Additional Registry Settings for Configuring Remote Assistance

Additional behavior for Remote Assistance can be configured by modifying certain registry settings. Specifically, per-user registry settings for Remote Assistance are found under the following key:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Remote Assistance

These settings are changeable when in the Waiting To Connect mode or when in the connected mode from the Settings button.

Warning If Group Policy is used to manage Remote Assistance settings and any configured policy settings overlap these registry settings, the policy settings prevail.

Summary

Remote Assistance has been enhanced in Windows 7 and Windows Vista to provide better performance, improved usability, NAT-traversal flexibility, and increased security. Best practices for implementing Remote Assistance in an enterprise environment include the following:

• Use Group Policy to enable users of targeted computers in a domain or OU to receive offers of Remote Assistance from Help Desk personnel.
• Use Group Policy to enable the Remote Assistance exception in the Windows Firewall.
• Use Group Policy to deploy scripts to enable users to run the Msra.exe executable if you want to customize how they launch Remote Assistance sessions-for example, to upload an invitation to a network share monitored by support personnel.
• If all of your support computers are running Windows 7 or Windows Vista, use Group Policy to encrypt Remote Assistance tickets to hide sensitive information such as users' IP addresses and computer names.
• If corporate policy requires Remote Assistance records for auditing purposes, use Group Policy to enable Remote Assistance logging on your company's desktop computers and run scripts to periodically move both Helper and User Remote Assistance logs to a safe storage.
• To meet corporate privacy and security requirements, use Group Policy to customize the text message that users see before they allow the Helper to view their screens or
  [Previous] [Contents]
  In this tutorial:

  1. Supporting Users with Remote Assistance
  2. Understanding Remote Assistance
  3. Remote Assistance vs. Remote Desktop
  4. Improvements to Remote Assistance in Windows 7
  5. How Remote Assistance Works in Windows
  6. Remote Assistance Operational States
  7. User vs. Helper Functionality
  8. Remote Assistance and NAT Traversal
  9. Remote Assistance and IP Ports Used
  10. Remote Assistance and Windows Firewall
  11. Remote Assistance and the Secure Desktop
  12. Remote Assistance Logging
  13. Purpose of Remote Assistance Session Logging
  14. Session Log Path and Naming Convention
  15. Using Remote Assistance in the Enterprise
  16. Using Remote Assistance in the Corporate Help Desk Environment
  17. Other Possible Remote Assistance Usage Scenarios
  18. Interoperability with Remote Assistance in Windows Vista
  19. Interoperability with Remote Assistance in Windows XP
  20. Implementing and Managing Remote Assistance
  21. Initiating Remote Assistance Sessions
  22. Initiating Remote Assistance from the GUI
  23. Initiating Remote Assistance from the Command Line
  24. Managing Remote Assistance Using Group Policy
  25. Configuring Remote Assistance in Unmanaged Environments
  26. Additional Registry Settings for Configuring Remote Assistance