SUMMARY
By using the Solicited Remote Assistance feature in Microsoft Windows XP, you can explicitly request help from another party by using a
method such as e-mail or Windows Messenger. This article describes how to
configure or disable the Solicited Remote Assistance feature through Group Policy settings.
Note Perform the following steps on the novice computer, which is the
computer that belongs to the user who is requesting the remote assistance.
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Disable Solicited Remote Assistance
As the administrator, if you do not want users to be able to send
requests for Remote Assistance, you can disable the Solicited Remote Assistance
feature.
- Log on as a user with local administrator
privileges.
- Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
- Locate the Solicited Remote Assistance policy by expanding
the tree to:
Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Remote Assistance
- Double-click Solicited Remote
Assistance.
- On the Solicited Remote Assistance
Properties dialog box, click Disable, click Apply, and then click OK.
- Close the Group Policy snap-in.
When this policy is set, if a user attempts to launch Remote
Assistance, the user receives the following error message:
Your current system setting prevents you from sending an
invitation
Note Expert computers that are using Offer Remote Assistance will not be able to
connect to a novice computer when Solicited Remote Assistance is disabled.
For more information about enabling an expert computer that is using Offer Remote Assistance to connect to a novice computer, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
826088
If the Solicited Remote Assistance policy is disabled, you cannot offer assistance to a Novice computer
Enable and configure Solicited Remote Assistance
With Solicited Remote Assistance enabled on the computer, you
can request help and allow another user to connect to his or her computer. In
addition, you can configure Solicited Remote Assistance with specific settings.
To Enable and configure Solicited Remote Assistance
- Log on as a user with local administrator
privileges.
- Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
- Locate the Solicited Remote Assistance policy by expanding
the tree to:
Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Remote Assistance
- Double-click Solicited Remote Assistance.
- On the Solicited Remote Assistance Properties dialog box, click Enable.
- Under Permit remote control of this
computer, click one of the following options:
- Allow helpers to only view the
computer
- Allow helpers to remotely control the
computer
Note: After the expert computer connects to the novice computer, the expert computer has
the option of controlling the novice computer. You can disable this option by
choosing the Allow helpers to only view the computer
option.
- In the two next fields for Maximum Invitation
ticket time, value and units, choose the settings to control the maximum time for which the
ticket is valid. This setting overrides any other settings on the
computer.
- Click Apply, and then click OK on the Solicited Remote Assistance Properties dialog box.
- Close the Group Policy snap-in.
Note: When this is set to Not Configured, users can still send Remote Assistance invitations. If
necessary, you can configure Solicited Remote Assistance in Control Panel. To
do so, open the system properties, and then click the Remote tab. The default settings are:
- Solicited Remote Assistance is enabled.
- Remote Control is enabled. Click Advanced Settings to view this setting.
- Maximum Invitation ticket time is set
to 30 days.
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