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Remote assistance auto accept for Windows XP

I use remote assistance on a almost daily basis at my work. It is a built in tool in Windows that allows me to remotely control a users computer without kicking them off of the machine (like remote desktop does). One thing it did not do was let me take control if the user was not at their desk. The user must click two windows when going remote with them. First they must click to allow you to share their screen, and second they must click a button to allow you to take control. I have searched and found a few VB scripts that allow me to go remote without needing the user to click accept but today I just ran across something even more useful. The ability to go remote without the user there and without needing to use a special tool. Only problem is I have to edit a file on their local machine. I may play around with this some more in the future but for now I thought I would share it with everyone just so others can enjoy this ability.

First the file you need to edit is found on the computer you are trying to take control of at C:\windows\pchealth\HelpCtr\System\Remote @ssistance\helpeeaccept.htm. Open the file with notepad, or better yet Notepad++, and edit the following lines.

btnAccept.disabled = false;
btnDecline.disabled = false;
btnDecline.focus();

to this

btnAccept.disabled = false;
btnDecline.disabled = false;
btnDecline.focus();
DoAccept();

Next, open the TakeControlMsgs.htm and find the following lines:

idExpert1.innerText = vArgs[0];
idExpert2.innerText = vArgs[0];
idExpert3.innerText = vArgs[0];

Then just add these two lines right after

// Added to allow take remote control of PC
onClickHandler(0)

That’s it! now the next time you go remote with that machine it will auto accept for you to view the screen and also auto accept when you click “Take control”.
Because remote assistance is different in Vista this doesn’t work however. If anyone knows of a way to use remote assistance in Vista without user interaction please let me know in the comments.

Weekend Update

I should have some good pictures of pumpkins sometime this week so I will post those as soon as I get them. I also just wanted to share a few tools I found over the past week (or two).

The first I found over at Lifehacker and it is called NetDrive. It allows you to mount remote file systems (ftp, sftp, etc.) to your windows machine. You can download the utility here because I guess it isn’t developed anymore and somewhat hard to find.

Secondly there is a program called mRemote. I really want to give this one a try. It allows you to manage multiple remote desktop connections all from one program. The real cool thing is it doesn’t have to be the same type of remote desktop. You can use it for RDP, ssh, vnc, etc. It is open source so you can grab the latest version from SourceForge.

Finally there

is a how to on Wired about Usenet file sharing.