Tag Archives: Server 2012 Essentials

Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials Preview now available

Microsoft have released Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview, Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 Preview today.

They can be downloaded from the following links:

Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/dn205286?WT.mc_id=Social_TW_OutgoingEvents_20130625_25202_windowsserver

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essential Preview

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/dn205288?WT.mc_id=Social_TW_OutgoingEvents_20130625_25350_windowsserver

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 Preview

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/dn205299?WT.mc_id=Social_TW_OutgoingEvents_20130625_25353_windowsserver

The other noteable release is the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8.1 Preview

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39296

With Windows 8.1 scheduled for tomorrow it’s going to be a busy week….

Windows Server 2012 Essentials – Update Rollup 1 now available

Microsoft have released update rollup 1 for Windows Server 2012 Essentials.

The update adds four features and fixes seven issues, for details on the items addressed see the knowledge base article KB2781267.

On my test server, the update installed in less then 5 minutes directly from Windows Update.

Note 1: The update rollup contains the server-side fixes. After the update is applied to the server the client-side update KB2781268 will be applied to the client computers automatically. You do not need to download the client-side update, as it is downloaded automatically along with the server update rollup 1.

Note 2: If you have Office 365 Integration services running prior to installing update rollup 1 you will need to run the following PowerShell commands.

Set-Service -Name PwdSyncProviderSvc -StartupType Automatic
Set-Service -Name PwdSyncProviderSvc -Status Running
Set-Service -Name O365ProviderSvc -Status Running

See the Technet Article here for more details:

Office 365 Integration Service reports not running after install Update Rollup 1 for Windows Server 2012 Essentials (KB2781267)

2. VMware Workstation 8 + Windows Server 2012 Essentials + VMware Tools = Blank Screen

How to disable IE Enhanced Security Configuration in Windows Server 2012 Essentials

I’ve just started to look at Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Essentials, and one of the first things I like to do after installing a server is to check Internet access is working correctly, but of course IE Enhance Security Configuration is enabled so you get the blocked content warning.

This can be pretty tedious while I install a few other non-Microsoft applications, so initially I like to turn if off. Obviously with a new OS objects, and menus have changed so here is how to disable IE Enhanced Security Configuration.

From the Start screen click Administrative Tools.

Scroll down and double click Server Manager.

In Server Manager, click Local Server.

On the right hand side click on the On link next to IE Enhanced Security Configuration.

Click the Off radio button, and click OK. Administrators should no longer hand IE blocked content warnings.

VMware Workstation 8 + Windows Server 2012 Essentials + VMware Tools = Blank Screen

Here is a problem you may come across if you are testing Windows Server 2012 Essentials on VMware Workstation 8. The Windows Server 2012 Essentials installation goes well, but right after you install VMware Tools the screen goes blank. The server is still running, but there is no video.

Power off the Virtual Server, click on Edit virtual machine settings, select Display from the list of hardware, and then put a tick in the box for Accelerate 3D graphics.