Troubleshooting Unattended Agent Connection Issues on Windows Devices

    Agent Installation 

    Windows device shows as "Offline" in the console

    Issue:

    A remote Windows device appears offline in the Zoho Assist web console.

    Possible Causes:

    • The device isn't connected to the internet.
    • The Zoho Assist background service isn't running on the device.
    • A firewall or network restriction is blocking the agent from connecting to Zoho Assist servers.
    • DMS server certificates are missing from the remote machine's certificate store.
    • Proxy/firewall self-signed certificates are missing from the remote machine's certificate store.
    • Antivirus or EDR software blocked the agent application and stopped it from running.
    • POST and PUT HTTPS requests are blocked to our domains. (Only GET calls will be allowed in some environments)

    Recommended Steps:

    1. Make sure the remote device is powered on and connected to the internet.
    2. In Service Manager, check if the Zoho Assist – Unattended Support process is running.
    3. If behind a corporate firewall or proxy, allow connections to gateway.zohoassist.com / *.zohoassist.com and *.zoho.com.
    4. If using a proxy, set up the proxy settings in the Zoho Assist agent.
    5. Export the server's certificate and install it on the remote machine to fix certificate validation issues.
    6. Export and install any proxy/firewall self-signed certificates on the remote machine.
    7. Whitelist all executable names and their paths in the antivirus/EDR on the remote machine.
    8. Make sure you have whitelisted POST and PUT HTTPS requests as well to our domains.

    Proxy Popup Appears on Remote Machine During Unattended Installation

    Issue:

    During an on-demand remote support session, after launching the ZA_access application on the remote machine, a proxy popup appears.

    Possible Causes:

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

    Recommended Steps:

    1. Whitelist all servers required for the remote session in the firewall/proxy configuration.
    2. Refer to Zoho Assist's firewall configuration guide for details.

    Installation Failed during Unattended Installation

    Issue:

    During an on-demand remote support session, after launching the ZA_access application on the remote machine, installation of URS failed.

    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:

    1. Whitelist all servers required for the remote session in the firewall/proxy configuration.
    2. Make sure you have whitelisted POST and PUT HTTPS requests as well to our domains.
    3. Refer to Zoho Assist's firewall configuration guide for details.

    In Session

    Windows Virtual Driver Related Issue

    Issue 1: The remote machine display resolution is too low, or a higher resolution is required.

    Possible Causes:

    • The connected monitor may not support higher display resolutions.
    • No monitor is connected to the machine (headless device).

    Recommended Resolution:

    Configure and use a Virtual Monitor to enable higher display resolutions, up to 2K, on the remote machine.

    Issue 2: Certain applications, such as Notepad and Trading Chart, are not rendering correctly, while other applications function normally.

    Possible Causes:

    • The laptop lid is closed.
    • The external monitor has been disconnected or powered off.

    Recommended Resolution:

    Enable a Virtual Monitor to provide a persistent display output and prevent application-specific rendering issues on devices without an active display.

    Issue 3: The Virtual Monitor button or feature is not visible on some devices.

    Possible Causes:

    • The operating system version is Windows 8 or earlier, which does not support the feature.
    • The customer's license does not include Virtual Monitor functionality.

    Recommended Resolution:

    1. Verify that the device is running a supported Windows version.
    2. Confirm that the customer's license includes Virtual Monitor support and upgrade the license if necessary.

    Issues with Auto Logon Feature

    Issue: Auto Logon failed during an unattended session.

    Possible Causes:

    • Auto Logon failed due to a dependent DLL not being loaded.
    • Auto Logon did not work for the very first unattended session as the dependent DLL has to load first.

    Recommended Steps:

    Log in manually one time — this will load the dependent DLL and the issue should be resolved.

    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 are not delivered to the remote device.

    Recommended Steps:

    1. Check Network stats in the Viewer's Session Menu for Ping details.
    2. Perform Windows operations through the Viewer's Session menu to check if the screen is frozen or control is not delivered.
    3. Chat with the remote user through Session Chat to check if the session connection is alive or disconnected.
    4. Send Ctrl+Alt+Del through the Viewer's Session menu and check if screen starts sharing.
    5. Try changing the Session's color quality through Viewer's View menu.
    6. Try refreshing the browser once when taking a session through the 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 settings.
    • High CPU usage due to low processor cores in the remote device.

    Recommended Steps:

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

    Windows Remote Session Grey/Blank Screen Issue

    Issue: The remote screen is shown as a grey or blank screen on 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 settings.
    • High ping on remote device or technician device.

    Recommended Steps:

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

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

    Copy/Paste Not Working During Session

    Issue: Copy/Paste is 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 a restriction based on the role assigned.
    • Copy/Paste is not applicable in the application they use.
    • Open Clipboard in end-user machine failed due to a machine-level problem.
    • Copy/Paste action was triggered manually in the end-user machine.

    Recommended Steps:

    1. Make sure the Clipboard sync option is enabled in the viewer page during the session.
    2. Ensure the Disable clipboard functionality setting is disabled in the settings page.
    3. Make sure the technician has the copy/paste privilege.
    4. Make sure the application being used has copy/paste access.
    5. Run "sfc /scannow" and restart the machine to fix machine-level issues.
    6. Ensure Copy/Paste action is not manually triggered by the end-user in the agent machine, as only technician-side actions are honored in the end-user machine for security reasons.

    Session Ended Before the Idle Timeout Reached

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

    Possible Causes:

    • The calculation to fetch idle time has issues, as this calculation uses the machine's last reboot time, which may have failed due to a machine-level issue.

    Recommended Steps:

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

    Keyboard and Mouse Related Issues

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

    Possible Causes:

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

    Recommended Steps:

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

    Agent Application Crash Issue in End-User Machine

    Issue: The agent application crashed in the end-user machine, causing session failure.

    Possible Causes:

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

    Recommended Steps:

    1. Run "sfc /scannow" in the end-user machine and restart the machine to fix memory corruption and file corruption.
    2. Repair Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable using the Control Panel on the end-user machine to install missing Windows dependencies.

    Reboot and Reconnect Related Issues

    Issue: Issues with rebooting the end-user machine during a session or reconnecting after the machine is rebooted.

    Possible Causes:

    • Session did not reconnect after the end-user machine was rebooted due to network disconnection.
    • Session did not reconnect as it expired, if the end-user machine takes too much time to reboot.

    Recommended Steps:

    1. Ensure the network is properly connected after the end-user machine is rebooted.
    2. Ensure the end-user machine does not take too long to reboot.

    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:

    1. Verify the remote device has a stable Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connection.
    2. If behind a corporate firewall or proxy, make sure WebSocket connections to Assist servers aren't being blocked or cut off.
    3. Ensure the customer's monitoring tools do not terminate or throttle the WebSocket connections from our applications during high data transfers.
    4. Switch between Wi-Fi and wired to help pinpoint the issue.
    5. 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 the proxy/firewall self-signed certificates are missing from the remote machine's certificate store.

    Recommended Steps:

    1. Maintain a single stable network throughout the session.
    2. Whitelist all Assist servers on all available networks.
    3. Export and install any proxy/firewall self-signed certificates on the remote machine.
    4. Refer to Zoho Assist's firewall configuration guidelines: https://www.zoho.com/assist/kb/firewall-configuration.html

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