Vista Remote Assistance

1. First enable Remote Assistance by choosing Start➪ Control Panel➪System and Maintenance➪System➪ Remote Settings. On the Remote tab, select the Allow Remote Assistance Connections to this Computer check box, and then click OK.

2. Open the Help and Support Center. Click the Windows Remote Assistance link in the Ask Someone area of the Help and Support Center.

3. On the Windows Remote Assistance page, click the Invite Someone You Trust to Help You link. On the page that appears, you can notify somebody that you want help.

4. You can use Windows Messenger or e-mail to invite somebody to help you. For these steps, click Use E-mail to Send an Invitation.

5. Enter and retype a password and click Next. Your default e-mail program opens with an invitation message prepared. Fill in an e-mail address and, if you like, a personal message at the end of the automatically generated invitation. (For example, you might want to provide the password you assigned here.) Click Send.

6. In the resulting Windows Remote Assistance window, when an incoming connection is made, use the tools here to adjust settings, chat, send a file, or pause, cancel, or stop sharing.

7. When you’re finished, click the Close button to close the Windows Remote Assistance window.

Setting a time limit to not more than a few hours is a good idea. After all, you don’t want somebody trying to log on to your computer unexpectedly two weeks from now when you’ve already solved the problem some other way.

Remember that it’s up to you to let the recipient know the password — it isn’t included in your e-mail unless you add it. Although using a password used to be optional in Windows XP, it’s mandatory in Windows Vista, and the password you use must be at least six characters long.