Remote Assistance w/o Permission

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (twilliamsen)

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:34:19 GMT

Ok, it is fixed with the above portion of putting a space between Remote and Assitance.

The strComputerName variable is not being passed to the text box.

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (twilliamsen)

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:27:48 GMT

Meg.

Very interesting concept.... I am looking at using this piece of interesting code with my current HTA...

But, I keep getting this:

Machine is not accessible, ie does not appear to be turned on.

Firewalls are not on... I can ping the machine.

and I can open this directly from the run box

\c$\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\System\Remote">\\<strComputerName>\c$\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\System\Remote Assistance\helpeeaccept.htm

I did find a little error with the directory above, there is a space between "Remote" and "Assistance" I changed it will triple quotes, but do not know if that is the issue yet or not.

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (Rischip)

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:09:00 GMT

All it is, is TightVNC with remote installation. My software does that, just not quite as eligantly.
But then again, mine is scriptable, and be scripted to connect to all pc's in a domain sequentially.

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (Aforb)

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:33:26 GMT

Creating it's own terminal service without authentication and no notofication on host PC.

Yeah, I guess it is ;) But it only works over a domain, not workgroup, and has difficulty finding some hosts.

[Edit: Spelling]

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (ginolard)

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 04:51:01 GMT

Holy Cow...that GenControl tool is just a little TOO powerful....

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (Aforb)

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:18:13 GMT

I know this isn't as fun as scripting it yourself, but I found a neat little app that does exactly this the other day.

GenControl - and I hope this isn't included as spamming. I just thought you all might want to have a look seeing as though it's remote assistance and all.

Cheers,
Reece.

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (Meg)

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 20:18:44 GMT

ORIGINAL: rothgar

thanks for the tip. I was going to copy the modified files over to the client machine but where do I copy them to?

Hi rothgar,
Run the script from the same directory as where you extracted my Yes and No folders from the zip you downloaded.
The path to the where the modified files get copied to is in the script if you want to manually copy them.

But to clarify:
According to the link in my last post, it appears that there are only two files that need modifying.
C:\WINDOWS\pchealth\helpctr\System\Remote Assistance\helpeeaccept.htm
C:\WINDOWS\pchealth\helpctr\System\Remote Assistance\Interaction\Server\TakeControlMsgs.htm

I have tested this and all you need are the two files modified as per Lewis Robert's http://www.lewisroberts.com/?p=40 instructions.

Here is a link to the files (just the two) which I have modified myself.
RA.ZIP

These files work much better than the ones I posted earlier.
If the link stops working, follow Lewis's tutorial and modify your own copies.

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (rothgar)

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:56:24 GMT

thanks for the tip. I was going to copy the modified files over to the client machine but where do I copy them to?

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (Meg)

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:48:30 GMT

The dude on this site describes how to edit your own Remote Assistance files in order to make the remote client auto accept a connection. http://www.lewisroberts.com/?p=40

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (Meg)

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:27:39 GMT

Hi rothgar,

I read on your site that you use Norton AV, we use Mcafee and firewall's off, so that might be a hint?

If you can run Remote Assistance via the normal traditional way then there is no reason why remote assistance would not work via this script as basically all it does is launch the remote assistance page, punch in the machine name and press go.

Regarding the hacked version of remote assistance, try manually copying the files to a test machine and then run remote assistance via the normal traditional way. If that does not work and future windows security updates could break it, I can't suggest anything as I was just given the modified files, I am not sure what is different about them that makes them special.

I did notice today however that when I connected to a users machine using the script, If you press "Take Control" too quick it doesn’t work. Maybe the files are still finishing copying or the system needs to settle for a few seconds before pressing that button.?

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (rothgar)

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:43:59 GMT

In xp it ran for me and prompted the user to allow me to connect but it never went all the way through :(

I have a feeling it is some setting on our network that is causing problems and not the program itself. My work network is pretty jacked up. :(

If the user on the other end clicks yes it just fails every time.

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (dm_4ever)

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:27:07 GMT

Yeah, on Vista they actually have an EXE which can be used via the command line to pass various options.... wish they had that on WinXP....it would make RemoteAssistance so much easier to script.

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (rothgar)

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:23:38 GMT

It looks like the call for remote assistance.

shell.run "hcp://CN=Microsoft%20Corporation,L=Redmond,S=Washington,C=US/Remote%20Assistance/Escalation/Unsolicited/Unsolicitedrcui.htm"

OH WAIT...it is different in vista. Let me try it on XP

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (dm_4ever)

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:15:21 GMT

What's line 85 for you?

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (rothgar)

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:11:32 GMT

Does anyone else get an error when running the script?

The error I get is

Script: C:\remoteassistance.vbs
Line: 85
Char: 1
Error: 0x80041002
Code: 80041002
Source: (null)

This looks like a great tool for me as a computer tech but I can't get it to work. Any help would be great!

Thanks

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (dm_4ever)

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:06:08 GMT

Glad to help a bit.

This is another way to get the current path

Function ScriptPath
ScriptPath = Replace(WScript.ScriptFullName, _
WScript.ScriptName, "")
End Function

I mentioned to itismike in another post and you that I would use AutoIT for the RALaunch Sub because it is more powerful when waiting for a window and setting focus to it.

I took a script similar to this and converted it to an .exe using the editor that comes with AutoIT so that it can run on any machine. The script then executes this .exe passing the computer name as a parameter before this line: objShell.run "hcp://CN=Microsoft%20CorpoRAtion,L=Redmond,S=Washington,C=US/Remote%20Assistance/Escalation/Unsolicited/Unsolicitedrcui.htm"

AutoIT code

 WinWait("Help and Support Center")
 Sleep(2000)
 WinActivate("Help and Support Center")
 Sleep(2000)
 Send($CmdLine[1])
 Send("{enter}")

i.e.
objShell.Run "C:\scripts\RAHelper.exe " & strComputer
WScript.Sleep 2000
objShell.run "hcp://CN=Microsoft%20CorpoRAtion,L=Redmond,S=Washington,C=US/Remote%20Assistance/Escalation/Unsolicited/Unsolicitedrcui.htm"

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (Meg)

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:16:55 GMT

Thanks dm_4ever,

That's heaps better. I tried it and after adding the scriptpath function back in because the copy function was failing, it works better than mine.

Here is your version with that fix,

 Option Explicit
 Const OverWriteFiles = True
 RemoteAssistance()
 Sub RemoteAssistance
    Dim strComputer : strComputer = UCase(WScript.Arguments.Named("computer"))
    If strComputer = "" Then strComputer = UCase(InputBox("Enter PC Name:"))
    
    If Not Reachable(strComputer) Then 
        MsgBox strComputer & " is unreachable or offline. This script will now end.", vbOKOnly + vbInformation, "OFFLINE"
        WScript.Quit
    End If
    
    Dim strRANormal : strRANormal = UCase(WScript.Arguments.Named("RANormal"))
    Select Case strRANormal
        Case "YES", "TRUE"     strRANormal = vbYes
        Case "NO"                   strRANormal = vbNo
        Case Else                    strRANormal = ""
    End Select
    If strRANormal = "" Then strRANormal = MsgBox("Click YES for Remote Assistance to opeRAte normally", vbYesNo, "Ask Permission?")
    
    If strRANormal = vbYes Then
        RALaunch strComputer
    Else
        Dim objFSO : Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
        objFSO.CopyFolder ScriptPath&"\NO\Remote Assistance" , "\\"&strComputer&"\c$\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\System\" , OverWriteFiles
        RALaunch strComputer
        WScript.Sleep 60000
        objFSO.CopyFolder ScriptPath&"\YES\Remote Assistance" , "\\"&strComputer&"\c$\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\System\" , OverWriteFiles
    End If
 End Sub
 Function Reachable(strComputer)
    Dim wmiQuery : wmiQuery = "Select * From Win32_PingStatus Where Address = '" & _
                              strComputer & "'"
    Dim objWMIService : Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\cimv2")
    Dim objPing : Set objPing = objWMIService.ExecQuery(wmiQuery)
    Dim objStatus
    For Each objStatus in objPing
        If IsNull(objStatus.StatusCode) Or objStatus.Statuscode<>0 Then
            Reachable = False
        Else
            Reachable = True
        End If
    Next
 End Function
 Sub RALaunch(strComputer)
    Dim objShell : Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
    
    objShell.run "hcp://CN=Microsoft%20CorpoRAtion,L=Redmond,S=Washington,C=US/Remote%20Assistance/Escalation/Unsolicited/Unsolicitedrcui.htm" 
    
    Do until objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
        Wscript.Sleep 500
        objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
    Loop 
    
    wscript.sleep 2000
    Do Until objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
        Wscript.Sleep 500
        objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
    Loop 
    
    objShell.sendkeys strComputer
    wscript.sleep 500
    Do until objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
        Wscript.Sleep 5
        objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
    Loop 
    
    objShell.sendkeys "%c" 
    wscript.sleep 500
    Do until objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
        Wscript.Sleep 5
        objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
    loop  
    
    objShell.sendkeys "%s" 
 End Sub
 
 'Determine path script is running from
 Function ScriptPath()
   ScriptPath = Left(WScript.ScriptFullName, _
     Len(WScript.ScriptFullName) - Len(WScript.ScriptName))
 End Function

It connects more reliably and is easier to understand.

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (dm_4ever)

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:54:12 GMT

I would use something else like AutoIT to replace the RALaunch Sub, but besides that, this is a slightly cleaned up version. (untested)

command line:
RAScript.vbs /computer:Computer1 /ranormal:yes
or
RAScript.vbs /computer:Computer1 /ranormal:no

 Option Explicit
 
 Const OverWriteFiles = True
 
 RemoteAssistance()
 
 Sub RemoteAssistance
     Dim strComputer : strComputer = UCase(WScript.Arguments.Named("computer"))
     If strComputer = "" Then strComputer = UCase(InputBox("Enter PC Name:"))
     
     If Not Reachable(strComputer) Then 
         MsgBox strComputer & " is unreachable or offline. This script will now end.", vbOKOnly + vbInformation, "OFFLINE"
         WScript.Quit
     End If
     
     Dim strRANormal : strRANormal = UCase(WScript.Arguments.Named("RANormal"))
     Select Case strRANormal
         Case "YES", "TRUE"     strRANormal = vbYes
         Case "NO"                   strRANormal = vbNo
         Case Else                    strRANormal = ""
     End Select
     If strRANormal = "" Then strRANormal = MsgBox("Click YES for Remote Assistance to opeRAte normally", vbYesNo, "Ask Permission?")
     
     If strRANormal = vbYes Then
         RALaunch strComputer
     Else
         Dim objFSO : Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
         objFSO.CopyFolder ".\NO\Remote Assistance", "\\" & strComputer & "\c$\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\System", OverWriteFiles
         RALaunch strComputer
         WScript.Sleep 60000
         objFSO.CopyFolder ".\YES\Remote Assistance", "\\" & strComputer & "\c$\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\System", OverWriteFiles
     End If
 End Sub
 
 Function Reachable(strComputer)
     Dim wmiQuery : wmiQuery = "Select * From Win32_PingStatus Where Address = '" & _
                               strComputer & "'"
     Dim objWMIService : Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\cimv2")
     Dim objPing : Set objPing = objWMIService.ExecQuery(wmiQuery)
     Dim objStatus
     For Each objStatus in objPing
         If IsNull(objStatus.StatusCode) Or objStatus.Statuscode<>0 Then
             Reachable = False
         Else
             Reachable = True
         End If
     Next
 End Function
 
 Sub RALaunch(strComputer)
     Dim objShell : Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
     
     objShell.run "hcp://CN=Microsoft%20CorpoRAtion,L=Redmond,S=Washington,C=US/Remote%20Assistance/Escalation/Unsolicited/Unsolicitedrcui.htm" 
     
     Do until objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
         Wscript.Sleep 500
         objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
     Loop 
     
     wscript.sleep 2000
     Do Until objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
         Wscript.Sleep 500
         objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
     Loop 
     
     objShell.sendkeys strComputer
     wscript.sleep 500
     Do until objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
         Wscript.Sleep 5
         objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
     Loop 
     
     objShell.sendkeys "%c" 
     wscript.sleep 500
     Do until objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
         Wscript.Sleep 5
         objShell.AppActivate ("Help and Support Center") 
     loop  
     
     objShell.sendkeys "%s" 
 End Sub

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (Meg)

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:51:13 GMT

Sorry that part of the script is a bit messy where the command line variable passed is yes or no, what I have done is converted it to 6 or 7 which is the same as the output from the msgbox and then apply logic to it.
You could trim this part of the script down by not even asking the question, i.e. running a normal RA session or the special one always.
The command line variable passing part of the script can be removed completely to make it simpler to follow.

My logic
1. Check if 1st cmd line variable is passed to script (computer name).
2. If "" (nothing is passed) then prompt for a computer name
3. Check if a file on the remote computer specified is there
4. No file found - report target computer is off - quit
5. Yes file found - check if 2nd cmd line variable was passed to script (connection method)
6. If "" (nothing is passed) then prompt for connection method YES or NO
7. connection method normal - "YES" specified - launch Remote assistance without copying SZY's files.
8. Connection method new -No permission required - "NO" specified -
9. Copy SZY's files to client
10.Launch Remote assistance
11.60 seconds later copy MJP's copy of the original files back.
12.quit

RE: Remote Assistance w/o Permission (itismike)

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 06:05:06 GMT

Hi Meg,

Yes, I find this very interesting indeed! I will probably incorporate this into my script after I get my script to run a bit more reliably.

I had an earlier version that I wrote before I learned how to use subroutines and functions, and for some reason it works more consistently than the script I posted here. Still have some debugging to do!

I have to admit that I got a little confused reading the nested if-then statements so I took the liberty of adding indentation and was wondering if I interpreted it correctly:

 '[...snip]
 'Check if a cmd line variable was passed to script for method
 On Error Resume next
 answer=WScript.Arguments.Item(1)
 On Error Goto 0
 Set shell = createobject("wscript.shell") 
 If answer="" Then 
     'Ask for RA permission or go straight in
     answer=MsgBox("Click YES for Remote Assistance to operate normally",36,"Ask Permission?")
 Else
     If answer="yes" Then
         answer=6
     End if
     If answer="no" Then
         answer=7
     End If
     If answer=7 Or answer=6 Then
         '
     Else
     answer=MsgBox("Click YES for Remote Assistance to operate normally",36,"Ask Permission?")
     End if
 End If
 If answer=7 Then
     'answer=7 NO
     'copy SZY's modified RA files to remote client
     '[...snip]
    WScript.Quit
 End If
 If answer=6 Then
     'answer=6 YES
     RALaunch
     WScript.Quit
 End if

I just had trouble following the logic of the above. Would this satisfy what the above intended?

 '[...snip]
 'Check if a cmd line variable was passed to script for method
 On Error Resume next
 answer=WScript.Arguments.Item(1)
 On Error Goto 0
 Set shell = createobject("wscript.shell") 
 If answer="" Then 
     DO UNTIL answer<>""
         'Ask for RA permission or go straight in
         answer=MsgBox("Click YES for Remote Assistance to operate normally",36,"Ask Permission?")
     LOOP
 End If
 IF answer="yes" THEN
     answer=6
 ELSEIF answer="no" Then
     answer=7
 End If
 If answer=7 Then
     'answer=7 NO
     'copy SZY's modified RA files to remote client
     '[...snip]
    WScript.Quit
 End If
 If answer=6 Then
     'answer=6 YES
     RALaunch
     WScript.Quit
 End if