Windows 8 : Using Remote Assistance to Resolve Problems

Remote Assistance enables support personnel to view a user’s desktop and take control temporarily to resolve problems or walk the user through the execution of complex tasks. 

Understanding Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance is a feature of Windows XP and later releases of Windows. Only users running these operating systems can initiate and respond to Remote Assistance invitations. In the enterprise, the easy way to work with Remote Assistance is as follows:

1. Be sure that you are using a user account that is a member of the local Offer Remote Assistance Helpers group (or of a group that is a member of this group).

2. Be sure that Windows Firewall exceptions are created for the executable files Msra.exe and Raserver.exe, and open TCP port 135 for DCOM. Normally, these settings are configured by default through Group Policy.

3. Be sure that the other computer is configured to allow Remote Assistance, and then connect to the computer by its computer name or IP address.

Note

Windows 8 can detect that a firewall is blocking Remote Assistance connections. If so, when a person needing help tries to invite help, she will see an alert in Windows Remote Assistance stating that this computer is not set up to send invitations. The person will be able to tap or click Repair to have Windows Network Diagnostics look closer at the problem and then will have the option to try implementing recommended repairs as an administrator. If the user has Administrator permission on the computer, she can use this option to resolve the issue and can then close the troubleshooter.

With an enterprise configuration, you can provide remote assistance by following these steps:

1. Open Windows Remote Assistance. One way to do this is by pressing the Windows key, typing msra.exe, and then pressing Enter.

2. In the Windows Remote Assistance Wizard, tap or click Help Someone Who Has Invited You.

3. Tap or click Advanced Connection Option For Help Desk.

4. Type the name or IP address of the computer you want to assist, and then tap or click Next to connect to the computer.

Users can initiate sessions by creating an invitation request. Support personnel initiate sessions by offering help to users. Once a session is initiated, assistants can chat with users, observe their working screens, and, if permitted, control their computers.

Remote Assistance invitations can be created by using the following techniques:

• E-mail invitation Email invitations are sent as email messages to a named email address. An attachment provided in the message is used to initiate the Remote Assistance session. You might want to configure a standard email address, such as RemoteAssist@your_company_name.com, to allow users to send invitation requests easily to the support team. If this address is configured in Microsoft Exchange Server as a distribution list that delivers the invitations to support team members or as an additional mailbox for specific team members, support staff will be able to handle requests more efficiently and users will have a standard way of requesting help.

• File invitation File invitations are saved as Microsoft Remote Control Incident (MsRcIncident) files. Double-tapping or double-clicking the file name initiates the Remote Assistance session. You can use file invitations if you are using web-based email and need to attach the invitation separately. You might also want to configure a shared folder that is automatically mapped as a network drive for users and ensure that it is accessible by support personnel. Name the share something that easily identifies it as being used for assistance requests, such as HelpDeskRequest or AssistanceInvitations.

• Easy Connect invitation Uses the Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP) to send a Remote Assistance invitation over the Internet. Easy Connect generates an access password automatically, which allows the helper to connect directly to the computer. The helper’s contact information is saved for quick reference in the future without using the password. (This technique works only when both the helper and the person being assisted are using Windows 8 or later.)

With Windows 8, invitations must be created with a control password, which is a change made from previous releases of Windows to enhance security. The control password provides an additional layer of security in the Remote Assistance configuration, ensuring that users are authorized to provide remote assistance and that they know the invitation password. You should establish an official guideline that requires the use of invitation passwords. To streamline the invitation process, you might want to define passwords that are used with invitations. Passwords should be changed regularly, and you might want to assign different passwords to different groups within the organization.

To work properly, Remote Assistance relies on the presence of a network connection between the user’s computer and the assistant’s computer. Remote Assistance uses UPnP, SSDP, PNRP, and Teredo for communications. Because most firewalls do not allow these communications by default, a firewall between the two computers might prevent the assistance session, and to ensure success, an exception must be created for outbound communications from the assistant’s computer to the user’s computer. To configure the required Windows Firewall exception for Remote Assistance, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, tap or click System And Security. Under the Windows Firewall heading, tap or click Allow An App Through Windows Firewall.

2. In the Allowed Apps window, scroll down until you see Remote Assistance. Ensure that the Remote Assistance check box is selected.

3. You’ll see related check boxes for Domain, Private, and Public networks. Select or clear the check boxes to specify the network types for which Remote Assistance should be allowed. Tap or click OK.

Remote Assistance can work through Network Address Translation (NAT) firewalls. When providing support through Remote Assistance, you’ll find built-in diagnostic tools that you can run with a single tap or click. For escalation of support issues, two different support staff can connect to a computer simultaneously. Finally, thanks to the automatic reconnect-after-restart feature, if you need to restart a computer that you are assisting remotely, you won’t need to reconnect to the computer manually. The Remote Assistance session is reestablished automatically after the computer reboots.

Creating Remote Assistance Invitations

To create a Remote Assistance invitation for email, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, under the System And Security heading, tap or click Find And Fix Problems. In the left pane of the Troubleshooting window, tap or click Get Help From A Friend.

2. On the Remote Assistance page, tap or click Invite Someone To Help You, and then tap or click Use E-Mail To Send An Invitation.

3. When prompted, enter and confirm a secure password for connecting to the computer. This password is used by the person you are inviting and is only valid for the Remote Assistance session.

4. When you tap or click Next, Windows 8 starts your default email program and creates an email message with the invitation. In the To box, type the email address of the person you are inviting, and then tap or click Send.

To create a Remote Assistance invitation and save it to a file, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, under the System And Security heading, tap or click Find And Fix Problems. In the left pane of the Troubleshooting window, tap or click Get Help From A Friend.

2. On the Remote Assistance page, tap or click Invite Someone To Help You, and then tap or click Save This Invitation As A File.

3. In the text box provided, enter a path and file name for the invitation. If you specify the path to a network folder, the invitation can be accessed easily by an administrator with access to this network folder.

4. Give your helper the invitation file and the automatically generated password. This password is used by the person you are inviting and is valid only for the Remote Assistance session.

To create a Remote Assistance invitation for Easy Connect, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, under the System And Security heading, tap or click Find And Fix Problems. In the left pane of the Troubleshooting window, tap or click Get Help From A Friend.

2. On the Remote Assistance page, tap or click Invite Someone To Help You, and then tap or click Use Easy Connect.

3. Tell your helper the Easy Connect password. This password is generated automatically for this Remote Assistance session only.

By default, Remote Assistance invitations are valid for a maximum of 6 hours and enable support staff to remotely control a computer. You can change these settings by using the System Properties dialog box. Once you’ve sent the invitation by email or created the invitation file, the Windows Remote Assistance dialog box is displayed. Figure 1 shows the options of the helper.

Figure 1. Managing Remote Assistance sessions.

For the helper, the Remote Assistance dialog box provides the following options (see Figure 1):

• Request Control/Stop Sharing Requests or stops sharing control of the computer. When you request shared control, the person you are helping sees a confirmation prompt.

• Fit To Screen/Actual Size Resizes the other person’s screen to fit your window or displays the screen at actual size.

• Chat Opens a chat window for sending messages between the helper and the current user of the computer.

• Settings Allows you to configure the session settings. By default, a log of the Remote Assistance session is saved in the %UserProfile%\Documents\Remote Assistance Logs folder on the helper’s computer.

The helper can end the session by closing the Remote Assistance window.

When you, as the helper, request shared control, the person you are helping sees a confirmation prompt asking if she would like to allow the helper to share control of the desktop. The person being helped must tap or click Yes to permit shared control, but before that, you may want to have her allow you to respond to User Account Control (UAC) prompts. This permission is necessary to perform administrator tasks on the remote computer.

For the person being helped, the Remote Assistance dialog box provides the following options:

• Pause/Continue Effectively pauses the Remote Assistance request by temporarily not allowing the helper to see the remote desktop. The person being helped must then tap or click Continue to resume the remote assistance session.

• Stop Sharing Stops sharing control of the computer and ends the remote assistance session.

• Settings Allows you to configure the session settings. Available settings depend on the type of computer being helped. When you press the Esc key, shared control of the computer can be stopped if the related option is selected, a log of the Remote Assistance session is saved automatically, and the bandwidth usage is configured so that font smoothing, full-window drag, and desktop backgrounds are not enabled. For fast or slow connections, you can modify the bandwidth usage settings by using the Bandwidth Usage slider.

  Note

  By default, the Remote Assistance log is created in the %UserProfile%\Documents\Remote Assistance Logs folder on the computer of the user requesting remote assistance and on the helper’s computer.

• Chat Opens a chat window for sending messages between the helper and the current user of the computer.

Offering Remote Assistance or Answering a Remote Assistance Invitation

If you know that a user is having problems with her computer, you can follow these steps to offer remote assistance rather than waiting for her to send you an invitation or Easy Connect password:

1. Start the Windows Remote Assistance Wizard. One way to do this is to type msra in the Apps Search box and then press Enter.

2. In the Windows Remote Assistance Wizard, tap or click Help Someone Who Has Invited You.

3. Tap or click the Advanced Connection Option For Help Desk link.

4. Type the name or IP address of the computer you want to assist, and then tap or click Next to connect to the computer.

If someone has already created an invitation, you can answer the invitation by double-tapping or double-clicking the related email attachment or file. You can also answer an invitation saved to a file by following these steps:

1. Start the Windows Remote Assistance Wizard. One way to do this is to type msra in the Apps Search box and then press Enter.

2. In the Windows Remote Assistance Wizard, tap or click Help Someone Who Has Invited You.

3. Tap or click Use An Invitation File, and then use the Open dialog box to locate the invitation. Tap or click Open.

4. When prompted, provide the necessary password for the invitation.

5. Tap or click Finish. You are connected to the computer of the user needing assistance, provided that the user hasn’t canceled the invitation, the invitation hasn’t expired, and Remote Assistance is allowed.

If someone is using Easy Connect and has sent you the password, you can answer the invitation by following these steps:

1. Start the Windows Remote Assistance Wizard. One way to do this is to type msra in the Apps Search box and then press Enter.

2. In the Windows Remote Assistance Wizard, tap or click Help Someone Who Has Invited You.

3. Tap or click Use Easy Connect. When prompted, provide the password for the invitation.

4. Tap or click OK. You are connected to the computer of the user needing assistance.