Remote Assistance in Windows 8

 

Remote Assistance in Windows 8

With Shadowing concept removed from Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services, a lot of users want an alternative mechanism to be able to Remote Assist an RDS user. Please find the steps to request for remote assistance in Windows 8.

1. Either go to command prompt and type msra.exe and Hit Enter; or go to the Modern Desktop in Windows 8 and type Remote Assistance, and select Invite someone to connect to your PC and help you, or offer to help someone else.

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2. Select Invite someone you trust to help you.

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3. You can send the invitation through a file, an email or by using Easy Connect if it is present on the both the users’ machines. In this blog, we will select the email option.

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4. Send the Invitation file to the helper.

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5. The code that gets generated needs to be entered by the helper as well.

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6. It will prompt whether you want to allow the user to access the computer. Say Yes.

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7. Once allowed, you get the option of sharing screen, chatting and pausing the connection.

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In Remote Desktop Services, if you are an administrator and have appropriate remoting permissions on a computer, then you don’t have to ask for access in a remote session. You can directly log into the session and see what the user is doing. In RDS in Windows Server 2008 R2, it was called shadowing, while in Remote Assistance, it is called as Unsolicited Remote Assistance.

To start unsolicited Remote Assistance, go to command prompt and type msra.exe /offerra. It will open the following wizard:

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Type the name of the machine and Hit Next. This will allow you to connect to the computer without asking for permission to access it.

Hope this helps. Happy Reading!