Make Contact with the IM World
Create a Profile that Speaks Volumes About You
Take Your IMing on the Road with Mobile Devices
Add Voice and Video to the Mix
Share Applications with Someone Miles Away
Experience the Ultimate in Technical Support with Remote Assistance
Get Alerts to Keep You on Top of It All
Before instant messaging (IMing), the only way to communicate in real time with others without actually being there was by telephone, radio, or walkie-talkie. All of that talking—how times have changed! IM offers an excellent way for you to communicate in real time with coworkers, friends, and family without ever having to say a word. Imagine being able to "chat" with someone while you’re sitting in a boring meeting, and no one even knows! You can use IM to get in touch with your kids on their cell phones, collaborate and share ideas with coworkers in different locations, or contact your parents while they’re away on a trip. You can even use IM to get instant help from tech support personnel. What’s the hitch? It’s simple, really. The people you want to communicate with just need to have Windows Messenger (or MSN Messenger) installed and configured, and they’ll have to want to talk to you!
In this chapter I’ll show you the amazing features of Windows Messenger and how to communicate in real time with others. Windows Messenger has lots of great features, including those that allow you to create and manage contacts (or buddies), view your contacts when they are online, and send and receive text messages, pictures, music, and documents. Windows Messenger has some really neat advanced features too. You can send messages to mobile devices, chat with voice and video, share applications, and get remote assistance. You also have access to .NET alerts that can be delivered in real time to Messenger, to an e-mail address, or to your mobile device for free. These alerts can include special calendar events (anniversaries and birthdays, for instance), personal appointments (dental visits, doctor visits, interviews, or deadlines), or information concerning stocks, news, sports scores, and more. You can have an alert sent to your cell phone when a stock reaches a specific price—how cool is that? Once you begin to depend on these conveniences, you’ll probably wonder how you lived without them. Let’s start interacting with the world!
Windows Messenger is a Windows component and comes with Windows XP, so it should already be installed on your system. If you are not sure whether it’s installed, click Start, and then click All Programs.
If you can’t find it on the All Programs menu, you’ll need to add it from Control Panel. Just follow these steps:
Open Control Panel, and click Add Or Remove Programs.
Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
Under Components, select Windows Messenger.
Click Next to install.
Once Messenger is installed, you’ll be ready to go.
A passport is required when you travel to different countries and is used to identify who you are to the proper authorities. The passport gets you through security quickly and easily, and is accepted as legitimate and official identification by practically everyone. In the same vein, a Windows .NET Passport acts as your ID when you use Windows Messenger. Your passport identifies you securely to others and can also be used as a safe way to sign in to Internet sites and services that employ passport technology. Using the passport to sign in to a site takes quite a bit less time and energy and is much more secure than manually entering information each time you want to register for a site or a service. And best of all, it’s free!
If you have a Hotmail or MSN e-mail address, you already have a passport. If you don’t have either of these, you’ll want to obtain one of them. Since Hotmail accounts are free, I’d suggest this option. The easiest way to get a passport is to log on to http://registernet.passport.net, fill out the required information, choose an e-mail address for your Hotmail account, and you’re ready to IM!
PASSPORTS COME IN KIDS’ SIZES TOO
Your kids can have passports too, and they can use them just like you do for e-mailing, logging on to Web sites, and text messaging their friends. A kid’s passport allows children 12 and under who live in the United States to use Windows Messenger with their parents’ consent. Since kids think text messaging is the greatest thing since sliced bread (insert a similar analogy here that your kids will actually understand), you absolutely can’t deny them. From what I can tell from my own experience, he who has the most contacts wins!
You can get a passport for your child at https://kids.passport.net. There are two areas on this Web page: one area to set up a children’s account, manage the account, and learn about children’s privacy laws; and another area where kids can log on and visit kid-friendly Web sites and ask their parents for permission to view others. You decide what your kids can and can’t see, and you decide how much, if any, information about your child’s personal information is collected, used, or disclosed.
Your kids need a break from reality just as much as you do. There are several kid-friendly Web sites where your kids can play and interact safely with others. So, when you create their account, make sure to allow MSN Gaming Zone. When they go to https://kids.passport.net and log on to the Kids Corner, click My Sites, and choose MSN Gaming Zone from their list of approved sites, they’ll see something like the graphic shown below. Now they have access to all of the great games Microsoft offers on this site.
SAFE MESSAGING
Just like you’d put life jackets on kids before letting them on the boat, make sure to arm them with the necessary cautions before sending them off to surf the Net and use Windows Messenger to chat with their friends. Tell your kids about online safety. Make sure they know that they should not agree to add people they don’t know to their contact list, answer popup messages from strangers, or talk with anyone they don’t know. They should not give out personal information either, and they should understand how to block people they are uncomfortable talking to. There’s more information about safe surfing in the next chapter.
Once you’ve obtained a passport, you can log on to Windows Messenger. There are a couple of ways to log on:
Click Start, point to All Programs, and click Windows Messenger.
Double-click the Messenger icon in the system tray, or create a shortcut for the program and place it on the desktop.
After you’ve logged on, type your new Hotmail or Passport e-mail account and your password, and select Sign Me In Automatically (optional). Figure 10-1 shows what Windows Messenger looks like when you first log on. If your Windows Messenger doesn’t look like this, click Tools in the Windows Messenger interface and click Show Actions Pane, then click Tools again, point to Show Tabs, and select Microsoft .NET Alerts. In the Windows Messenger Actions pane, use the up or down arrows to expand or compress it.
If you want to use Windows Messenger to IM others, you’ll have to add them to your contact list. Just as you’d suspect, they need to add you to their contact lists, too. First let’s start with your contact list:
Click the Add A Contact button in the Actions pane, or click Tools on the menu bar, and then click Add A Contact. The Add A Contact Wizard opens.
In the wizard, choose to add a contact by e-mail address or by searching by name. Click Next.
Type the required information and click Next. Click Finish.
You’ll be informed immediately whether that contact has a passport and can be added to your list. If they do not have a passport, you can choose to send them an e-mail about Windows Messenger and how they can obtain one. Once a contact has been added, the name will appear in the contact list.
The next time your new contact logs on, he will be prompted to either allow you to contact him via Windows Messenger or block any communication. The recipient’s options are shown in Figure 10-2. The contact will appear to you to be offline until he agrees that you should be added to his contact list. Conversely, if someone adds you to his contact list, you’ll receive this prompt.
After a while, you might acquire a long list of buddies on your contact list, as shown in Figure 10-3. Save yourself from having to scroll through long lists, trying to find a buddy, only to realize that you can’t remember who half the people are and why you have added them. There are several ways to organize your contact list. Notice how the list shown in Figure 10-3 differs from the list in Figure 10-1. Instead of organizing by Coworkers, Family, Friends, and Other Contacts, I’ve organized this list by who is and isn’t online. Besides organizing contacts, there are several other ways to take control of Windows Messenger, including finding out who has you on their contact lists, allowing or blocking IMs, and changing messaging options to fit your needs.
Figure 10-3. Managing contacts by who’s online and who isn’t is sometimes better than grouping them.
There are several ways to manage the names of people on your contact list. You can manage them in groups (as shown in Figure 10-1), or you can manage them by who is available (as shown in Figure 10-3). You can also create your own groups and organize your contacts in any imaginable way.
Here are some creative ways to organize groups and online buddies, and to add and delete groups:
Sorting by groups. Click Tools, point to Sort Contacts By, and click Groups. When selected, Groups will have a check mark by it. Change who is in which group by dragging names from one group to another.
Sorting by online status. Click Tools, point to Sort Contacts By, and click Online/Offline. When selected, Online/Offline will have a check by it.
Creating groups. Sort contacts by groups (see the first item), then click Tools, point to Manage Groups, and click Add A Group. Type the name for the new group. Add contact names to the group by dragging them from other groups into the new one. You can also create a new group by right-clicking any group and clicking Create New Group.
Deleting groups. Click Tools, point to Manage Groups, point to Delete A Group, and click the group to delete. (The group must be empty.) You can also delete a group by right-clicking it and clicking Delete Group.
Renaming groups. Click Tools, point to Manage Groups, point to Rename A Group, and click the group to rename. Type the new name. You can also rename a group by right-clicking it and clicking Rename Group.
If you’ve forgotten who you allowed to add your name to their contact list, you can find out quite easily. Here’s how:
Click Tools, and then click Options.
Click the Privacy tab, as shown in Figure 10-4.
Click View next to Which Users Have Added Me To Their Contact Lists?
Now you can see who has you listed. If you have second thoughts about being on someone’s contact list, you can change who is allowed to contact you and who isn’t, as described in the next section.
You have complete control over Windows Messenger. No matter how wide open the world is, no matter how many people find your e-mail address and send you a request to be a buddy, you can always say yes or no. If a person is on your Allow List, they can contact you freely. If you move them to your Block List, they can’t. The Allow List and Block List are shown in Figure 10-4. To move a contact from your allowed list to your blocked list or vice versa, click the name in the list and click Block or Allow. To make sure that you are alerted each time someone tries to add you to their contact list, leave Alert Me When Other Users Add Me To Their Contact Lists selected.
Note
Once you’ve allowed someone to add you to his or her contact list, there is no way to remove yourself from it; they’ll have to delete your name themselves. However, you can block that person, which will cause you to always appear offline to them. They will not be able to IM you using Windows (or MSN) Messenger.
There are several ways to personalize Windows Messenger. For instance, from the Tools menu, you can choose to show or hide the Actions pane (the I Want To section), to show or hide tabs, and to use (or not use) the Windows Color Scheme. You can also choose Options on the Tools menu to make changes that are more than cosmetic. In Figure 10-4 the Privacy tab of this dialog box is shown, but there are several other tabs to explore. Here are just a few of the changes you can make on the tabs of the Options dialog box:
Personal Tab
When people look at the names in their contact list, they see whatever each of their contacts has typed in as their display name. If you look at Figure 10-3, you’ll see names such as geekgoddess, JT://, and Charlie Russell(Tech Ed). These aren’t their real names of course; they’ve changed them or added other information. You can change your name on the Personal tab.
Change the font you use when messaging others on the Personal tab. Try Comic Sans when you’re feeling spunky or Courier when you’re feeling serious. You can change the color, size, and other attributes too.
Preference Tab
Change how Windows Messenger acts on the Preference tab. You can configure it to run automatically when Windows starts, to run in the background, to set your status to Away after a specific number of idle minutes at the computer, and to display alerts when your contacts come online, when messages are received, or when e-mail is received.
Block people you don’t want to talk to anymore on the Privacy tab.
In the Windows Messenger window, click the down arrow next to your name to change your status. Choose from several options: Online, Busy, Be Right Back, Away, On The Phone, Out To Lunch, and Appear Offline. People will see your status next to your name in their contact list. Figure 10-5 shows these options.
Once you have a passport and have Windows Messenger up and running, you’ll probably want to create a profile. The profile you create tells people who you are and can include your age, your hobbies, a favorite quote, your Web page address, a nickname, your marital status, and more. Once the profile has been created, you can allow people to see the profile and contact you, allow chat members to find you, and allow yourself to be notified when new public profile features become available. You can also disallow or opt not to receive these features.
Here’s how to create a public profile:
Open Windows Messenger, click Tools, and click Options.
On the Personal tab, click Edit Profile.
You’ll automatically be connected to http://members.msn.com, where you can edit the profile. Once it’s complete, click Save.
In addition to the changes you’ve made so far to Windows Messenger from within the basic interface, you can also perform configuration changes during an IM session. There’s a Font button, a Block button, and options to add a contact, change the text size, and to start a camera, start application sharing, start a whiteboard, and more. But wait, we’re getting ahead of ourselves!
Passport? Check. Internet connection? Check. Windows Messenger open? Check. At least one contact who is online? Check. With these prerequisites out of the way, start an instant message conversation by double-clicking a contact name that is online (and preferably whose status is not set to Away, Busy, On The Phone, or Out To Lunch). The Conversation window will appear, where you can type and send a message. After clicking Send, the message is sent immediately to the recipient who will then (hopefully) respond. The response will appear in the Conversation window. There’s an example of a conversation shown in Figure 10-6. As you can see, there are several parts to the Windows Messenger interface.
Figure 10-6. The Messenger interface has several parts; here, you can see a conversation in progress.
In Figure 10-6 you can see that JT is currently typing a message to me. We’ve both inserted emoticons in the text. Emoticons are the graphics with smiley faces and such that can be added by clicking the arrow beside the Emoticons option. Besides personalizing the text, there are also several ways to change the overall look and feel of the interface.
If you want to change what is shown in the Conversation window, click View, and select or clear Enable Emoticons, Show Toolbars, and Show Sidebar. Doing so removes or adds the selected item. You can also change the text size in the Conversation window by clicking View, pointing to Text Size, and selecting Smallest, Smaller, Medium, Larger, or Largest. You can also resize the entire Messenger window using the Maximize and Restore buttons in the top right corner. It’s all about personalizing!
During an IM session, you or someone else can invite another person to join the conversation. In fact, you can add up to five people, thus creating your own virtual conference call. While in a conversation, click Invite Someone To The Conversation in the Sidebar to add another member. When you choose to add another member, you’ll be prompted when that person joins the conversation, and you’ll also be prompted if he or she leaves it.
Sometimes, IM conferences fit the bill, and are often better than high-tech videoconferences or traditional conference calls because you can collaborate using all kinds of media. During an IM session, participants can send text messages; communicate through documents; pass documents to each other for editing; send artwork, images, or music; and interact using a whiteboard or application sharing. No matter how far others are from you, you can interact as if you were sitting together at the same desk.
Even though you might have an e-mail account you use with Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, if you signed up for a free Hotmail account when you set up a passport, you now have an additional account. If you’re like me, you use multiple e-mail accounts for multiple purposes—for business, personal correspondences, and online bidding notices.
If your Hotmail account is not your primary e-mail account, you might forget to check it on a daily basis. If this happens, you can configure Windows Messenger to alert you when you get e-mail messages for your Hotmail account. It’s an add-in and must be installed, but it’s a good idea and worth the five minutes or so it takes to do it. In addition to e-mail integration, you’ll get mobile text messaging, profile creation options, and daily links. To get the add-in, follow these steps:
Log on to Windows Messenger, click Tools, and click Add-In Web Site.
Download the available add-ins. When prompted to choose Open or Save, click Open.
After installing the add-ins, when an e-mail arrives, you’ll receive a notice in the bottom right corner of the screen stating "You have received a new e-mail message from <name of sender here>," as shown in Figure 10-7. You can click this notification to go directly to the Hotmail Web site to read the message, or wait to view it at another time.
Note
If you aren’t receiving notices after installing the add-in, click Tools, click Options, and click the Preferences tab. Select Display Alerts When E-Mail Is Received.
If you decide to wait, you can access the e-mail from the Windows Messenger window, as shown in Figure 10-8. Notice that just above the contact list, it says "1 New E-Mail Message." Click this message to connect to the Hotmail Web site, where you can log on and read your messages.
Microsoft is continually updating Windows Messenger, adding features that allow you to send and receive live video, send messages to mobile devices, and receive alerts about local traffic, news, weather, sports, investments, and travel. You can determine which version you have by clicking Help and clicking About Windows Messenger. In Figure 10-9, you can see that I’ve been working with Windows Messenger Version 4.7 throughout this chapter. About the time this book went to press, Version 5.0 became available.
When there is a newer version available, you’ll be prompted in the Windows Messenger window to upgrade. Upgrading is simple; generally all you have to do is click the link once and the upgrade and installation is automatic.
Be careful if you go out looking for an upgrade. At www.windowsmessenger.com (where you would certainly make the assumption that you could download the latest version of Windows Messenger), if you click the Download Now button, you’ll actually be downloading MSN Messenger. If this happens, you’ll have both MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger installed on your computer. This is fine, of course, if it’s what you intended to do. MSN Messenger is a souped-up version of the Windows Messenger program.
ENHANCE YOUR LIFE WITH MSN MESSENGER
Really, you can! MSN Messenger is a souped-up version of Windows Messenger that works only with Windows XP. It installs as a second program and offers another option for instant messaging and online interactions. This version has cool sounds, an expanded list of available links to alerts, and some cool ways to play games. The links are on the left side of the MSN Messenger window. Clicking one logs you on to the sponsored site and automatically logs you on using your passport. Here, the Investment link has been selected and options are listed for paying bills, managing money, viewing the latest market reports, and more.
Here are just a few of the ways you can use MSN Messenger to enhance your life:
Receive alerts for news, sports, weather, stocks, and traffic by clicking the Alerts icon, and then configuring the alerts you prefer. Set alerts for breaking news if you want to be informed about important news stories as they happen.
Pay bills online, get real-time stock quotes, send someone money, and manage your finances by clicking the Investments icon.
Make travel arrangements, buy tickets, check prices, and get last-minute travel deals by clicking the Travel icon.
Check local traffic before leaving the office by clicking the Traffic icon. You can view the severity of traffic events and view details of events, if desired. You can even sign up for services that remind you to change the oil in your car and for updates about recall notices.
Shop online and be alerted to great deals by clicking the Shopping icon.
Take a break from reality and play games online by clicking the Games icon. Top games include Bingo, TextTwist, Rumble-Cube, and Mah Jong Tiles. You can even play games with an online buddy. Choices include Checkers, Tic Tac Toe, and Solitaire Showdown, just to name a few.
Keep up with the latest news by clicking the News icon. View alerts about breaking news or go to the MSNBC Web site for up-to-date information.
You can get more information on playing games with buddies, configuring MSN Messenger, and configuring alerts at the Microsoft Windows XP Expert Zone. Visit www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/ballew/default.asp for more information on MSN 6.0 and to see additional columns I’ve written.
If you don’t have Windows Messenger 5.0 yet and would like to upgrade, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger and click Download Now!. Follow the directions to install; it should be automatic. you can then enjoy the new features available in Version 5.0, including sending messages in your own handwriting using a Tablet PC, filtering out instant messaging spam, and turning off Windows Messenter notifications during presentations. In Figure 10-10, you can see the new Windows Messenger 5.0 interface.
Figure 10-10. In this figure, Windows Messenger has been logged off, and MSN Messenger 5.0 is active and logged on.
STAYING MOBILE
The future is upon us! One of the most exciting technologies now available is the ability to send a message to a mobile device such as a mobile phone, pager, Pocket PC, Smartphone, or handheld PC. I love being able to send my daughter a text message on her phone while she’s at school or send a quick message when I’m in a meeting, and that’s just the start of it. Now you can keep in touch no matter where in the world you are!
To send a message to a mobile device, you must first know someone who has a device set up to receive messages. You might be surprised that you do. Here’s how to find out:
Open Windows Messenger.
Click Actions, and then click Send A Message To A Mobile Device.
The resulting dialog box will show which (if any) of your buddies have a mobile device, and whether they are online or not. (A red Messenger icon means they are not online; a green one means they are.) Select the person to send the message to and click OK. You can see an example of this in the graphic.
The familiar Messenger interface will appear where you can type and send your message. You’ll receive confirmation that your message has been sent. You might receive an answer, but you might not; it depends on what kind of device you’ve chosen to send the message to, and what kind of service the recipient has subscribed to. Be sure to include contact information if you want the contact to phone you.
After you’ve sent a few text messages to phones and other mobile devices, you might find that you want to set up your own mobile device as well. If you decide to do that, just click Tools and click Publish My Phone Numbers. Click Mobile Settings and follow the directions for signing up for the service. It’s easy and it’s fun. Let’s go mobile!
There are many ways to share experiences using Windows Messenger, and once you get involved in it, I’m pretty sure it’ll change the way you communicate. I have several buddies on my list, ranging from family members to coworkers to Windows XP gurus. Whenever I need any information or an answer quickly, I just IM them. Of course, turnabout is fair play, and I get a lot of requests from them too.
There are also fun ways to use Windows Messenger; it isn’t just a work tool. You can send pictures, music, and documents to friends, family, and buddies who are online. If you have a Web cam, you can even send recorded video.
You can send a file in several ways:
If you are not in an IM session, in the Messenger main window, right-click the name of an online contact and click Send A File Or Photo. You can also click Actions, click Send A File Or Photo, click a contact’s name, and click OK if you’d rather use the menus.
Or
If you’re already in an IM session, click Send A File Or Photo in the Sidebar. The sidebar is shown in Figure 10-11.
In the Send A File To dialog box, locate the file you want to send. When you click the file, a notice will be sent immediately to the intended contact, who will then either accept or reject the offer. If the contact accepts, the file will be sent. This notification dialog is also shown in Figure 10-11.
After the transfer is complete, you can continue with the IM session. Here are a few ideas for using this immediate file transfer system:
Send music files for review if you’re in a band or doing some mixing for a client.
Send a partially designed logo for a contact’s approval or suggestions. In real time, no matter how far the distance between you, you can work on the document together.
Collaborate on a document by sending a working file to a contact so that she can open, read, and amend it, and then send it back to you. It’s better than sending it via e-mail because you can discuss the changes in real time, eliminating the back and forth transmission of e-mail.
Negotiate a contract, write up a proposal, share an application, use a whiteboard, or share ideas without picking up the phone.
Communicating in real time using a video camera is the technology of the future. While it seems a little primitive now, the technology will evolve into videophones, which will further evolve and be incorporated into big-screen media centers (these will also include an entertainment system and message board). When that time comes, we won’t know how we ever lived without it. For now, I’m just getting ahead of myself.
Windows Messenger takes you one step closer to that future. All you need to do is purchase an inexpensive USB Web cam and install it on your computer by plugging it into the USB port. Most newer Web cams install automatically and can be used with Windows Messenger quite easily. Now you can keep in touch using video and audio with family and friends who live in other parts of the country, watch your child take his first steps even if you’re away from home, or see what that blind date looks like before you commit!
To have a voice and video conversation, you’ll need a few things, as will the contact you want to videoconference with. Table 10-1 lists what both you and the recipient need.
Table 10-1. Videoconferencing Requirements
WHAT YOU NEED | WHAT THEY NEED |
|---|---|
A Web camera | A Web camera (only if they want you to see them too) |
Windows XP Home Edition or Professional | Windows XP Home Edition or Professional |
A microphone and speakers or a headset | A microphone and speakers or a headset |
A modem connection of 33.6 Kbps | A modem connection of 33.6 Kbps |
Permission from the network administrator | Permission from the network administrator |
Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger | Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger |
With your Web cam and microphone installed, configured, and turned on or plugged in, follow these steps:
From within the Windows Messenger interface, double-click the name of a buddy who’s online and who also meets the minimum requirements for receiving video, as detailed in Table 10-1.
Click Start Camera. An invitation will be sent to the recipient. If the recipient accepts the invitation and meets the requirements, the Web cam will start.
In the Monitor area of the Windows Messenger interface, you’ll see the video you are sending, and the recipient will see a larger version of the video. Figure 10-12 shows what your buddy might see. This particular user has installed MSN Messenger, so the interface is a little different.
One of the more constructive features of Windows Messenger and Windows XP is that you can collaborate with people using a variety of media, no matter where they are in the world. Here’s an example: Suppose you and a coworker are working on a project, and you both need to have input on the creation of a graphic. With Windows Messenger, you can open the graphic on your computer, start an IM session, and share it with your coworker. Both of you can pass control of the program and graphic back and forth, making changes, until it is complete. You could do the same if you were planning a wedding with someone across the country and needed to collaborate on the invitations, if you were working on the wording for a proposal with a client in another city, or even if you were collaborating on a song with a band member in another state.
You can team up using a specific program even if the contact does not have the same program you are using. As an example, suppose you a working on a graphic you created in Adobe Illustrator, but your client does not have that program and cannot open the file via e-mail. Using application sharing, the client can use your program, manipulate the graphic in real time, and the problem is solved!
To collaborate using application sharing with Windows Messenger, follow these steps:
Log on to Windows Messenger and begin a session with an online contact.
Open the program and the file you want to collaborate on.
Click Start Application Sharing in the Sidebar. (If the Sidebar isn’t visible, click View and click Show Sidebar.)
Wait for the contact to accept the invitation. Once connected, the Sharing Session dialog box shown in Figure 10-13 will appear on both your monitor and the contact’s.
In your Sharing dialog box, select the program you want to share, and then click Share. If you want to share in true color, select Share In True Color if it’s available. Repeat this to select additional programs. Once the programs have been selected, click Allow Control. You might also want requests for control to be automatic or ignored, as shown in Figure 10-14; select the appropriate check boxes.
Minimize or close the Sharing dialog box, and position the Windows Messenger window and the application window so you can see both.
In Figure 10-15, an application sharing session is in progress, and the two participants are working on the photograph. They both agree that it is the perfect photo for the cover of the Candy Company proposal, but Cosmo thinks that the price tag should be removed. Cosmo will take control of the file, work on it in Microsoft Paint, and pass it back. If this does not work, Joli might open the file again in another program like Adobe Photoshop and allow Cosmo to work on the file in that program.
Figure 10-15. Once sharing has been established, the participants can pass control of the program back and forth and work on the file independently, in real time. Only the initiator of the application sharing session needs to have the program installed (and open).
Some things to remember about application sharing include:
You can only use application sharing with people who have Windows XP.
Application sharing only works between two IM contacts.
Both people cannot work on the file at the same time; control must be passed back and forth.
The person who is invited to the conversation and sharing session can get help from the Help menu.
You can regain control by clicking in the shared program or by pressing Esc.
You can collaborate using a whiteboard by clicking Whiteboard in the Sharing Session dialog box (in lieu of clicking App Sharing).
On occasion you’ll run into a technical problem on your computer that you just can’t fix by yourself. If you have a computer-smart online buddy, you can ask for her expertise using Remote Assistance. In a Remote Assistance session, your techie friend can connect to your computer over the Internet and chat with you about the problem you are currently having. You can show her (in real time) what the problem is and ask if she knows how to fix it. If she does, you’ll give her control of your computer, and she can use her mouse and keyboard to repair the problem. It’s like having tech support walk right into your office, sit down at your computer, and solve your predicament!
Remote Assistance is a great tool for asking for help, but there are just as many reasons to give help:
Teach your mom or dad how to use the computer even if you’re in another city or state. Just have them IM you and click Ask For Remote Assistance—you’ll do the rest. By taking control of their computer, you can show them where their favorite programs are, where to find that last document they were working on, and even help them learn to surf the Web.
Avoid having to walk upstairs (again!) to help your child with a computer problem. If you have two computers in the house and both have Internet access, there’s no need to make that trek.
Tell your coworkers who are in other offices or on other floors to ask for assistance from their computers instead of calling on the phone and asking you to walk over. It’ll save lots of time and money, and is just as effective.
Solve problems on home computers while you’re at the office, at school, or off at college. Just because you aren’t at home doesn’t mean you can’t still be of help.
You won’t be able to ask for and get remote assistance if Remote Assistance is disabled on the system. Verify that Remote Assistance is enabled from Control Panel. Click System and click the Remote tab. There should be a check mark next to Allow Remote Assistance Invitations To Be Sent From This Computer, as shown in Figure 10-16.
Figure 10-16. Verify that Remote Assistance is enabled if you have any problems starting a Remote Assistance session.
The first step in getting remote assistance is to choose someone you think can actually help you. This person should also be trustworthy, since you’ll be handing control of your computer over to her, and you should be sure you want the person you ask to see what you have on your computer. (Don’t ask your kids for remote assistance if your holiday gift list is open!) Additionally, to get assistance using Windows Messenger, the person you choose will also have to be an online buddy and will have to be using Windows Messenger.
Once you select an online contact, asking for help is easy. Just start an IM session with the person you’ve selected, and click Ask For Remote Assistance in the Sidebar. Once the contact agrees to the session, the Remote Assistance dialog box will appear and a connection will be established if you agree to it. Figure 10-17 shows what happens when a Remote Assistance session is first initiated.
In this session, Jackie is confused because she does not see a Security tab when she tries to set sharing options for a folder. She explains the problem, as shown in Figure 10-18. The expert she’s contacted knows exactly what’s wrong; she has Simple File Sharing enabled. When Simple File Sharing is enabled, there’s no Security tab. If she disables it, the tab will appear. The expert helps her solve the problem, as shown in Figure 10-19.
COUNT ME IN
You can use Windows Messenger to do more than work and send text messages, that’s for sure! You can use it to inform you when you get new e-mail from your Hotmail, Passport, or MSN account; you can join celebrity chats; and you can view others’ profiles. You can configure alerts to inform you of almost anything too. Check out these uses:
Configure the weather alert to let you know every Friday at noon if rain is expected that afternoon. If it isn’t—call for a tee time!
Use the McAfee alert to stay up-to-date on the latest viruses.
Use the MSN Autos alert to remind you to get your oil changed, rotate your tires and perform other routine maintenance tasks, to inform you of recalls, and to inform you of traffic problems in your area.
Configure MSNBC News alerts to keep you informed when major stories break.
Configure ESPN Sports alerts to keep up with baseball, football, hockey, basketball, and college games, and get scores after each quarter, after each final, after each score, or a combination of these.
There’s a hitch, though. To get the most out of Windows Messenger and use these additional options, you’ll have to get the Windows Messenger add-ins. Add-ins are improvements that allow you to extend Windows Messenger with new and improved features.
To get the add-ins, you must have Windows Messenger 4.6 or later, and you must be using Windows XP. Click Tools and click Add-In Web Site. From the Add-In Web site, download the add-ins as detailed there. Once they are downloaded, click Tools, click the Personal tab, and click Edit Profile to create your own public profile. The e-mail alerts will be set up automatically, and you can send text messages to mobile devices and go to chat rooms using the Actions menu.
KEEP ME ALERTED!
If you are at your computer all day, it’s pretty easy to keep in touch with the world and the latest news stories. All you have to do is pop over to www.msn.com or a similar site and quickly check what’s going on. But what if you want to keep up with more than just the headlines? Perhaps you are waiting for a new book release, looking for the perfect bargain on that digital camera you’ve had your eye on, need to know the latest sports scores, want to get news about the latest viruses, or are keeping tabs on an item being auctioned on eBay. Keeping up with all of that on your own every minute of the day would be quite challenging (and you’d probably get fired). With .NET alerts, you can keep up with all of it easily.
To sign up for your own personal alerts, click the bell icon in the Windows Messenger interface. If you can’t see this icon, click Tools, click Show Tabs, and click Microsoft .NET Alerts.
From the Alerts area, click Go To, and click My Alerts. At the .NET Alerts Web page, you can add alerts, edit alerts, and set quiet times when alerts should not be received.
After the expert has solved the problem, either party can click Stop Control. (The person who initiated the session can also click Stop Control at any time.) The Esc key also works to regain control of the computer. With control relinquished, the two can still chat, and the expert can still see the user’s computer. In Figure 10-20 you can see that the problem of the missing Security tab has been solved.
If you’re curious, Figure 10-21 shows what the expert sees. This is what you’ll see when someone asks you for assistance. Notice that you have an area for viewing the conversation and for typing, as shown in the previous figures, but you also have an area where you can view what’s going on at the remote computer. When you take control, you’ll use this area to work. In this example, Jackie has deleted something she’d like to recover. The Expert will look in the Recycle Bin for the missing file.
As you experiment with Remote Assistance, you’ll also see that you can send files, talk using microphones, get help, and more. Using the options is basically the same as in Windows Messenger, and they are easy to use.
As an alternative to using Windows Messenger to get remote assistance, you can get remote assistance from people who are not your online buddies; this is achieved by sending an e-mail invitation. If you want to get assistance from someone who isn’t on your buddy list, click Start, click Help And Support, and click Invite A Friend To Connect To Your Computer With Remote Assistance. Click Invite Someone To Help You, and in the Use E-Mail box, type the name of the invitee. You’ll be prompted how to proceed.
- application sharing
A tool available in Windows Messenger that allows you and another person to share an application during an IM session. The application being shared does not have to be installed on both computers, and both participants in the session can pass control of the application back and forth.
- contacts
In Windows Messenger terminology, contacts are people you’ve selected to communicate with via an instant messaging session. Contacts can see when you are online, and communicate with you in real time. Contacts can be sorted by groups, or by who is online or offline. Starting an IM session requires double-clicking a contact.
- contact list
In Windows Messenger, the list of contacts you’ve personally added.
- .NET alerts
Alerts you can configure using Windows Messenger. These alerts can be set for sports, traffic, weather, news, and more. The .NET Messenger Service is the service that Messenger connects to so that you can receive the alerts.
- Remote Assistance
A utility that allows you to ask for and obtain assistance from an online contact. The idea behind Remote Assistance is to enable others to help you solve a computer problem without actually having to come to your location. In a Remote Assistance session, you give control of your computer to an "expert" (someone you choose and whom you trust), who can then solve the problem remotely.
- Smartphone
The one device that does it all! Smartphones can include a phone, a PDA, e-mail, text messaging, and wireless Web access all in a single compact device.
- true color
A display color setting quality option that most closely depicts images as their actual colors on the computer screen. Although this is the best color quality available for computer work, true color requires more memory than lower display settings, and might not be the best option when using application sharing or playing memory-intensive computer games.
- whiteboard
A tool available in Windows Messenger that allows two people to communicate using a virtual whiteboard. Both parties can draw and type simultaneously, and can thus share ideas and thoughts instantly during an IM session.