Need Help On Remote Access...

[WeaponX 0]

Hi, I have been at this for a while now and give up. I Googled and Googled...but tried everything I can understand. I want to have remote access to another user's computer (like my relatives who need help). Let's just use Windows XP Home as the main OS for now...I want to know how to do this on my current setting first and hopefully I can pick up from there and know how to do it on another machine. This is how I'm connecting online and the software/hardware specs:1. Westell Versalink 327W Router/Modem from Verizon2. Windows XP Home - didn't get SP2 yet, so still using older firewall3. ZoneAlarm 5.5I read many articles online and some say I should enable port forwarding. Is that required? I think I know how to do that on my router if necessary.What I have done already:1. Disabled Windows Firewall2. Set ZoneAlarm settings to Allow incoming TCP ports 3389 under High security settings in ZoneAlarm->Firewall->Internet Zone Security->Custom. I even did that for UDP port 3389 (should I have done that?)3. After step 2 above failed, I even disabled ZoneAlarm altogether and my friend still says he can't access my computerDo I have to Allow outgoing TCP port (and UDP port?) if I want to connect to another user's computer? Or is it ok to leave that unchecked? This is in ZoneAlarm...If anyone can give me some details on what to do to make this work, that would be greatly appreciated. Like I said, I have been at this for a while and just couldn't figure it out.Also, will the same thing apply for using other programs like TightVNC to connect besides the Remote Desktop Connection feature in Windows XP?Thanks.

[Houdini 0]

Just go to your Help and Support in the start menu and select the Invite a friend to connect to your computer in the main heading of Ask for Assistance then have your friend or parent or whomever go ahead and follow the directions, you don't need to worry about you system configuration as long as you have an internet connection.

 

I think you are getting Remote assistance confused with the commercail program Go to my PC.

[WeaponX 0]

Nope. I think this only works on Windows XP Pro computers and not for Home. For Home, I think we can only connect but can't send invitations requesting help.

[lisim 0]

sorry i can nto help u at the moment but i will try and find more info but i can connect to other computers that have the right info etc i often connect to my home computer form work do u use the program Remote Desktop Connection?

[Hercco 0]

I don't know WinXP remote desktop as I don't use WinXP but I can give you help network wise.You need to have the ports open to both directions, incoming and outgoing. And I doubt that this Remote assistance utility uses UDP so I'd keep the ports closed and anyways it doesn't work try with UDP ports open too. Also, the router might be blocking the ports, so yes you need to enable port forwarding. Again first do only TCP and if not working UDP too. The router should be really easy to configure; easier than ZoneAlarm.

[James_K 0]

Win home cannot use remote access but it does have the ability to have it is on your WIN XP home CD in ummmm I dont quite remember but it's there somewhere I think it might be under extras but if you dont want to waist your time looking for it you can just download the client from here
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

[Houdini 0]

Your link failed, try these links instead the first is for XP PRO and the second is for all Windows to allow the remote assistance.
For the Win XP PRO
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
For all other Windows use the below
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
I previewed and tested both the above links and they will work.
Also here is the main page for all machine concerning tools and utilities for Windows.
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

[inconnu1405241515 0]

Refer to this, too, if you haven't yet:

http://www.microsoft.com/err/technet/

(Although the URL may sound like for WinXP Pro, it is applicable to XP Home as well.)

 

 

Now, besides what others have commented, the first thig you may want to check up if you have UPnP enabled with your router. Go into the setup and turn it on. The same applies to your counterpart.

 

I am assuming that both you and your counterpart are on DSL connection.

There are cases sometimes with Cable ISPs that users are only provided with private IPs, not global IPs (possible in large flats or appartments.) If this is the case, you have no luck; Remote Assistance wouldn't work.

 

 

Just for info, in an correctly configured environment, 1) only WinXP Pro can be a "Remote Access" server, but anyone can access it. 2) Both XP Pro and Home can host a "Remote Assistance" and serve/access each other.

[WeaponX 0]

Thanks for all the replies...

 

Hercco: Do I have to use a static IP for port forwarding to work? Been reading up on this online and it seems to be the case. I have DHCP enabled so my router assigns an IP for my laptop.

 

Houdini: That second link seems to be for XP Pro also (unless it works for Home also?). I have to have IIS also though...and I'm not to savvy on how to do that.

 

inconnu: Yep...Trust me I tried everything I can think of LOL. I used UltraVNC, TightVNC, Windows XP's own Remote Desktop Connection and even Windows Messenger. All to no avail. Out of the handful of users I tried to do this one, I remember only getting access to one user's computer. I'm sure the user has these firewalls enabled also...

 

Question on that...What is UPNP for? I had to look around for it but found it in my router configurations. Do I need to enable any service also? I can create my custom service to have those port forward settings in it. I really don't know why I need port forwarding and hope that I'm doing it correctly. So if anyone uses Verizon DSL also and could give me details on how to set this up, I would greatly appreciate the help

 

Yes, the other user I'm trying to connect to uses a fast connection (DSL or Cable).

 

For the port setting part, do I have to add the port forwarding in the router and also Allow incoming (and outgoing) TCP port 3389 in ZoneAlarm? Should I disable the Internet Connection Firewall in Windows XP (might be blocking it also?)? I went into the Advanced Settings for the Internet Connection Firewall...and see Remote Desktop. Should that be checked?

 

So is it possible for a XP Home machine to access another XP Home machine? Or must the one being accessed be Pro? My friend says that Pro is not needed on the other user's computer since he did this before at work...

[yordan 10]

By the way, you should also try vnc. You install vnc server on the target system, you run vncviewer on your own PC, and you give the IP address of the target PC, and you are on the remote PC, your keyboard is his keyboard, your mouse moves on his screen. Of course, don't forget to give a password and to use enkryption.

[WeaponX 0]

Yeah, I like to use VNC also. I tried TightVNC and UltraVNC, both to no avail...probably because of the firewall and router blocking access. I could do this in my local network (connect my laptop to my desktop using internal IP address).

[inconnu1405241515 0]

Yes, a Windows XP Home Edition PC can be connected to, from a PC using XP Home Edition through "Remote Assistance." (cf. But NOT with Windows "Remote Desktop"; this is for Windows XP Pro only.)

 

In order to get Remote Assistance work, both sides of the connection must have their router/firewall/port settings configured adequately, on top of global IP availability. It is possible that in some cable ISPs, global IPs are not made available to the user, and that's why I was asking what the counterpart connection is.

 

To recap, the followings have to be configured at both ends, for using Remote Assistance:

 

1. Router Port Mappings

 

Found the following link that is tailored for your router:

Port Forwarding for the Westell Versalink 327W

 

Note: This port settings is the same for Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop.

 

2. Firewall Port Settings

2-1. ZoneAlarm

ZoneAlarm should be configured to allow both inbound and outbound connections using TCP and UDP on port 3389.

 

2-2. Windows XP ICF

"Remote Desktop" should be checked to allow inbound connections (for receiving Remote Assistance.)

 

3. UPnP Setting

UPnP should be turned on in your router settings.

 

In very very brief, UPnP is a technology that allows an application (in our case Remote Assistance) to know the global IP from the router. Without UPnP activated, Remote Assistance cannot deliver the right IP address to the other side of the connection behind routers.

 

Once the settings are done on both sides, the one willing to receive help should start "Ask for Remote Assistance."

 

[Other Reference Materials]

Start a Remote Assistance Session from Windows Messenger

Supported connection scenarios for Remote Assistance

[WeaponX 0]

I have tried these with a handful of users already and some are using DSL connections, so I'm sure it's not just a cable thing in my case. I'm missing a setting somewhere...Yeah, I looked at the Port Forward site a while back already and have done exactly that. Just a quick question though. Do I HAVE to get a static IP address in order for this to work? If so, do I just assign it to the one that my router is giving me all the time (192.168.1.47)? Just don't want to mess things up and get disconnected...I will redo all these steps again to confirm that it's set properly. I will also ask the user on the other end to do this.Remote Assistance was just a simple example. I will most likely use those VNC type programs instead if the user doesn't have XP (or XP Pro if that's required for assistance).Is there any way (be it a program or a web browser) to access another user's machine without having them run through ALL those steps? Some users I know are not very computer-savvy and it may not be simple to walk them through these steps. I even tried using programs like LogMeIn and that didn't even work Not only that, if they are using other firewall programs that I'm not familiar with, well...you know the rest LOL.Thanks again for all the help. I will try to give this a try and see how it works out for the time being (unless there is a simpler way, to my last question ).

[yordan 10]

I will most likely use those VNC

I use vnc with dynamic addresses, the address changing rather fast. I simply use vnc on the computer name, and it works in most of the cases. sometimes I have to go on the router in order to know the current IP address, and then I use vnc on the IP address.Of course, on each computer, Zone Alarm says "vnc is trying to access" or "do I have to block access from vnc", and I answer "always allow this program".
Regards
Yordan

[inconnu1405241515 0]

There is no real super-easy way/application, to let someone take control of another's PC over the Internet, without any intervention by the owner at all. If that was possbile, that means there is a security problem. (I know there are some server-based solutions in the market, but those are for the large-scale deployment by off-site/remote maintenance pro's and companies, for example.)

 

So, be it Windows Remote Assistance or a VNC variant that you will want to use eventually, there are certain number steps of configuration unavoidable. By further reading into the descriptions at UltraVNC site, I find that the SC (SimpleClick) feature they offer should best fit your needs. It will reduce the config hassle for your counterpart to the minimum, while it gives that task over to yourself; what you will do is to pre-configure a couple of things for your counterpart to use UltraVNC, and you will send that pre-configured package to him over e-mail or some other way.

 

You will have to do the following setups on your own local network:

 

1. Define one PC that you will want to use to control the other's and assign a static IP to it; this is a must-requirement to use UltraVNC across routers (=over the internet) in this scenario. (I see that you have multiple PCs within your LAN; I'll come back to the point as to how to handle this situation.)

 

2. Forward port 5500 to the defined PC, with its static local IP.

 

3. Find out what global IP is assigned by the ISP to your router.

Since your global IP will likely change each time you connect to your ISP, you will need to check it up every time you do a preconfiguration.

This info is needed for you to preconfigure the UltraVNC SC package for your counterpart. It should be noted in the "HOST" section of the "helpdesk.txt"

 

Then create the customized UltraVNC SC package. I am not further going into details of how to create it, as this should be self-explanatory at their site.

 

Once the creation is done, hand it over to your counterpart. He will start the SC executable, and you will start UltraVNC Viewer in "listen mode" on your end. You may want to advise your counterpart to simply turn off his third-party firewall software, if any, only during the connection for the ease of operation; otherwise, he may be seeing warning messages telling him there are some outbound connection being made, to which he should agree.

 

I have tried this myself successfully using two different networks with Windows XP machines at both end.

 

[Assigning static IPs]

Assuming you are the admin of your home LAN, in other words, there is no one else on the network who will manually and randomly change the IP settings of the PCs, I would recommend you to provide all the permanent PCs with a static IP. Like that way you will have less chance of PCs fighting for an IP. Additionally, it will be handier should you decide to set up a server inside your LAN later on. You can still leave your DHCP on, just in case somebody comes and visits you with a wireless PC and you want to let him use your network. Keep DHCP ranges separate from the pre-assinged IPs, in order to avoid such "visitor" PC try and grab a pre-assigned IP.

 

Example:

Your DHCP range (found in the router setup) : starts from 192.168.1.45

Your PCs ---

Desktop : 192.168.1.31

Laptop1 : (Wired adaptor) 192.168.1.32 (Wireless adaptor) 192.168.1.33

Laptop2 : (Wired adaptor) 192.168.1.34 (Wireless adaptor) 192.168.1.35

... and so on

 

If you do not want to assign static IPs to the whole fleet, that's okay. But do assign one to the PC you want to use for UltraVNC, and keep that IP number away from the DHCP range. From what you are writing, my guess is that your router is configured to assign IPs starting 192.168.1.4X, so it should be safe for you to try 192.168.1.3X numbers. It shouldn't mess things up, but in case you really don't get a connection, do not panic. Put it back to "automatic assignment" and it'll be fine. Just make sure there aren't many PCs booting up at the same time you are changing IPs.

 

With Windows Remote Assistance, static IP isn't really a must-must, so long as you have UPnP on both ends and MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger is working with the two parties on-line at the same time. (Other way around, if UPnP isn't active then yes static IP is a must.)