Quick Assist

By Wayne Maruna

            If your computer’s operating system is Windows 10, you should have received the so-called Anniversary Update (version 1607) by now.  As problematic as the installation was for some folks, there were some real improvements in Win10-1607.  My favorite is a new little gem called Quick Assist.

         Quick Assist is a user-friendly remote desktop sharing app. What does that mean?  Simple.  Let’s say you know naught about computers, but your grandson Tim knows lots.  You run into a problem on the computer and call Tim.  He knows how to fix the problem, but he lives two thousand miles away. With Quick Assist, no problem.  He clicks his mouse a couple of times, and you do the same, and suddenly Tim can see your screen and control your keyboard and mouse. 

            Assuming you have Win10-1607, you can get to Quick Assist (QA) by clicking on your Cortana icon or search term space, which is usually next to the 4-pane start button in the lower left corner of the screen.  The default is to display a search-term box, but I changed that on my machine to just show a round icon which takes up less space.  In any event, get to the Cortana search box and type Quick Assist.  Chances are that by the time you’ve typed ‘Quick As’, you will see Quick Assist Desktop App listed as the best match in Cortana’s results box.  Click on Quick Assist.  Another window will open on the left side of your screen.  You will be asked if you want to Get Assistance or Give Assistance.  If you’re the person who knows naught, you’ll click on Get Assistance.  Meanwhile your grandson, who is on a phone call with you, will oprn Quick Assist and click Give Assistance on his computer.  He will receive a 6-digit code from Microsoft, which he will give verbally to you.  QA will tell you to enter in the code.  After a few seconds, your computer will start to talk to Tim’s computer.  You will get a message asking if it is OK to let Tim connect to your machine.  Presumably you will say yes.  Then presto, Tim can control your machine.  When the task is completed, you both close the QA window and the program terminates.  While you love your grandson, you’ve kept constant watch for any machinations on his part just to be safe. Know that each session requires its own unique password.

            Needless to say, QA is both a wonderful program and also a risky program.  It is imperative that you only grant access to people you personally know and trust.  Don’t be tricked by some person with a foreign accent calling to get you out of ‘trouble’ that more than likely he or his cohorts created.

            There are other programs that do the same thing.  The most popular one is probably Team Viewer, though you may have seen LogMeIn (no longer free) or any number of alternatives.  Team Viewer is free for non-commercial use, but if you’re deemed to be using it for commercial purposes, the cost starts at a not-insubstantial $800 per year.  Quick Assist is not as polished as Team Viewer at this point, but it works, and it’s free, which is good enough to get my vote for preferred desktop sharing app.