XP Pro does RemoteDesktopAssistance with XPHome?

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OFFICE WITH XP PRO TO DO REMOTE ASSISTANCE FOR REMOTE RELATIVE USING XP HOME

Scenario-–

I run an office, using (among others) Windows XP Pro. A Relative with Windows XP Home occasionally may get into a jam, and need some immediate help through Remote Assistance (RA).

To render that assistance, I can walk through the problem on the phone with Relative, but this approach depends heavily on Relative’s experience to be efficient.

That makes RA all the more important, because it permits me quickly to check conditions on Relative’s computer without having to guide Relative every step of the way.

Research So Far–

Perhaps all too briefly, I have researched the RA feature of Windows XP, and understand (1) Only XP Pro comes with RA but (2) any version of Windows XP can receive RA support, provided RA is set up beforehand on the client machine.

In the ideal arrangement, Relative would call with a problem, and if required, I go to RA to work in more depth on Relative’s machine.

My Questions–

1. Has anyone actually used XP Pro’s RA to solve problems on an XP Home machine? Any problems– how resolved?
2. What advance setup should be done beforehand on Novice machine? Obviously, the MS site has some details, but I am looking for your own pointers and advice

Discussion–

In my office configuration, I want to do RA for all Windows XP clients.

I do not expect Windows XP Pro RA to apply to later Windows versions, although it is likely RA in Windows 7 is fully retrocompatible with XP RA.

Bonus Question–

If it turns out that Windows 7 happily does RA with all previous Windows XP versions, is MY best choice for doing RA under this scenario Windows 7, instead of XP Pro? Advantages of Windows 7 RA feature set?

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Remote Assistance should be able to run in XP Home as well, with some tweaking.
See this site…

HOW TO: Enable Remote Assistance in Windows XP
APPLIES TO
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Overview of Remote Assistance in Windows XP

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Remote Assistance should be able to run in XP Home as well, with some tweaking.
See this site…

Overview of Remote Assistance in Windows XP

A BIG THANK YOU

Thanks to Clint, Bertie and Larry for their help– I have been working on another project simultaneously,
but thinking about the RA issue continuously.

First, my original Bonus Question– according to MSPress Windows 7 Resource Kit, Windows 7 makes
all RA user help requests easier, from the standpoint of simplicity, than with the same operation under
XP. But the slightly greater difficulty of XP does not make it abstruse, simply a matter of taking matters
more slowly and carefully.

The relative ease introduced by Vista and by Windows 7 comes also at a price for interoperability.
Neither Windows 7 nor XP users can request help of one another. But Windows 7 can render help to XP
by a different procedure. Since tech support often must address many versions of Windows, this lack of
full interoperability is not the neatest resolution Microsoft could have offered. In fact, many critics suggest
MS designed against interoperability between its own product versions, precisely to force migration to the
latest product, so all users will have the same environment. This measure keeps the MS revenue stream
bloated, and all that.

Even so, resisting the impulse to bolt to Windows 7, and stay with tried-and-proven XP has some virtues of
its own, after the initial setup for the help session is completed. According to Clint’s reference, setup
can be done simply enough from either the Control Panel or the Registry. Most users, including veterans,
probably will choose the Control Panel, since using the Registry Editor can be tedious and brings some
risk (at least, for the novice or beginner) which requires slightly more time and preparation of safeguards..

Finally, for the questions I raised about actual, field experience with XP RA operations, Bertie volunteered
“indirect experience” that confirms RA sessions are OK. That will have to do, unless we have some later
posts indicating hidden problems. That information, of course, is always very useful.

You may find posters to this thread offering a much more capable product (free) called TightVNC, and
I plan to try it, myself, since it works on all platforms and is ideal for support personnel. The only uphill
part with TVNC is its interface, since setup is a little geeky for the beginner or novice. But like (almost)
anything else with Windows, as Bill Gates once insisted, the solution is “discoverable”. And really
simple, once the proper numbers are known for the IP address of helper and user machines.

Again, TVNC offers its products free to people like us, and they deserve our support. TVNC also offers a
product to “broadcast” the desktop view in real-time of an instructor’s PC to all computers connected to
the same network– making it ideal for low-cost computer instruction where a wired (or wireless) network is
already in place and running.

At http://www.tightVNC.com, the word “tight” refers to “efficient and functional”– the highest praise for a software
product.

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I’m involved in the same research project…but I know folks who have successfully and usefully worked with RA from XP Pro to XP. In addition, according to what I’ve read, Vista and Win7 will work with all versions of Windows starting with XP.

I’m looking forward to further postings

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Off topic I know, but have a look at logmein for remote assistance…very easy to setup, & free!

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There seems to be some mixing of the terms Remote Assistance and Remote Access. Remote assistance works across all the modern Windows platforms while windows Remote access server client only works on Pro and above versions, hence the niche market for other remote access products like TightVNC, UltraVNC, LogMeIn, GoToMyPC and many others. While all third party remote access products will work on most platforms, the efficacy and easy of use will vary greatly. For a novice help recipient, I think LogMeIn free is a good place to start and then move to other more full featured RA(ccess) products if need be, taking the extra time needed to configure firewalls and routers for access.

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This measure keeps the MS revenue stream
bloated

Funny! My new goal is not to be rich now, instead, I want a bloated revenue stream!

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