How in the Tech

Support the parents with Windows Remote Assistance

By Adam Myers ⋅ March 1, 2010 ⋅ Tags: System Administration, Windows

No matter what your level of experience is, chances are you’ve been tasked to provide PC support for a friend or family member. If you are lucky, the troubled friend is just down the street, as problems are easier to knock out when you can touch the computer. However, this isn’t always the case and having to provide remote support, generally over the phone, is frustrating and stressful for both parties. Because of this, Microsoft provides a tool to aid in these types of situations – Windows Remote Assistance. You probably have never heard of this feature and you may even be more surprised to learn it was first introduced way back in Windows XP! The entire process got a spit-shine in Vista/7 and I have to say the experience is rather slick.

To get started, search for remote assist from the Windows Start Menu search; this will launch the Windows Remote Assistance wizard.

Choose Invite someone you trust to help you.

Remote Assistance will now create an invitation file but first you must choose the delivery method for your request – generally via email is the easiest and that is what I suggest. If you use a webmail service for your email you must first save the invitation as a file and then send it as an email attachment. Seems straightforward enough right?

With the invitation created and delivered Remote Assistance will now launch and await an incoming connection request. For security purposes, the whole session is protected by a randomly generated password that is required in order to connect to your PC.

If you happen to be the generous user providing the support portion of Remote Assistance your responsibility is kick-started by simply double-clicking the received invitation file and supplying the correct connection password. If successful, the application window will open and you will see the troubled user’s desktop, as if you were sitting there in person, helping over their shoulder.

Remote Assistance is an excellent support tool that can greatly ease the frustration of helping less savvy PC users blindly over the telephone.