Troubleshooting Remote Support Connection Issues on Windows Remote Devices

    Pre-Session / Connection Issues

    Remote connection not initiating

    Issue: Remote connection not initiating or session didn't start.

    Possible causes:

    • The agent components in end user machine got failed to launch by blocked in end user environment.
    • Unzipping agent components in end-user machine got failed.
    • Certificate validation failed for agent components due to certificate is missing in machine's certificate store.
    • Old agent components are failed with digital signature validation.

    Recommended steps:

    • Whitelist our agent components like agent.exe, ZAService.exe, ZA_Connect.exe in the antivirus/EDR tool or any related tool in customer environment.
    • Kill any existing agent components like agent.exe, ZAService.exe or Zoho Assist Remote Support service if those components are not properly killed during the previous sessions.
    • Run "sfc /scannow" on end-user machine and restart the machine which might fix the unzipping failure due to any corruption in machine level.
    • Install the certificate in the machine's certificate store.
    • Old agent components has the old digital signature which will be different to the new components make signature failure, so delete the old components and update new version.

    Signature validation failed due to Windows authenticode

    Issue: Remote support component's digital signature validation failed due to windows authenticode enabled.

    Possible causes:

    • ZA_Connect.exe download blocked in edge browser due to sign issue as windows authenticode breaks Zoho corp's sign in the exe.
    • ZA_Connect.exe execution blocked by smart screen due to sign issue as windows authenticode breaks Zoho corp's sign in the exe.

    Recommended steps:

    • Disable Windows authenticode in end-user machine.
    • Contact Assist support team, if disable windows authenticode failed.

    Launch app is not working

    Issue: Launch app using previous installation is not working even if the end-user chooses that.

    Possible causes:

    • Launch app configuration in end-user machine might got broken.

    Recommended steps:

    • Uninstall Zoho Assist from control panel and re-install might fix the broken issue and reconfigure the launch app flow properly.

    Proxy popup appears on the remote machine during on-demand application installation

    Issue: During an on-demand remote support session, launching the ZA_connect.exe application on the remote machine triggers a proxy popup.

    Possible causes:

    • The remote device has lost internet connection or is not connected.
    • The remote machine's network cannot directly reach Zoho Assist servers.
    • A proxy is configured, but the Assist servers are not properly whitelisted in the settings.

    Recommended steps:

    • Whitelist all required servers for the remote session in the firewall or proxy configuration. Refer to the Zoho Assist firewall configuration guide for details.

    Session connection failed when starting a session

    Issue: After launching the ZA_connect application, the session did not start and quits abruptly. (session_config api failure)

    Possible causes:

    • POST and PUT HTTPS calls to Assist servers are blocked on the remote machine network while the GET HTTPS calls are properly allowed to our assist domains.

    Recommended steps:

    • Make sure you have whitelisted POST and PUT HTTPS requests as well to our domains.

    Download failure prompt appeared in the on-demand session join

    Issue: During an on-demand session join, a "Download failure" prompt appeared after launching the ZA_connect application.

    Root cause:
    The CDN server is blocked on the remote machine.

    Recommended steps:

    • Whitelist the downloads.zohocdn.com server on the remote machine to allow necessary files to download and start the session.

    In-Session Issues

    Windows remote session screen frozen/freeze

    Issue: The remote screen is frozen and screen updates are not displayed on the technician/Viewer end.

    Possible causes:

    • Zoho Assist remote app disconnected from the session due to network or application crash.
    • Viewer/technician disconnected from the session due to network or browser freeze.
    • High ping on remote device or technician device.
    • Remote device is hung due to high CPU usage or high resource usage.
    • Mouse and keyboard controls from technician is not delivered to the remote device.

    Recommended steps:

    • Check Network stats in the Viewer's Session Menu for Ping details.
    • Perform windows operations through the viewer's Session menu to check if screen is frozen or control is not delivered.
    • Chat with remote user through Session Chat to check if Session Connection is alive or disconnected.
    • Send Ctrl+Alt+Del through the Viewer's Session menu and check if screen starts sharing.
    • Try changing Session's color quality through Viewer's View menu.
    • Try refreshing the browser once when taking session through browser.

    Windows remote session lagging/slowness 

    Issue: The remote screen is lagging or screen updates are displayed slowly on the technician/Viewer end.

    Possible causes:

    • Low network speed or fluctuations on the remote device or technician device.
    • Browser's resource usage may be high.
    • Graphics acceleration setting may be disabled in browser's settings.
    • High CPU usage due to low processor cores in the remote device.

    Recommended steps:

    • Check Network stats in the Viewer's Session Menu for Ping details — above average for good network speed on both ends.
    • Try changing Session's color quality to lower quality (25%/50%) through Viewer's View menu.
    • Check and verify browser's resource usage.
    • Check whether Graphics acceleration setting is enabled in browser's settings.
    • Try refreshing the browser once when taking session through browser.

    Windows remote session grey/blank screen issue

    Issue: The remote screen is shown as grey or blank screen in the technician end.

    Possible causes:

    • Zoho Assist remote app disconnected from the session due to network or application crash.
    • Viewer/technician disconnected from the session due to network or browser freeze.
    • Browser's resource usage may be high.
    • Graphics acceleration setting may be disabled in browser's settings.
    • High ping on remote device or technician device.

    Recommended steps:

    • Check Network stats in the Viewer's Session Menu for Ping details — above average for good network speed on both ends.
    • Try changing Session's color quality through Viewer's View menu.
    • Chat with remote user through Session Chat to check if Session Connection is alive or disconnected.
    • Send Ctrl+Alt+Del through the Viewer's Session menu and check if screen starts sharing.
    • Try refreshing the browser once when taking session through browser.

    Colour quality related issue

    Issue: The remote session appears blurry, pixelated, or the overall display quality is poor.

    Possible causes:

    • Network connectivity is unstable or bandwidth is insufficient.
    • The remote machine has limited hardware resources or low system performance.
    • Graphics or display drivers are outdated or not properly installed.

    Recommended steps:

    • Verify the network connection and ensure adequate bandwidth is available on both the local and remote machines.
    • Update the graphics and display drivers on the remote machine to the latest version.
    • Increase the session display quality by navigating to View > Colour Quality and setting it to 75% or 100% for improved visual clarity.
    • Review the remote machine's hardware configuration and performance if the issue persists.

    Copy/Paste not working during session

    Issue: Copy/Paste not working partially or fully during the session.

    Possible causes:

    • Clipboard sync option not enabled in the viewer page during session.
    • Disable clipboard functionality is enabled in settings page with any of these options: Agent to Viewer, Viewer to Agent, or Both.
    • The technician has restriction based on the role assigned.
    • Copy/Paste is not applicable in the application they use.
    • Open Clipboard in end-user machine got failed due to machine level problem.
    • Copy/Paste action triggered manually in end-user machine.

    Recommended steps:

    • Make Clipboard sync option enabled in the viewer page during session.
    • Disable clipboard functionality is disabled in settings page.
    • Make sure the technician has the copy/paste privilege.
    • Make sure the application which used has the copy/paste access.
    • Run "sfc /scannow" and restart the machine to fix machine level issues.
    • Ensure Copy/Paste action not manually triggered by end-user in agent machine as we only honor technician side action in end-user machine for Copy/Paste actions for security concern.

    Session ended before the idle timeout reached

    Issue: The session has ended before the idle timeout reached in unattended sessions.

    Possible causes:

    • The calculation to fetch the idle time has issues as this calculation uses machine last reboot time which might got failed as the machine level issue.

    Recommended steps:

    • Run "sfc /scannow" on end user machine and restart the machine.

    Keyboard and mouse related issues

    Issue: During session mouse/keyboard controls are not working.

    Possible causes:

    • Screen sharing got stuck which might look like a keyboard and mouse control issue.
    • Seems like a mouse scroll and mouse movement slowness due to screen sharing issue.
    • Mouse scroll slowness or faster due to mouse setting mismatch between agent and technician machine.
    • Mouse movement and click synchronization issue due to different resolution setting in agent and viewer monitor.
    • Key simulation is not applicable to the specific application.

    Recommended steps:

    • Ensure screen sharing has no issues.
    • Ensure "Roll the mouse wheel to scroll" setting matched in both agent and technician machine.
    • Ensure "Lines to scroll at a time" setting also matched in both agent and technician machine.
    • Ensure screen resolution in both machines as same.

    Agent application crash issue in end-user machine

    Issue: Agent application got crashed in end-user machine causes session failure.

    Possible causes:

    • Agent crash due to memory corruption in end-user machine leads to session failure.
    • Agent crash due to dependency components missing in end-user machine leads to session failure.

    Recommended steps:

    • Run "sfc /scannow" in end-user machine and restart the machine might fix memory corruption and file corruption.
    • Repair Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable using control panel in the end-user might install missing windows dependencies.

    Reboot and reconnect related issues

    Issue: Issues with reboot end-user machine during session or reconnect session after machine got rebooted.

    Possible causes:

    • Session didn't reconnect after end-user machine got rebooted due to network disconnection.
    • Session didn't reconnect as session expired, if end-user machine takes too much time to reboot.

    Recommended steps:

    • Ensure network properly connected after end-user machine got rebooted.
    • Ensure end-user machine didn't take much time to reboot.

    Same agent got launched in multiple machines

    Issue: Same agent got launched in multiple machines at same time which leads to termination of session in first machine.

    Possible causes:

    • ZA_Connect.exe is launched manually in different machines at same time.
    • ZA_Connect.exe or agent.exe launched in sandbox test environment by AV for testing.

    Recommended steps:

    • Don't share the same ZA_Connect.exe to multiple users.
    • Whitelist agent components in end-user machine to prevent sandbox invocation.

    Connection failure popup after Agent UI launch

    Issue: After launching the ZA_connect application, the session was validated, the join confirmation was displayed correctly, and the customer joined the session. However, a connection error appeared afterward.

    Possible causes:

    • Assist gateway servers are blocked on the remote machine network while the assist app-server is properly allowed.
    • Gateway servers' socket is reachable but unable to establish a socket connection.
    • Gateway server certificate is missing from the remote machine's certificate store.
    • Proxy/Firewall self-signed certificates are missing from the remote machine's certificate store.

    Recommended steps:

    • Allow gateway.zohoassist.com / *.zohoassist.com in the network firewall/proxy on the remote machine network.
    • Allow WSS in the remote machine network and in any network monitoring tool.
    • Export the server certificate and install it on the remote machine to prevent certificate validation issues.
    • Export and install the Proxy/Firewall server's self-signed certificates if they are missing from the remote machine's certificate store.

    Session keeps dropping and reconnecting

    Issue: The remote session often disconnects, causing the technician to deal with spotty connectivity.

    Possible causes:

    • Unstable or slow internet on the remote device.
    • Network restrictions disrupting the connection.
    • A proxy or firewall ending long-lived connections.
    • WebSocket throttling - WebSocket connection termination when passing high volumes of data.

    Recommended steps:

    • Verify the remote device has a stable Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connection.
    • If behind a corporate firewall or proxy, make sure WebSocket connections to Assist servers aren't being blocked or cut off.
    • Ensure the customer's monitoring tools do not terminate or throttle the WebSocket connections from our applications during high data transfers.
    • Switch between Wi-Fi and wired to help pinpoint the issue.
    • If the issue persists, end the session and start a new one.

    Proxy popup appears on the remote machine during the session

    Issue: During a remote support session, a proxy popup appears on the remote machine asking for credentials.

    Possible causes:

    • The internet connection on the remote device was lost.
    • Network changes occurred during the session.
    • The network changed during the session, and in the newly connected network Assist gateway servers are not allowed or are blocked.
    • The network changed in the session and its Proxy/Firewall self-signed certificates are missing from the remote machine's certificate store.

    Recommended steps:

    • Maintain a single stable network throughout the session.
    • Whitelist all Assist servers on all available networks.
    • Export and install any proxy/firewall self-signed certificates on the remote machine.
    • Refer to Zoho Assist's firewall configuration guidelines for more information

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