Being a Windows 7 power user is generally a very good thing. You understand how everything works, know all the shortcuts and can freely bend Windows to your will. However, with this power comes responsibility.
As news of your guru-like status spreads, friends and family will start expecting you to solve their computer problems. Heading next door to fix your neighbour's PC isn't too much of a hassle, but if the system is much further away then you'll want an easier alternative. That's where Windows Remote Assistance can help.
This tool enables you to see the desktop on a remote computer, run programs, find the problem and make the tweaks needed to fix it, all from the comfort of your PC.
Preparations
The configuration process starts on the remote PC – the one that you're trying to view. First, ask your friend to click 'Start', then right-click 'Computer' or 'My Computer', select 'Properties' and view their Remote Settings. The 'Allow Remote Assistance connections' box must be checked, and if they click 'Advanced', the 'Allow this computer to be controlled remotely' box must also be checked.
Once its core functionality is enabled, your friend can launch Remote Assistance (msra.exe). They should click 'Invite someone you trust to help you' to do this. If both of you have Windows 7 then, in theory, they can click 'Use Easy Connect' to get Remote Assistance working. However, this relies on Windows 7 being able to work with both your routers, and it's prone to being disabled for other reasons.
A more reliable option is to ask them to click 'Use email to send an invitation'. This will launch their email client with an invitation file attached, and they'll need to send this to your email address.
Taking control
Either way, Windows Remote Assistance should open a new window on your friend's PC with a 12-character connection password. They'll have to pass this to you separately, and you'll then have everything you need to log in.
If you've opted for the email approach, wait for the email attachment to arrive, open the file with Windows and Remote Assistance should fire up. Enter the password that your friend is looking at and you'll be connected.
If you're trying Easy Connect, you need to launch Remote Assistance (msra.exe) manually. Click 'Help someone who has invited you' and select 'Use Easy Connect'. If this works, Remote Assistance will then ask for your friend's password. If it doesn't, try the email method instead.
Your copy of Remote Assistance can't simply log in to your friend's PC, even if you have the necessary password – that could be a security issue. Instead they'll receive an alert, warning them that someone is trying to use Remote Assistance. This alert asks whether they're willing to allow you to connect to their PC.
This dialog will display your account username for reassurance that it's you, although if your username is something anonymous like PowerUser then it's best to tell your friend this in advance. They'll need to click 'Yes' to permit this connection. That's the first stage complete.
You should now be able to see the remote desktop. It may not look very pretty – the background will have been removed and colour will be set to 16-bit for bandwidth reasons – but it's adequate. If you simply want to watch and understand what your friend is doing, then you can use the 'Chat' button to tell them so (it's text chat – no microphones required).
Your friend can then fire up whichever application is causing them problems and attempt whatever they're trying to do, while you observe. It's far more effective than relying on descriptions, which they may give you later, and could be enough for you to figure out exactly where they're going wrong.
If you need to take charge, click 'Request Control' on the Remote Assistance toolbar. Your friend will then be asked if they'll allow you to take control, and if they say yes, you'll be able to run programs on their PC yourself. You can browse the Start Menu, launch Control Panel, check their Registry, open the command line and generally apply whatever tweaks are necessary to get their system back into full working order.
