlex 9020) and click on the Apply<\/strong> button to establish the connection manually.<\/p>\n
Clicking on the Apply button on the affected computers each time is not a viable option. This can be a big nuisance, especially when you have to manage 4 computers with the Mouse without Borders utility.<\/p>\n
This article tells you how to fix the connectivity issues when using Mouse without Borders.<\/p>\n
Cause<\/h2>\n
The “connection timed out” error (and the one-way connection issue, and the failure to auto-connect at startup) is most likely caused by the firewall configuration on the other computer(s). The firewall may be blocking the inbound connection silently. This issue can be resolved by creating an inbound firewall rule on the other computer (e.g., OptiPlex 9020).<\/p>\n
By default, the Mouse without Borders setup process creates a firewall rule (Windows Firewall) for you. But if you’ve lately reset the Windows Firewall<\/a> for some reason, the Mouse without Borders inbound connection rule would have been lost, leading to connectivity issues.<\/p>\n
Solution<\/h2>\n
The fix for “connection timed out,”, failure of auto-connect during startup, and the one-way connection issues in Mouse without Borders is to create an inbound firewall rule on the computers<\/strong> to which the program is unable to establish a connection.<\/p>\n
\n
\"\"First, make sure that you have the latest version of Mouse without Borders installed. You can download the latest version of Mouse without Borders<\/a> from Official Microsoft Download Center. If the problem(s) is unresolved, follow the steps below. Also, visit the Mouse without Borders official forum link at http:\/\/aka.ms\/mm<\/code>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n
\n
Note:<\/strong> The following steps assume you’re using the built-in Windows Firewall. If you’re using a third-party firewall, check the respective product’s documentation to know how to create an inbound connection rule in that program.<\/em><\/p>\n
Create a “Mouse without Borders” Inbound firewall rule<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Start the PC (e.g., OptiPlex-9020) which isn’t accepting the MwoB incoming connection.<\/li>\n
  2. Launch the “Windows Firewall with Advanced Security” (wf.msc<\/code>) snap-in via Start.<\/li>\n
  3. Right-click on the Inbound Rules, and click New Rule…<\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. Select Program<\/strong> and click Next.<\/li>\n
  5. Browse to select the MouseWithoutBorders.exe<\/code> file. It’s usually located at:\n
    %ProgramFiles% (x86)\\Microsoft Garage\\Mouse without Borders\\MouseWithoutBorders.exe<\/pre>\n
    (There are three executables used by Mouse without Borders, namely MouseWithoutBordersSvc.exe, MouseWithoutBordersHelper.exe, and MouseWithoutBorders.exe. But it’s the MouseWithoutBorders.exe application that listens on TCP ports 15100 and 15101. So, an inbound connection rule for MouseWithoutBorders.exe would suffice.)<\/em><\/li>\n
  6. Click Next.<\/li>\n
  7. Select Allow the connection.<\/li>\n
  8. Select all the profiles (Domain, Private, and Public). Or, select only the item(s) for which you want to apply the new rule.<\/li>\n
  9. Click Next.<\/li>\n
  10. Type the name for this inbound connection rule — e.g. Mouse without Borders (incoming)<\/code><\/li>\n
  11. Click Finish.
    \n\"mousewithoutborders<\/li>\n
  12. That’s it. Close the Windows Firewall snap-in.<\/li>\n
  13. Open the Mouse without Borders dashboard, and click on the Apply<\/strong> button. A two-way connection will be established successfully now.
    \n\"mousewithoutborders<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    The program will now successfully connect to the other computer(s) at startup.<\/p>\n
    \n
    Mouse without Borders service<\/h3>\n
    Note that MwoB runs as a service, and here is the service information:<\/p>\n
    Mouse without Borders Service<\/strong> (short name<\/a>: MouseWithoutBordersSvc<\/code>)
    \nc:\\program files (x86)\\microsoft garage\\mouse without borders\\mousewithoutborderssvc.exe
    \nStartup type: Automatic
    \nAccount: LocalSystem<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
    \"tipsIf Mouse without Borders doesn’t auto-start during login, you may use the Services MMC (services.msc<\/code>) snap-in and try changing the startup type to Automatic (Delayed Start)<\/a> instead of Automatic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Mouse without Borders is a Microsoft Garage product that lets you control up to four computers from a single mouse and keyboard. With Mouse without Borders (MwoB), you can copy text or drag and drop files across computers. Sometimes, MwoB may not be able to establish a connection with the other computers — causing errors … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[191,669],"class_list":["post-19455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-utilities","category-windows","tag-error-messages","tag-windows-firewall"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4065,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-mouse-scroll-not-working-start-menu-apps-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":19455,"position":0},"title":"[Fix] Mouse Scroll Not Working in Start Menu All Apps in Windows 10","author":"Ramesh","date":"September 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're unable to use the mouse scroll wheel in Windows 10 Start menu All Apps list, this has to do with the \"Scroll inactive windows\" Mouse setting.When you click Start, the Start menu All apps list appears by default (since the Anniversary Update) but focus is not set to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Start menu all apps scroll inactive windows","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/w10-scroll-inactive-windows-mouse-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/w10-scroll-inactive-windows-mouse-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/w10-scroll-inactive-windows-mouse-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5603,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/photos-app-scroll-zoom-prev-next-image-wheel-settings\/","url_meta":{"origin":19455,"position":1},"title":"Photos App Mouse Wheel Settings: Scroll to Zoom or View Prev\/Next [Windows 10]","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When viewing a single photo in Windows Photo Viewer and Windows Picture and Fax Viewer (Windows 7), rotating the mouse scroll button used to zoom the image, and most people expected the same with new Photos app in Windows 10. 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