Resolved Using Remote Assistance with W7 Home

My first "remote assistance" attempt was today. A dismal failure. I wanted to help my friend in another state with his computer problem. We both are using Windows 7 Home. He sent me a 12 digit "password" and I tried to connect with his computer using "easy connect." A message in the window indicated it was trying to connect but then reported it couldn't connect and I did a couple of retry's and then executed troubleshooting.

The trouble shooting reported that it couldn't find any errors on MY computer and suggested the other party execute troubleshooting from their computer via the "remote assistance" program.

Here is where we are:

• He could not find any troubleshooting option from what he could see in the "remote assistance" program.
• I asked him to turn off his firewall which he did.
• I read online here that in order to use "remote assistance one or both OS needed to be W7 Pro. Don't know if that is accurate but if so would possibly explain why it isn't working.
• We have both verified the check box to allow "remote assistance" was checked (computer >properties >remote settings).

Wondering if anyone has experience in this arena. I didn't find any threads on the subject so I guess either I'm the only one with a problem or not many folks are using the program.

Maybe there is an easier (friendlier) program to use?

 

Did he invite you by email? If so, does he have a router. If he does, he more than likely has to configure it to allow you to connect to him. To do that, he needs to open port 3389 using the router's config utility. How you do this depends on the kind of router he has. If he has a manual for it, that would be the place to look. Otherwise, you may be able to download one from the manufacture's website.

You can avoid all of that by using Windows Messenger to initiate the invite instead of an email. No ports need to be configured when you do it that way.

You can have a look at this page. There's some information about all of the various ways you can initiate a remote assistance session.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457004.aspx

As for whether or not one OS needs to be Pro, I don't think that's the case with Remote Assistance. As far as I know, that's only for Remote Desktop Connection, which is something entirely different. MS seems to have a knack for confusing the issue with different programs with similar names.

 

Hi Zander, I wanted to let you know that I'm working on the Messenger option. My friend in need hasn't used Messenger so it may be a day or so before we find out how this venture turns out.

I appreciate you input and will advise when I have something to say.

 

OK, let us know how it turns out for you. Windows Messenger is really the way to do this. I've done it both ways but the person doing the request has to know how to configure their router if they have one and using Messenger can save a lot of hassle since the router isn't a problem when you use it. Hope things go well for you.

 

I wound up not using Messenger or Windows Live Remote Assistance for no other reason than between our two computers we just couldn't connect and couldn't figure out why. As with most things it is probably a problem between the screen and the chair in front of it.

We wound up using downloading and using a free program called "LogMeIn." It worked just fine with no problems and I was able to get my friend going in a matter of minutes once we got connected. I would recommend this program as I found it pretty intuitive and it worked.

Thanks for you help.