Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition

Chris Fehily

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Allowing Others to Connect to Your Computer Remotely

Chapter 18). Among other differences, in Remote Assistance, both parties must be present at their PCs and agree to the connection.

Security Concerns

Like all remote-control technologies, Remote Assistance has security implications beyond the ordinary issues of strong passwords and firewalls. When you invite someone to take control of your PC you must balance your trust with others inclinations toward malice. That person is free not only to fix your problem but also to, say, erase your hard drive or steal your files. You can view everything hes doing onscreen, and if you dont like what you see, press Esc to break the connection immediately. Still, damage done in a moment can take ages to undo. Even if that person cant control your PC, you could follow his bad advice and delete critical files or turn off security features yourself. Furthermore, you may not be able to confirm the identity of the other person.

Before starting a Remote Assistance session, set invitation and time limits.

To configure Remote Assistance:

Choose Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System > Remote tab.

Press Windows logo key+Break; then click the Remote tab.

If its unchecked, check Allow Remote Assistance Invitations to Be Sent from This Computer (Figure 3.10 ).

Click Advanced to open Remote Assistance Settings (Figure 3.11 ).

If youre the novice, and you dont want the expert to control your computer, uncheck Allow This Computer to Be Controlled Remotely.

Even with this box checked, you must approve each request for control of your computer explicitly.

Use the two Invitations drop-down lists to specify the maximum duration of Remote Assistance invitations.

The default setting is 30 days.

Click OK in each open dialog box.

Figure 3.10. If youre paranoid, uncheck this box to turn off Remote Assistance.

Figure 3.11. If youre concerned about security, you can shorten the maximum expiration period to a few minutes or hours. This setting affects the invitation-expiry choice in Figure 3.23.

In a Remote Assistance session the two connected partiesthe

novice and the

expert must:

Be using Windows XP (either Home or Pro edition)

Be on the same local area network (LAN) or have active internet connections

Not be blocked by a firewall (see "Securing Your Computer" in Chapter 12)

Capturing Screen Shots

If you want to skip Remote Assistance, your expert may be able to solve your problem if you send him a screen shot via email. Press the Print Screen (PrntScrn) key to capture the entire screen or Alt+Print Screen to grab only the active window. The screen image is now stored on the invisible clipboard, ready for pasting into an email message (or a graphics program, if you want to edit, save, or print it). Serious screen-shooters use SnagIt ($40 U.S.; Chapter 15).

(Novice ) In Messenger, choose Actions > Ask for Remote Assistance (Figure 3.12 ).

(Novice ) Specify the expert to invite; then click OK (Figure 3.13 ).

Messenger invites the expert and opens a Conversation window (Figure 3.14 ).

(Expert ) When an invitation pops up in your notification area (Figure 3.15 ), open Messenger and accept the invitation (Figure 3.16 ).

(Novice ) Windows displays a message box when the expert accepts your invitation; click Yes (Figure 3.17 ).

(Expert ) The novices desktop appears in a Remote Assistance window (Figure 3.18 ).

(Novice/Expert ) Both of you can communicate via Messenger (Figure 3.19 ).

(Expert ) To ask permission to take control of the novices computer (rather than just view the novices desktop), click Take Control on the toolbar.

(Novice ) To relinquish control of your PC to the expert, click Yes in the message box that appears (Figure 3.20 ).

(Novice/Expert ) To cancel control, either of you can press Esc or click Stop Control.

Canceling control still lets the expert view the novices desktop. To sever the connection (so that the expert cant see the novices desktop), click Disconnect.

Figure 3.12. Windows Messenger makes it easy to extend a Remote Assistance invitation.

Figure 3.13. If the experts email address isnt listed on the My Contacts tab, click the Other tab to enter it.

Figure 3.14. Wait for a response. If you change your mind or fix your problem while youre waiting, click Cancel (or press Alt+Q) to revoke the invitation.

Figure 3.15. When the expert receives an invitation, his Messenger taskbar button flashes and this invitation pops up on his screen.

Figure 3.16. To accept the invitation, the expert clicks Accept (or presses Alt+T) in Messenger.

Figure 3.17. Just to be sure, Remote Assistance makes you confirm the connection one last time.

Figure 3.18. To compensate for screen-size and resolution differences, the expert can click Actual Size or Scale to Window. Actual Size requires scrolling but usually displays a better image than Scale to Window, which distorts the novices screen proportions to fit in the experts Remote Assistance pane.

[View full size image]

Figure 3.19. Novice and expert can use Messenger to communicate via instant messages, voice, files, or any of the methods described in Chapter 15. You also can bypass Messenger and just pick up the phone.

Figure 3.20. Click Yes to let the expert use
his mouse and keyboard to control
your computer. Youll see ghostly pointer movements, self-typing text, and self-opening windows as the expert fixes your problem.

To get Remote Assistance by using email:

(Novice ) Choose Start > Help and Support.

(Novice ) Click Invite a Friend to Connect to Your Computer with Remote Assistance.

The Remote Assistance Wizard steps you through the process of inviting an expert via email.

(Novice ) Click Invite Someone to Help You.

(Novice ) Type the experts email address in the Type an E-Mail Address box; then click Invite This Person (Figure 3.21 ).

(Novice ) Type your name and a description of the problem; then click Continue (Figure 3.22 ).

(Novice ) Set up your security options and make sure that youre online; then click Send Invitation (Figure 3.23 ).

(Novice ) If a warning message appears, click Send.

Remote Assistance tells you if your invitation was sent successfully.

(Expert ) When the invitation arrives from the novice, open the attachment to accept the invitation (Figure 3.24 ).

(Novice ) When the expert accepts the invitation, a message box like Figure 3.17 appears; click Yes to start a Remote Assistance session.

Figure 3.21. If you instead click Save Invitation As a File (Advanced), Windows saves the invitation as a .MsRcIncident file on your hard drive. You can transfer this invitation file over a network or via floppy disk or USB flash drive instead of emailing it.

Figure 3.22. Remote Assistance adds your message to the boilerplate text that it generates in the email invitation to be sent to the expert. Your name appears in the Subject line.

Figure 3.23. If the expert doesnt respond to your invitation within the specified time period, the invitation expires. If youre unconcerned about security, you can specify a longer time limit. To set the maximum expiration period, see Figure 3.11.