by I knew that this existed, but didn’t need it until this past weekend.
One of my work environments has a need for remote connections for troubleshooting purposes, with the requirement of getting the approval of the remote user. They were given SMS 2003’s remote control capability, and then it was taken away.
So I did a Google search on ‘Scripted “Remote Assistance”‘ and found many results. I was thinking I could pass a computername or IP to a script, and then have it initiate Windows XP’s Remote Assistance.
Then I learned of “Unsolicited” Remote Assistance. Nice little thing that Microsoft added there.
If you Run (or use Internet Explorer) the following link, you will see the interface:
hcp://CN=Microsoft%20Corporation,L=Redmond,S=Washington,
C=US/Remote%20Assistance/Escalation/unsolicited/unsolicitedrcui.htm
Your mileage may vary as to the exact look, depending on your Windows installation. Different vendors customize the Microsoft Help and Support Center, so your window may look a little different.
Simply enter a computer’s Name, FQDN, or IP, and Connect. Then pick the user you wish to help, and click Start Remote Assistance.
There are some GPO settings that I’ll add if you need to enable Remote Assistance on your desktops. Here’s a link to a little more information:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/
technologies/security/ws03mngd/20_s3rem.mspx
Enjoy.
Hmm.. If you open the help and support center, then click the “Use tools to view computer information and troublshoot computer problmes”, you’ll find a link to that feature in the menu to the left. It’s the 2nd from the top on my Danish XP Pro.