The Long Climb

Seeking Remote Assistance with Windows

Posted on 24. Nov, 2008 by Mike Halsey in guides and how to's

If you’ve got a problem with your computer that you can’t fix yourself then you’re most commonly going to ask someone who can.  But what if that person’s not around or maybe lives in another town?  You can always turn it into a nice invitation to dinner or, if the chips are really down, you can give them remote control of your PC.

Remote Assistance was first introduced with Windows XP and allows you to send a secure invitation to a friend or PC professional.  This person can then take full control of your PC over the internet and try and fix the problem you have.

One of the problems people find with Remote Assistance though is that it’s buried away within your Start Menu and most people don’t even realise it’s there, so how do you find it?

Windows XP

In Windows XP there are two ways to find Remote Assistance.  It’s in your Start Menu in the main options, unless you or someone else who uses your computer has moved or deleted it.  (You can click on any of these images to view them full size)

You can also find it in help however.  Just click Help and Support from the Start Menu and you’ll see Remote Assistance linked in the Ask for Assistance section in the top right.

Windows Vista and Windows 7

In Windows Vista there are three ways to get to Remote Assistance.  (You can click any of these images to view them full-size).

You can find it in the Maintenance folder in your Start Menu.

In the search box at the bottom of your Start Menu you can search for it.

Finally if you click Help and Support from the Start Menu you will see it linked in the Ask someone section.

Sending a ‘Remote Assistance’ Request

You will have to send a Remote Assistance invitation to your friend or support person.  If you use an email program like Outlook, Outlook Express or Windows Mail this is simple as Remote Assistance will build the email for you.  If you use a webmail system though like Hotmail or GMail then Remote Assistance will give you a file that you will need to attach to an email.

The picture above shows the invitation options in Windows XP and, below, in Windows Vista and Windows 7.  You can optionally add a password to the process that they must type in order to gain access to your computer.

Important!

You should make sure your switch off your firewall if you are using a third-party firewall like ZoneAlarm or Norton, as this can block the incoming Remote Assistance invitation.

Once you support person has received the file they will attempt to connect to your PC.  You will see a window appear asking if they can take control, you should click yes and if you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, you should tick the box Allow me to respond to User Account Control prompts.  If you do not tick this box then the assistance process will be suspended when a UAC prompt appears, until the user who sent the request clicks the box on their screen.  Not helpful if you’ve wandered off to make a cup of tea.

You can cancel Remote Assistance to your computer at any time by pressing the Escape key or clicking the disconnect button on the control panel on your screen.

Do remember that if you are sending a Remote Assistance request, you should make sure it’s going to someone who can genuinely fix the problem.  A friend with a hunch could end up doing more damage to your PC still.

Hopefully, this will help rectify the problems you have and when full control of your system is returned to you, your PC will be happy and working properly again.

Tags: remote assistance, uac, vista, windows, xp