Quick Assist is the tool available in Windows 10 which can be used to establish remote connection and help the user. Quick Assist can be very useful for organisation and their service desk to support users / employees.

Some organisations might not prefer Quick Assist to be used and they might choose to uninstall it. Uninstallation can be an easy and straight forward process, but that’s not the case with Installing the quick assist.

What could prevent installing Quick Assist ?

In your environment, if the systems are controlled through SCCM / Configuration Manager and WSUS (Software Update Point) is configured. In that case workstations will not be directly able to communicate with Microsoft website to download the update.

Another problem is: Quick Assist is not part of Features of Demand (FODs) provided by Microsoft. It is not available on the languages and Optional Features ISO.

Feature: Microsoft Quick Assist

Capability name: App.Support.QuickAssist~~~~0.0.1.0
Sample package name:
Install size: 1.51 MB
Satellites: No
Availability: Windows 10, version 1607 and later

The easiest way to install the Quick Assist would be to go to start menu and click on Manage Optional Features, you can click on Add a feature and select Microsoft Quick Assist.

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But you will receive error as WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) is in place and preventing you to correct online to download the update package.

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Trick to get Quick Assist install (getting rid of WSUS Server)

I will be using same technic which I used for Deploy RSAT using SCCM, ie. Getting rid of WSUS server temporarily by changing a registry key. Will then use Add-WindowsCapability to install quick assist, and then reverting back the WSUS Server registry key. We will be using PowerShell script which will do following:

  1. Will change the value of UseWUServer to 0.
  2. Will restart Windows Update Service
  3. Will run  Add-WindowsCapability PowerShell cmdlet to install RSAT Components
  4. Will revert UseWUServer to 1
  5. Will restart Windows Update service again

Let’s find Quick Assist capability name, run either of the following command:

Get-WindowsCapability -Name *QuickAssist* -Online
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Installation of Quick Assist can be achieved through 2 ways:

Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name App.Support.QuickAssist~~~~0.0.1.0

or

dism /online /add-capability /capabilityname:App.Support.QuickAssist~~~~0.0.1.0

Uninstallation can be done using commands:

Remove-WindowsCapability -Online -Name App.Support.QuickAssist~~~~0.0.1.0
dism /online /remove-capability /capabilityname:App.Support.QuickAssist~~~~0.0.1.0

Create Quick Assist application on SCCM / Configuration Manager

We are going to use following PowerShell Script with name InstallQuickAssist.ps1 as a source:

<#Disable WSUServer value to 1 Run Windows Capability to directly download the components from internet Enable WSUServer value to 0 #>
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" -Name "UseWUServer" -Value 0
Restart-Service "Windows Update" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Write-Host "Adding Components…" -ForegroundColor Green
Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name App.Support.QuickAssist~~~~0.0.1.0
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" -Name "UseWUServer" -Value 1
Restart-Service "Windows Update" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
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Launch Configuration Manager Console, navigate to \Software Library\Overview\Application Management\Applications and create new Application.

Under Create Application Wizard > Specify settings for this application, select Manually specify the application information, click Next.

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Under Specify information about this application, provide Name as Quick Assist Windows 10, click Next.

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Under Specify the Software Center entry, click Next.

Under Deployment Types page, click on Add to open under page related to Create Deployment Type Wizard. Under that page, select Manually specify the deployment type information, click Next.

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Under Specify general information for this deployment type page, specify name as Quick Assist, click Next.

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Under page Specify information about the content to be delivered to target devices.

Specify Content location, specify following for install & uninstall:

Installation program:

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NoLogo -NonInteractive -NoProfile -WindowStyle Hidden -File .\InstallQuickAssist.ps1

Uninstall program:

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NoLogo -NonInteractive -NoProfile -WindowStyle Hidden -command " Remove-WindowsCapability -Online -Name App.Support.QuickAssist~~~~0.0.1.0"
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Under Detection Method page, click on Add Clause to open Detection Rule properties. Specify

Setting Type: File System
Type: File
Path: %Windir%\System32
File or folder name: quickassist.exe

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Click OK to save and exit and you will see Clause shown as quickassist.exe exists. Click Next.

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Under Specify user experience settings for the application set:

Installation behavior: Install for system
Logon requirement: Whether or not a user is logged on

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Click Next.

Under Requirements page, click on Add and select Category as Device¸ Condition as Operating System, rule type as Value and select Windows 10, click OK

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Complete rest of the pages including Dependencies  & Summary page to complete the remaining wizard.

Distribute the content to Distribution points and create deployment for the Deployment types.

Install Quick Assist on Windows 10 workstation

Logon to one of the windows 10 workstation, wait for SCCM machine policy to arrive. Launch Software Center and you will be able to see Quick Assist Windows 10. Initiate the Install.

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Once the installation is finished, Quick Assist will be visible under start menu. Quick Assist installation requires restart, hence that can too included in application property for restart behaviour.

Using following PowerShell command, you can see the following components are present related to Quick Assist:

Get-WindowsCapability -Name “*quickassist*” -Online | Select displayname, state
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Conclusion

Quick Assist is easy to uninstall, but difficult to install if WSUS/ SUP (Software Update point) / Configuration Manager is installed. Quick Assist is also not part of Features on Demand ISO provided by microsoft. In absence of WSUS, quick Assist package is installed and downloaded into temporary directory hence difficult to get the source as well. Hence, to sort out the issue, we need a way to so that system cannot contact WSUS and can be installed Quick Assist directly through Microsoft, and once installation is done, we can revert back WSUS settings.

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Useful Links

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/features-on-demand-non-language-fod