Getting Remote Assistance

Sometimes the best way to fix a computer problem is to get help from a friend or colleague who knows how to solve it. If your friend or colleague lives too far away to help you in person, you can use Remote Assistance within Windows Live Messenger and an Internet connection to help you get the support and answers you need. You can ask a trusted contact in another location to connect to your computer over the Internet and provide support in real time. After connecting to your computer, you can invite a contact to view your desktop, chat online using instant messages, talk online using a microphone and speakers, and send files. Instead of simply talking about a solution, sometimes you need someone to show you how to perform the steps before you fully understand the procedure. With Remote Assistance, you can give a contact control of your computer whereby he or she can demonstrate how to perform the procedure using his or her mouse and keyboard while you watch in real time. If your computer is located on a network behind a firewall, you might not be able to use remote assistance; check with your network administrator for details.

Ask for Remote Assistance

Double-click the Windows Messenger icon in the notification area of the taskbar, and then sign in, if necessary.

Double-click the contact you want to send an instant message.

Click the Actions menu, and then click Request remote assistance, and then wait for the other person to accept the invitation.

Enter a password twice, and then click OK.

Click Yes to let this person connect to your computer.

To have a conversation, type a message to explain your problem, and then press Enter.

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If the person asks to take control of your computer, click Yes or No.

To take back control of your computer, click Stop Sharing on the toolbar.

When you’re done, click Disconnect, and then click Yes.

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Provide Remote Assistance

Sign-in to Windows Messenger, and then wait for an invitation to provide remote assistance.

• To offer remote assistance, select a contact, click the Actions menu, and then click Request remote assistance.

When you receive the invitation, click Accept, and then wait for the Remote Assistance window to open.

Wait, enter a password from the person asking for assistance, and then click OK.

To have a conversation, type a message to discuss the problem, and then press Enter.

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Watch the screen of the person you want to help during the conversation.

To take control of the person’s computer, click the Request Control button on the toolbar, and then wait for the other person’s response.

To give back control of the other person’s computer, click the Stop Sharing button on the toolbar.

When you’re done, click Disconnect, and then click Yes.

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If necessary, click Cancel to exit remote assistance and not connection to another person.

For Your Information: Sharing Games and Activities If you need to share information in a specific program or document with others in a conference, you can use Windows Live Messenger to share your documents and programs. They cannot work with the document until you give them access to it. The user who clicks the program window “takes control” of the program and can then run any menu commands or make changes to the document. If you have a multi-player game, such as Age of Empires II, installed on both computers, you can play the game using Windows Live Messenger. To start an activity or game, click the Actions menu, click Start an activity or Play a game, and then follow the on-screen instructions.