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Bruce Sanderson's General Windows Information

Configuring and Using Offer Remote Assistance

Help and Support has a dialog where you can send a request (via email or Instant Messaging) to someone (called "expert") that might be able to help you (the "novice") out.  This is very useful, but in a business environment, particularly a medium to large business, an even better feature would be the ability to offer someone assistance without going through the cumbersome process of having the novice send an email etc.

This feature is called "Offer Remote Assistance" and is also built into Windows XP  Unfortunately, the folks at Microsoft have hidden this feature away, so most people don't stumble across it.

To get the Offer Remote Assistance feature to work, there are some things you have to do.  In a Windows 2000 or later Domain environment, you can do steps 1 and 2 below using Group Policies (see the Windows XP SP2 section at Group Policy stuff for some information about adding Windows XP SP2 specific settings via Group Policies).

  1. enable the feature on the target (novice's) computer using gpedit.msc
    1. click Start, Run
    2. key gpedit.msc
    3. press Enter
    4. navigate down the hierarchy in the left pane to
      Computer Configuration
         Administrative Templates
              System
                  Remote Assistance
                     Offer Remote Assistance
    5. select the Enabled radio button
    6. from the Permit remote control of this computer: drop down list, select Allow helpers to remotely control this computer
    7. click the Show... button
    8. click Add...
    9. key a user name or group that you want to be able to actually send offers of remote assistance.  What you key here will not be verified; you have to know the names and key them correctly.  If you want anyone to be able to send offers of remote assistance to this computer, key the name Authenticated Users.  If the novice's computer is in a Windows 2000 or later domain, you can key domainname\groupname or domainname\username.
    10. click OK
    11. repeat h through j for any additional user or group names required
    12. click OK; click OK

  2. if there is a firewall protecting the novice's computer (e.g. the Windows XP SP2 Windows Firewall), you have to configure the firewall to allow the incoming offer of remote assistance.
    See  http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=555179 for how to configure the Windows XP SP2 Firewall to allow incoming offers of remote assistance.

  3. Send the offer of Remote Assistance to the novice's computer.  There are two ways to do this:

    1. via Help and Support
      1. click Start, Help and Support
      2. in the Search box, key offer
      3. press Enter or click the button at the right of the Search box
      4. in the left pane, click Offer Remote Assistance
    2. using a shortcut
      1. create a new shortcut to this URL
        hcp://CN=Microsoft%20Corporation,L=Redmond,S=Washington,C=US/Remote%20Assistance/Escalation/Unsolicited/unsolicitedrcui.htm
        This is the URL of the Offer Remote Assistance page in Windows Help.  Using it will not send anything to any computer (Microsoft's or otherwise)!
      2. use this new shortcut to launch Offer Remote Assistance

    Key the name of the novice's computer in the box and click Connect.

    If the connection to the novice's computer is successful, you will get another box under the text "Several users are logged onto...".  You will always get this, even if there is only one user actually logged on (the usual case).  Click the Start Remote Assistance button at the bottom right of the Help and Support window.

    At this point, you have to be a bit patient; it always takes some time for the Remote Assistance session to get established, even if both computers are on the same LAN.  Eventually, the novice will get a message box saying you are offering them Remote Assistance; ask the novice to click on the Yes button.

    When the novice click's Yes, you will get a Remote Assistance window showing the novice's desktop.

    If you want to be able to manipulate the novice's display, click the Take Control button at the top left of your Remote Assistance window.  The novice will get another message box asking if they want to allow this.  Ask your novice to click Yes.  You will get a message box saying that the novice has accepted.

    Last updated 5 Feb, 2005

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