Remote Assistance, with Win2K user as "Expert"

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From: Gordon Fecyk (gordonf_at_pan-am.ca)
Date: 04/25/04 

Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 21:42:37 -0500

I know all the documentation says Remote Assistance can only be performed
from a Windows XP computer to a Windows XP computer. But seriously, Remote
Assistance is just a modified Terminal Services implementation. I find it
difficult to believe Microsoft re-wrote Terminal Services from scratch just
to avoid allowing remote assistance from a non-XP machine.

There has to be a way to let an expert use a Win2K or other Remote Desktop
or Terminal Services client to connect to a Windows XP machine with a Remote
Assistance invitation active. Is it a matter of providing a certain set of
credentials to the target machine automatically? Let's look at this remote
assistance invite for example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Unicode" ?><UPLOADINFO
TYPE="Escalated"><UPLOADDATA USERNAME="[username-deleted]"
RCTICKET="65538,1,[ip.address.deleted]:3389;[machine-name-deleted]:3389,*,[r
andom-token-deleted],*,*,[random-token-deleted]" RCTICKETENCRYPTED="1"
DtStart="1082822345" DtLength="60" PassStub="[passstub-deleted]" L="1"
/></UPLOADINFO>

So... there has to be a way to convert all the tokens, secret stuff, etc
into usable credentials to plug into a terminal services or remote desktop
client.

Is it as easy as inserting the two tokens into the Username and Domain
fields, and the Passstub contents into the password field? Or is it even
simpler than that, where I already know the username and the user's given me
the RA invitation password some other way like calling me and I just use
that? 

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