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, Windows Vista, Windows Server
2003, and later releases of Windows. Only users running these operating
systems can initiate and respond to Remote Assistance invitations.
Users 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 using the following techniques:
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E-mail invitation E-mail invitations are sent as
e-mail messages to a named e-mail address. An attachment provided in
the message is used to initiate the Remote Assistance session. You
might want to configure a standard e-mail 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.
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File invitation File invitations are saved as
Microsoft Remote Control Incident (MsRcIncident) files. Double-clicking
the file name initiates the Remote Assistance session. You can use file
invitations if you are using Web-based e-mail 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.
With Windows Vista, invitations must be created with a
control password, which is a change 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 have predefined 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 TCP as the communications
protocol, communicating over port 3389. Because most firewalls do not
have this port open by default, a firewall between the two computers
might prevent the assistance session. Port 3389 must be opened for
outbound communications from the assistant's computer to the user's
computer.
In
Windows Vista, Remote Assistance has been improved in many ways. It is
faster, uses less bandwidth, and can work through Network Address
Translation (NAT) firewalls. When providing support using Remote
Assistance, you'll find built-in diagnostics tools that you can run
with a single 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 you are remotely assisting, 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 e-mail, follow these steps:
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Click the Help And Support Home button on the toolbar and then click Remote Assistance under Ask Someone.
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In the Remote Assistance Wizard, click Invite Someone You Trust To Help You and then click Use E-mail To Send An Invitation.
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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.
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When you click Next, Windows Vista starts your
default mail program and creates an e-mail message with the invitation.
In the To field, type the e-mail address of the person you are inviting
and then click Send.
To create a Remote Assistance invitation and save it to a file, follow these steps:
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Click the Help And Support Home button on the toolbar and then click Remote Assistance under Ask Someone.
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In the Remote Assistance Wizard, click Invite Someone You Trust To Help You and then click Save This Invitation As A File.
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In the field provided, enter a path and file name
for the invitation. If you specify the path to a network folder, the
invitation can be easily accessed by an administrator with access to
this network folder.
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Enter and then 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.
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Click Finish.
By default, Remote Assistance invitations are valid for
a maximum of six hours and enable support staff to remotely control a
computer. You can change these settings using the System Properties
dialog box. Once you've sent the invitation for e-mail or created the invitation file, the Windows Remote Assistance dialog box is displayed, as shown in Figure 1. This dialog box provides the following options:
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Cancel Effectively cancels the Remote Assistance request by not allowing the invitation to be used to connect to the computer.
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Request Control/Stop Sharing Requests control or stops sharing of the computer.
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Fit To Screen Resizes the other person's screen to fit your window.
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Disconnect Ends the help session and disconnects.
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Settings Allows you to configure the session
settings. Available settings depend on the type of computer being
helped. By default, when you press the Esc key, shared control of the
computer is stopped, a log of the Remote Assistance session is saved,
and the bandwidth usage is configured so full window drag and desktop
backgrounds are not enabled. For fast or slow connections, you can
modify the bandwidth usage settings 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.
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Chat Opens a chat window for sending messages between the helper and the current user of the computer.
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Send File Transfers a file to the other 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:
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Click the Help And Support Home button on the toolbar and then click Remote Assistance under Ask Someone.
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In the Remote Assistance Wizard, click Offer To Help Someone.
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Type the name or IP address of the computer you
want to assist. The computer must be configured to accept Remote
Assistance offers.
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Click Finish.
If
someone has already created an invitation, you can answer the
invitation by double-clicking the related e-mail attachment or file.
You can also answer an invitation saved to a file by following these
steps:
-
Click the Help And Support Home button on the toolbar and then click Remote Assistance under Ask Someone.
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In the Remote Assistance Wizard, click Offer To Help Someone.
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Click Browse. Use the Open dialog box to locate the invitation and then click Open.
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When prompted, provide the necessary password for the invitation.
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When you click Finish, you'll be connected to the
computer of the user needing assistance, providing the user hasn't
canceled the invitation, the invitation hasn't expired, and Remote
Assistance is allowed.
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