One of the functionality changes in Windows 7 was to Remote Assistance. In XP, you got a nice GUI to input the machine name or IP address of the target machine. In Windows 7, this was changed in a way where it was difficult to do this. You could do it via the command line. As an academic exercise I wanted to create a graphical wrapper for this that duplicated the XP Remote Assistance experience for service desk.
[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms")
[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Drawing")
#endregion
#region Post-Constructor Custom Code
#endregion
#region Form Creation
#Warning: It is recommended that changes inside this region be handled using the ScriptForm Designer.
#When working with the ScriptForm designer this region and any changes within may be overwritten.
#~~< form1 >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$form1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
$form1.Text = "ASG Remote Assistance"
#~~< btnStartRA >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$btnStartRA = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
$btnStartRA.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(13, 219)
$btnStartRA.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(230, 23)
$btnStartRA.TabIndex = 4
$btnStartRA.Text = "Start Remote Assistance"
$btnStartRA.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $true
$btnStartRA.Enabled = $false
$btnStartRA.Add_Click({ StartRA })
#~~< lstCompInfo >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$lstCompInfo = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ListBox
$lstCompInfo.FormattingEnabled = $true
$lstCompInfo.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(13, 86)
$lstCompInfo.SelectedIndex = -1
$lstCompInfo.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(259, 108)
$lstCompInfo.TabIndex = 3
#$lstCompInfo.Text = ""
#~~< btnConnect >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$btnConnect = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
$btnConnect.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(197, 37)
$btnConnect.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(75, 23)
$btnConnect.TabIndex = 2
$btnConnect.Text = "Connect"
$btnConnect.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $true
#$btnConnect.Add_Click({ $lstCompInfo.Items.Add("This is a test") })
$btnConnect.Add_Click({ GetDetails })
#~~< txtCompName >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$txtCompName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$txtCompName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(13, 39)
$txtCompName.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(168, 20)
$txtCompName.TabIndex = 1
$txtCompName.Text = ""
#~~< Label1 >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$Label1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$Label1.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(13, 13)
$Label1.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(215, 23)
$Label1.TabIndex = 0
$Label1.Text = "Enter Computer Name or IP Address:"
$form1.Controls.Add($btnStartRA)
$form1.Controls.Add($lstCompInfo)
$form1.Controls.Add($btnConnect)
$form1.Controls.Add($txtCompName)
$form1.Controls.Add($Label1)
#endregion
#region Custom Code
#endregion
#region Event Loop
function Main{
[System.Windows.Forms.Application]::EnableVisualStyles()
[System.Windows.Forms.Application]::Run($form1)
}
function GetDetails
{
$strComputer = $txtCompName.Text
$strConnStatus = test-connection -computername $strComputer -quiet
if ($strConnStatus -eq $true)
{
# connection worked, continue script
$lstCompInfo.Items.Add("Connection successful...")
$objUsername = gwmi -computer $strComputer Win32_ComputerSystem | select username, model
$strUserName = $objUsername.Username
$strModelName = $objUsername.Model
$lstCompInfo.Items.Add("Current User is $strUserName")
$lstCompInfo.Items.Add("The target computer is a $strModelName")
$btnStartRA.Enabled = $true
$btnStartRA.Text = "Start Remote Assistance for $strComputer"
}
else
{
# connection failed
#Write-Host "Connection failed with status "
$lstCompInfo.Items.Add("Connection failed.")
$btnStartRA.Enabled = $false
#$strConnStatus | select *
}
}
function StartRA
{
$RAconName = $txtCompName.Text
$lstCompInfo.Items.Add("Attempting to connect to $RAconName" )
cmd /c msra /offerRA $RAconName
}
#endregion
#endregion
#region Event Handlers
Main #This call must remain below all other event functions
#endregion
Some of the lines are note are:
- Line 24 – The Add_Click will call the function that performs the Remote Assistance connection
- Line 76 – The script performs a test to see if the system name is responding
- Line 87 – As part of the IF…THEN statement, if the connection status is true, the connect button is enabled by this line.
- Line 106 – This line performs the command line version of the Remote Assistance connection, using the supplied computer name in the command