Are you the alpha geek in your family? — The one who knows (slightly) more about computers than anyone else, and is therefore tapped to provide troubleshooting assistance? If so, and if any of the machines that you need to support are Windows Vista (or soon will be), then here are a number of important tips you need to know in order to take advantage of Microsoft Windows Remote Assistance (RA).

Background: RA is the baby brother of Windows Remote Desktop Connection (RDC), both of which fall under Microsoft’s general heading of Client Terminal Services. You may already be familiar with using RDC in a business environment. Perhaps, you use RDC to connect to your office computer from home. Well, the first thing to know is that RDC is not available on any of the Home editions of Vista. It’s only in the business/enterprise editions. So, you’ll be connecting through RA.

How Remote Assistance (RA) and Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) Differ:

• RDC can be set up as a service to always answer incoming connections in the background, but RA connections always begin with an explicit invitation.
• RDC can accept a remote connection autonomously (unattended), but a Vista machine running RA must be attended whenever a connection is established, so that the connection can be approved.
• RA leaves both screens and keyboards visible and active, while RDC blanks out the screen of the remote computer.
• Microsoft has gone to great lengths to ensure that Remote Assistance is highly secure. The assumption is that anyone using a business edition of Vista is sophisticated enough to look after their own security, but a Home edition user needs enforced security. Unfortunately, this makes RA much more cumbersome to use than RDC, with many more hoops to jump through. This article will guide through all of those hoops.

Which is which? When talking about two computers being connected, it’s easy to confuse which is which. Words such as “client/server”, “host/guest”, “remote/local”, and “upload/download” can easily mean different things to different people, depending on their point of view. So, to be clear, this article is being presented from the point of view of the person providing the help (the expert). Therefore, the “remote” machine is one to be controlled remotely (the one that needs help, where the novice is sitting), and the “local” machine is the one doing the controlling (the expert’s machine).

A Checklist for Configuring Vista for Remote Assistance: Before a Vista machine can be controlled via RA, there are a number of settings that must be configured.

• Remote Assistance has to be listed as an exception in Windows Firewall (or whatever firewall software the Vista machine may be running).
  1. Open the Security Center (in the Control Panel).
  2. Click on Windows Firewall (on the left).
  3. Click on Allow a Program Through the Firewall.
  4. Scroll down to Remote Assistance and make sure it is checkmarked.
  5. Click the OK button.
  6. Close the firewall and control panel windows.
• Remote Assistance must be enabled. There are three different security flags concerning RA. The first flag gives the user the right to send an invitation for help. The second flag determines whether or not the machine can actually be controlled remotely (or just viewed remotely). the third flag determines whether or not the invitations are sent in a format that can be understood by an XP machine (or just Vista machines).
  1. Open the Start menu, right-click on Computer, and select Properties.
  2. Under Tasks (on the left), click on “Remote Settings”.
  3. Click on the Remote tab (rightmost).
  4. Make sure that “Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer” is checkmarked.

  

  5. Click on the Advanced… button
  6. Make sure that “Allow this computer to be controlled remotely” is checkmarked.

  

  7. Optionally, change the default invitation expiration period. The default is six hours, but it can be increased up to 30 days.
  8. Optionally, place a checkmark next to “Create invitations that can only be used from computers running Windows Vista or later”. Obviously, if you will be controlling it from an XP machine, then you will want to leave this box unchecked. (Note: all this means is that the invitation will be sent in the old style XP format, rather than the new style vista format. In the former, the remote machine’s IP address is sent in the clear, while in the latter it is encrypted.)
  9. Click the OK button.
  10. Close the computer properties dialog box.
• When an invitation for remote assistance is sent, the remote assistance program is automatically launched and placed in a mode to receive a connection. This program must be running on the remote machine in order to establish a connection. However, if you plan on reusing invitations days later, chances are the program will not be running. Therefore, it’s a good idea to create a shortcut for C:\Windows\System32\msra.exe on the desktop of the remote machine.
• To take advantage of sending help invitations via e-mail, there must be a default e-mail client established in Windows. If the Vista user prefers to use webmail and doesn’t need a local e-mail client, then be sure to set up a local e-mail client anyway (e.g. Vista’s Windows Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird connected to some free throw-away e-mail account). Alternatively, invitations can be sent via instant messaging. They can also be saved as a file and then delivered by any other usual means for transferring a file to someone.

Steps for Remotely Assisting a Vista User: Given that all of the above configuration is in place, here’s how to actually invoke a Remote Assistance connection.

1. Have the remote Vista user click on the Start button and then select Help and Support.
2. Under the “Ask for assistance” heading, the Vista user should click on “Invite a friend to connect to your computer with Remote Assistance” and then click on “Invite someone to help you.”
3. At this point, a virus checker may pop up and report possible suspicious behavior (because the help Center software is trying to access the e-mail system), so the remote user may have to give permission for the suspicious behavior to continue.
4. Next, have the remote user select an appropriate communication means (e-mail, instant messaging, save file to disk).
5. Have the remote user fill in the blanks for the invitation. Be sure to have him change the amount of time before the invitation expires to an appropriate amount. Be sure that both of you are exactly clear on what password is being assigned. (Passwords are case sensitive.)
6. When the remote user clicks on the button to send the invitation, it invokes the e-mail software, putting it in compose mode (assuming that e-mail was the selected communication means, of course). The remote user is now responsible for putting your e-mail address into the e-mail being composed, and then hit the Send button (another one). Be aware that the Help Center software does not wait for this to happen, though. It immediately launches the RA software, which places a window on the screen to indicate that it is waiting for a connection. This window appears in the foreground, obscuring the e-mail application. So, it is necessary to have the remote user minimize the RA window first, in order to get at the e-mail message being composed, so that it can be sent. (CAUTION: Have the remote user be certain to only minimize the RA application. It is all too easy to accidentally close it, instead.) IMPORTANT: The Vista user has to remain present to approve incoming connections.
7. When you receive the e-mail invitation, double-click on the attachment. This will launch the terminal services software at your end and challenge you for the password. Enter the password and click on the OK button. (Remember: Passwords are case sensitive.) Note: Above the password entry box, you will see the status of the invitation with regard to its expiration time. If the invitation is expired, it will say so; however, you are not prevented from entering a password and attempting to connect anyway. After you click on the OK button, the invitation status will no longer be displayed. It’s easy not to notice that the invitation has expired, and after you enter the password and click on OK it’s too late to see the expiration status. So, keep that in mind.
8. On your screen, you should now see a 3-pane window with a title of Remote Assistance. The upper-left pane is a chat history that also contains messages to you. The first message will be “Waiting for an answer…”
9. At this point, over on the remote machine, a dialog box will pop up asking the remote user to approve the connection. Have the remote user click on OK. IMPORTANT: The remote user’s job is not quite done. This first approval only allows you to VIEW the remote machine.
10. In order to actually affect changes on the remote machine, you need to actively take control. You do this by clicking on the Take Control button above the chat history pane (Alt+C). The remote user will now be presented with a second dialog box asking for permission to allow you to actually take control. This dialog box includes a checkbox that optionally allows the remote assistant to approve UAC dialogs. So, have the remote user be sure to check that box before clicking on the OK button. Otherwise, whenever a UAC dialog appears, your screen will go black and you will literally be in the dark as to why.
11. And now, you’re in.

Related article:

• Quick Tip: Knowing Keyboard Shortcuts Makes Phone Support Easier

Read more: Windows, Productivity