I’m an IT Professional and I enjoy working with the latest technology, but this feels way too close to work rather than a hobby for me at the moment! It feels like I’m integration testing Windows Server Essentials here, rather than using a product that was RTM’d a while back. I’ve been reading various threads within this forum and have posted a couple of times but I’m not seeing many clear resolutions so I thought I would publish my own issue list in a single thread. I’m on sick leave following removal of a slipped disc in my back so I’ve got time to help the dev team walk through any of these issues if it would help. I just want the products (Win 8 + Server 2012) to work as Microsoft intended – i.e. well together but it certainly feels like WSE isn’t quite ready yet. So that you have the background, I did a clean install of WS2012E on 25-Feb to use as my home server and I have 2 Win 8 Pro and 1 Win 7 Home Premium clients. None of the clients are part of the Domain. Issues and status listed below:

1. Client Dashboard and Launchpad report that the server is offline. RDP to the server does work and logging into Dashboard that way, the server shows the clients as offline under “Devices”. Workarounds:

-         Firewall on the server turned off for all networks (not ideal, but turning it back on immediately kills connectivity to all clients (i.e. Client Launchpad’s report server offline; server Dashboard shows clients as offline)

-         Must boot the server up first before all clients, and then wait about 20 minutes or so

-         Occasionally even then a client may not connect. The only way to get a connection is (strangely) to turn on all 3 of my clients machines, then the server is available. It’s almost as if the last one that was shut down the previous night needs to be on to allow the server to become available again

As per this thread: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserveressentials/thread/b4d1cf0a-f27d-4594-8919-078b3b08045b

Status: Experienced since initial installation on 25-Feb and on-going

2. File history is copying multiple versions of every single file (documents, pictures) as per this thread (mustn’t have been fixed): http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-GB/w8itprogeneral/thread/14cedd95-b3b0-4830-be00-da793dda9e27

-         Multiple error entries in the Event Log on client machine  – relating to process unable to complete due to configuration process failure

-         Also, could copy Skydrive.LOCK because file was in use. Would try again next time

Status: Experienced since initial File History run on 26-Feb. On 6-Mar, I deleted the config and data files on client machine, disabled File History on the server side and am no longer using this functionality. I suppose now that Ive deleted and re-set File History, I could try setting it up again it I’ve gone completely off the idea of using this functionality

3. File history keeps adding folders into the “Exclude Folders” list (Music, Videos), therefore no files are backed up from either of these libraries

Status: As above

4. Booting up the server, an alert appears saying 2 important services are not running;checking, both services are in fact running. These are Wss-something (relating to Media sharing) and Windows Remote Gateway. The reason I can’t give full details, is that the alert disappears from the list after Ive read it (I haven’t pressed ignore or delete) I can’t get it back!

Status: Experienced on boot up on 5-Mar and 6-Mar. On-going.

5. In Dashboard, one client has started showing an “Error” in the update status field. In computer properties, its says “Error: Cannot detect available updates”. This morning, I received an alert about this, but again once I read it the alert has disappeared and I can no longer find it

Status: Experienced on boot up on 5-Mar and 6-Mar. On-going, but applies only to 1 of my 3 clients

6. Folder Redirection process – after I added a new hard drive, I moved the “File History Folder” from C to D using the wizard. It moved the contents of the folder but threw an error at the end saying it couldn’t move some files. I manually enquired and the folder was still on the C drive renamed with .DELETE after it. I then manually deleted through explorer.

Status: This was on 26^th Feb. Folder movement (scenario where folder being moved had data in it) not run again since

7. Anywhere Access wizard reports 4 errors – including that I have 2 routers on my network (when I don’t), as per this thread:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserveressentials/thread/8012fef1-7fea-414d-b47e-9308cf952ea4

Status: Ran the wizard on 27-Feb and 3-Mar.No longer going to use this functionality

8. MyServer App cant be configured for initial connection to server – it says the credentials I enter for the Server name are incorrect, despite being the same (correct ones) that ive supplied to RDP

Status: App downloaded and configuration attempted on 5-Mar. Will use RDP, Dashboard Connector instead on client machines as a workaround

I'm curious if the backup feature built into Windows Server 2012 Essentials will allow me to browse the backup of my client computers. For example, if I wanted to extract only certain files from a backup without restoring the whole drive, would that be possible? So far from all the research I've done, I have yet to find that this is possible. I thought it was worth asking anyways because it seems like an important feature if certain files get corrupted, preventing the scenario where the whole drive needs to be restored.

Morning,

I've recently started using WSE 2012 and I'm having some success but mostly problems when it comes to client backups.

• Client is Windows 8 Pro x64 all patched - Attempting to backup two pieces - System State and C:\ drive which is a 160GB SSD. This is a quad core, 24GB RAM, all kinds of lovely things kind of box.
• Server is WSE 2012 all patched. Five drives, three 1TB drives mixed into a 2-way storage space with a 5TB limit, a 400GB drive for Server Backups and a 2TB drive for Client backups. This is a quad core, 8GB RAM, ready to work kind of box.

Things I've already dealt with -

• A bad hard drive that the Server OS was running on. Replaced and the Server Backup / Restore feature worked amazingly well. Yes, Server backups work perfect - Client backups are my problem.
• The "Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error querying for the IVssWriterCallback interface.  hr = 0x80070005, Access is denied." error on the client. - Found a resolution to this that dealt with DCOM permissions.
• Setting the VSS service on the client and server to Automatic instead of Manual. I found out that it works better on Manual so that the correct System Service logs in from the Server and starts the VSS service when a backup is kicked off.
• Accidentally setting the "Client Computer Backups" folder in a Storage Pool. Hint - Don't do this. Bad juju. Instead I have a separate HDD on its own for client backups.
• Having issues with the backup database and unable to "repair" the database. Only way to resolve was to wipe out the entire "Client Computer Backups" folder and have it start fresh. Afterwards I have to tell it to "repair" the DB and it says - "There are no problems!". Yeah, Cheers to that.
• Actually getting a backup all the way to 70% before it failed. I disabled the onboard NIC and installed an Intel NIC. That worked much better. After three days of trial and tribulation, I got my first manual backup to work.

This morning, I log in to find that last nights first automated backup fails. My good friend WSSBackup.exe had issues:

So I can't try another backup until I repair the backup database (which also failed).

Then I'll have to wipe out the client backups again before re-trying my client backup.

Is there something I'm missing here? There just doesn't seem to be an obvious culprit.

Thanks in advance!

 -JJ

bit of a strange situation here. Running 2012SE with an SSD as OS disk, 4 (2*3TB + 2*2TB) in a mirror storage group and a single 2TB drive for Client backup - all hooked up via SATA II on a older motherboard with 6GB of memory and a E7300 CPU.

Originally had Client backup in a storage group - constantly failed - the read about better not having the backup target as a storage group. Changed it to be a single drive but guess what - less failures but no joy.

Checked drive - tried NTFS and ReFS - low level format - bad block detection - all no joy. Tried other drive - still failures (no reason - just failed, recovery taking ages and often failing itself). Tried disabling cache, made sure the Samsung patch was applied - all no joy...

then tried something quite different - hooked up a 2.5" drive via USB and moved Client backup on there. Guess what - all working fine!! Both drives I tried before faulty maybe?? Let's try - moved the 2TB to be hooked up via USB and moved Backup folder on there. Happy days - no failures whatsoever.

sooo - looks like my specific configuration doesn't like to make Client backups via SATA - but quite happy to do so via USB

Anybody got an idea here?? Don't mind USB (2) but is a bit untidy...

While asking - has anyone found a way to persuade 2012SE to give up storage freed up within a thinly provisioned storage space?? Mine states 96% storage efficiency but not handing it back....

thnx

Dennis

This post describes a tempory solution that allows client computers to connect to Windows Server 2012 Essentials without joining the Windows Server 2012 Essentials domain. Please read the following Notes carefully before you take any actions.

Description

When deploying Pro/Enterprise/Ultimate Windows client computers in a Windows Server 2012 Essentials network, joining the Windows Server 2012 Essentials domain is mandatory. If the client computer is already joined to another domain, you are required to manually leave the existing domain; otherwise, the client deployment process will be blocked.

Currently we have received requests from customers asking for the option to skip domain joining in a client deployment. As a result, in this article we provide a solution so that the client can connect to the server and utilize the majority of client features without joining the domain.

Before you take any action, please read the following note. 

Note:  

If you skip joining the domain, the following areas will be impacted:

• All features that require that you be joined to the domain will not be available, including domain credentials, Group Policy, and VPN.
• Any third-party add-ons and applications that require that you join the domain will not be working properly.
• Skipping domain joining in an off-premises client deployment is not supported.
• This solution is only supported on the following Windows client versions:  
  • Windows 7 Professional
  • Windows 7 Enterprise
  • Windows 7 Ultimate  
  • Windows 8 Pro
  • Windows 8 Enterprise

To skip joining the domain during a client deployment

1. On your client computer, go to Start and search for command prompt "cmd".
2. In the search results, find cmd.exe and run as administrator.
3. Type the following command prompt:
   reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Server\ClientDeployment" /v SkipDomainJoin /t REG_DWORD /d 1
4. Complete the steps on the Connect Computers to the Server Help topic.  

I am looking for info on restoring a system image to the same drive under a different raid controller.

The issue it it sees the drive under the new controller as slightly smaller & will not restore.

Restores fine on a larger drive.

Is there a way to restore a image to a smaller drive.

Thank you

Hi

I have a problem where the users in the dashboard are not displaying at all. When I go to the computer management console and check the users  they are in the user management console. I cant add or remove users at all from the dashboard or link the office 365 accounts.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Julia

Here is my situation:

I have one hard drive of 500GB with the Win 2012 Essentials installed and one hard drive that is 300GB. I want to make a 300GB storage space that is mirrored across the two disks. I tried shrinking the C: partition and creating a second volume on that disk then trying to make a storage pool with this new D: partition and the other 300GB hard drive. However, this doesn't seem to be supported.

How else should I go about doing this? Or is there a way to only mirror certain folders on the server onto the other drive. This way I can have two copies of my most important data on both drives in case of a drive failure (I don't care if the system drive fails...at least I will still have my data).

What are my options on doing this and how do I do it?

Thanks.

I have a new HP Proliant MicroServer (N54L) with Windows Server Essentials 2012 for about 2 weeks now. So far I haven't seen Update Rollup 1 showing up in Windows Update. Other updates have been applied just fine. Could this have something to do with my localized (i.e. Dutch) installation?

L8r, Henk

I've just set up WS 2012 Essentials and connected two Win 8 Pro desktops to it.  One desktop is able to successfully perform backups and the other fails every attempt.  The error message states:

Insufficient storage available for backup.

Backup cannot save a snapshot of the volumes on this computer because the computer does not have enough storage space available.

Drive space isn't an issue with either the server or the failing desktop.  The server has over 2 TB free and the desktop has 900GB free.

The desktop is a brand new Windows 8 machine from Dell.  I've searched online and tried just about everything I've come across and no luck.  I could use some assistance

Hi all,

How can I am able to view security log with "Event Viewer" remotely to a Windows 2012 server, but I got deny with Windows PowerShell?

PS C:\> Get-EventLog Security -ComputerName DC04 -Newest 10
Get-EventLog : Requested registry access is not allowed.

Get-EventLog Application and System are ok

PowerShell works with other Windows Server platforms: server 2003 and server 08-R2

My “permission for eventlog”  is “Full Control”

Regards,

TN

I've attempted, on several occasions, to implement group policy on computers on my system.  All of them result in failure.  I saw this addressed in an earlier thread but the individual never provided his solution, other than that a new installation of the Sever Essentials software resulted in a success.

Can anyone provide any guidance as to how I can get these policies to go through without having to reinstall the server?

Hi, yesterday I configured Remote Web Access to my SBS2012 Essentials and everything worked fine. This morning I had to shut it down and after I boot up, I found out that my Remote Web Access isn't working. I forgot to set a static IP address on the SBS, but I have correct that. I've manually set a port forwarding on my Router (Linksys WRT54GL) to ports 80 and 443. 

During Remote web access wizard I choose Microsoft as a domain provider so I have xxxxxx.remotewebaccess.com domain. I tried to release and reacquire the domain and the wizard (seemingly) executed fine. Now, when I start repair wizard in Anywhere Access, it notifies me that it can't resolve IP address (worked fine yesterday). Also, when i try to connect to Default Web Site in IIS it notifies me that Remote Web Access is turned off. Which service is responsible for running Remote Web Access as I can't find some regular way to restart that feature. Default Web Site restarting is not helping.

Thanks for any help.

We share an internet connection and port 443 is already in use so we can not use this for Anywhere Access.

Is there a way of setting a different port number so users can access the server?

When using remote web access, I can access machines and shared folders just fine.  I get the error below however whenever trying to access any media.  I had to manually configure the router, since it didn't take with WSE2012.  This happens on both the local network and using remotewebaccess.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Stve

I'm a IT professional who is evaluating Server 2012 at work, but also have installed Server 2012 Essentials at home to run my 2 workstation home network.  Probably a bit of overkill for a small home network, but my Windows Home Server (WHS) 2011 appliance (HP MediaSmart 470) recently stopped working and since Microsoft has decided to stop further development, I decided to give 2012 Essentials a try at home.  For those of you unfamiliar with WHS, it was basically Windows Server 2003 with a pretty front end - really a fantastic product, but never caught on with the mainstream.  It was a great backup solution - I'm hoping 2012 Essentials is the logical migration path - so far, I've found it fairly easy to use.

AntiVirus provider Avast created an inexpensive antivirus product for Windows Home Server, but many thought it was unecessary given that since it's only use was as a media / backup server (no web surfing), that antivirus wasn't needed.  Given that Essentials 2012 appears to be the logical transistion for people like me moving from WHS, I'm interested in an expensive antivirus product for this server only.  I know that Microsoft offers System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection, but that's total overkill for my simple needs.  My 2 workstations are running anti-virus already - I just need basic protection (other than the built-in firewall) for the server.  Because I might use it to surf the web for a few things, I think it's necessary.

I've spent several hours researching this and haven't come up with much.  Sophos has a version for 2012, but it's more of an enterprise product - and priced that way.  Norton, AVG, McAfee - none of these offer a compatible product (yet).  And Windows Defender isn't supported on Essentials 2012.

Any ideas?  There are several threads already in this forum, but my question / need is limited to a simple home user - not a small business.  I would guess that in less than a year, there will be lots of other home users like me trying to figure this out.....

I just recently installed Windows Server 2012 Essentials, but upgraded it right away to Standard.

Will updates that are more specific to the Essentials version still get pushed to my upgraded installation?

For example, the recent Update Rollup 1 doesn't seem to be available through Windows Update.

Is it named something else for Standard?

Hi Guys

          I see many people are having problems with this issue. I have a server running windows essentials 2012 with 4 computers connected to it all running windows 8.

The last two weeks they all come up with the same problem ,says the server is offline even though I can log into it through the dashboard. I can view all the folders on the sever and transfer files to the folders, but cannot back up to the server. When I log into the server under devices it gives status for the computers as offline and the backup status as not setup even thought 2 weeks ago everything was backing up ok. So I am not sure what is going on .One of the errors on the server say DNS is not configured but when I go into the setting of the client computer the DNS is configured to the server IP address.

                                                                                  Regards

                                                                                             David