Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance is a Microsoft Windows feature introduced in Windows XP that allows a user to view or control a remote Windows computer over a network or the Internet to resolve issues without directly touching the computer. It is based on the Remote Desktop Protocol.

With the release of Windows 10 Anniversary Update, its Start menu shortcut was removed, effectively hiding it from the user in favor of Quick Assist which offers the same functionality.

Remote Assistance establishes a local Remote Desktop Protocol connection to the end user's computer to dispense help.

Windows XP
The feature was first introduced in Windows XP as Remote Assistance and is based on Remote Desktop technologies. Remote Assistance in Windows XP is integrated into the Help and Support Center UI and allows sending invitations to the support person by email, Windows Messenger or saving the invitation as a file and transferring the file across through other methods. The computer can be controlled by both, the support person connecting remotely as well as the one sending the invitation. Chat, audio-video conversations and file transfer are available.

Windows Vista
In Windows Vista, Remote Assistance received a massive upgrade with a standalone user interface and is based on RDP 6 and Windows Desktop Sharing API. Two systems administrators can simultaneously connect to a single computer. Remote sessions automatically reconnect after restarting the computer. It also supports session pausing, built-in diagnostics, chat, file transfer and XML-based logging. It reduces bandwidth requirements for low-speed connections. NAT traversal allows a session to be established even if the user is behind a Network Address Translation (NAT) device, for example, a router in a home network. Remote Assistance is configurable using Group Policy and supports command-line switches so that custom shortcuts can be deployed.

Windows 7
In Windows 7, Remote Assistance is based on RDP 7. An extra option to connect using Peer Name Resolution Protocol is added, called Easy Connect if IPv6 connectivity is present. With Easy Connect, only a password needs to be shared instead of an invitation file, and two computers can establish a peer-to-peer connection over the Local Area Network (LAN) or the Internet without a relay server. However, this version of Remote Assistance does not support file transfer and clipboard sharing.

Remote Assistance is installed by default on Windows clients but must be added manually on Windows Server 2008 R2 servers. Remote assistance sessions are initiated by launching the program from the Start menu or by invoking  from the command-line interface.

Deprecation
With the release of Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft removed all visible shortcuts to the tool in favor of a modern replacement called Quick Assist which mostly has the same functionality and a similar user interface with buttons called Get assistance and Give assistance. The design is like all UWP apps. Unlike Remote Assistant, Quick Assist requires the support person to sign in using a Microsoft account before dispensing help due to it being cloud-based. However, it is possible to get the legacy tool back by doing the following:


 * 1) Right-click an blank area on the desktop, point at New in the context menu and click on Shortcut from the sub-menu.
 * 2) In the pop-up Create Shortcut window, type %windir%\system32\msra.exe in the empty box and click Next.
 * 3) Enter Remote Assistance in the name box and click Finish to create the shortcut.