Normally when you have a problem with Windows Update there are two processes you should go through: Download and install the Update manually (rather than relying on the Windows Update GUI) Reset your Windows Update: Launch SERVICES.MSC, and STOP both “WINDOWS UPDATE” and “BACKGROUND INTELLIGENT TRANSFER SERVICE” then set them Read more…
Yes, you can run Server 2016 VM’s on Server 2012 R2 Host. In general Mircrosoft supports the release immediately after the host operating system (i.e. 2012 on 2008 R2, 2012 R2 on 2012 R1,…)
Windows Server 2016 is expected to be able to host Windows Server 2019 VM’s but as of today’s date the official line up for Server 2016 hosting VM’s is:
| Guest Operating System | Maximum Virtual Cores | Integration Services |
| Windows Server 2016 | 240 for generation 2 | Built-in |
| Windows Server 2016 | 64 for generation 1 | Built-in |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 | 64 | Built-in |
| Windows Server 2012 | 64 | Built-in |
| Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 | 64 | Install all critical Windows updates after you |
| Windows Server 2008 with SP2 | 8 | Install all critical Windows updates after you set up the guest operating system. |
| Windows 10 | 32 | Built-in |
| Windows 8.1 | 32 | Built-in |
| Windows 7 with SP1 | 4 | Upgrade the integration services after you set up the guest operating system. |
If you want to simply upgrade your existing cluster from Server 2012 R2 to Server 2016, you just need to buy Server 2016 licenses and perform a “Server 2016 Rolling Upgrade”. What this does is to take one of your cluster nodes offline, then upgrade it to 2016, then bring Read more…
UPDATE: July 2023 – If this does not work for you, you may find this updated article more useful: How To Easily Convert Windows Server Evaluation To Standard / Datacenter If you are having problems activating Windows 10, Server 2016, Windows 8, or Server 2012 one of these three solutions below should Read more…
In Server 2012 what used to be called REMOTE DESKTOP MANAGEMENT SERVER (RDMS) which contains most of the Remote Desktop configuration settings, is now buried in the new SERVER MANAGER under QUICK SESSION Properties. Specifically, if you wish to change the time outs on a Server 2012 RD Server, you Read more…
This is a short answer, upgrade to Server 2012 R2. In Windows Server 2012, Shadowing was removed but it is back in Windows Server 2012 R2: OPTION 1: run MSTC / SHADOW OPTION 2: Open SERVER MANAGER Click REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICS Click COLLECTIONS (left pane) Under CONNECTIONS (bottom right) right click Read more…
I use Hyper-V 2012 Replica’s and I move VM’s from server to server periodically using the Hyper-V, MOVE option. This got me to thinking, if I have a replica on another server, can I MOVE to that server? The reason you would want to do this is because you need Read more…
This was a tough one that required alot of work with Microsoft Partner Support over many WEEKS, but the answer is surprisingly simple. PROBLEM: When I right click and check the Properties on a data deduplicated folder (on Server 2012) the SIZE ON DISK shows some incredibly small numbers compared to the SIZE. Read more…
This was surprisingly tricking issue to deal with. If you are copying TO or FROM a Deduplicated file share you must make certain: Do NOT robocopy the a partition or volume – only robocopy shares\folders. This is because the dedup information is stored in the SYSTEM VOLUME INFORMATION folder and Read more…
HyperV 2012’s Replica service is designed for disaster recovery and given the complexity of what is happening in the background, this is a shockly simple task. Below are the steps and a lovely video to explain graphically: Install Hyper-V on two Windows Server 2012 (or 2012 R2) servers In Hyper-V, Read more…
The solution to “The source files could not be found” when installing .NET Framework 3.5 on Server 2012 (or Windows 8) is to: Pop in the DVD (or the ISO for the DVD) Start the ADD ROLES AND FEATURES Wizard and click the obvious choices up until the CONFIRMATION screen on Read more…
If you want to use Group Policy Folder Redirection for (my) DOCUMENTS or (my) DESKTOP: USER CONFIGURATION > WINDOWS SETTINGS > FOLDER REDIRECTION > DOCUMENTS you can but it has to be to on an SMB share. Let me explain. You can access a client PC from a Terminal Server using Read more…
Bring up a command prompt, type SET, press your enter key. In my case I needed the variable for the Host Name of the PC that is connecting to a Remote Desktop / Terminal Session. And that answer is %CLIENTNAME%. Below is the output from a Server 2008 R1 box but Read more…
If you have tried to install Adobe Reader on Server 2012 you see an INTERNAL ERROR OCCURED message and when you click OK, Reader will terminate. There are two ways around this that I know of: Right Click on C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe and set the COMPATIBILITY LEVEL to something old Read more…
This is part TWO of a series of tutorials on Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services. HOW TO CREATE & INSTALL A CERTIFICATE FOR YOUR RDS RDWEB SITE ON SERVER 2012 Start IIS MANAGER Click on your servers host name Click SERVER CERTIFICATES Right click and select CREATE CERTIFICATE REQUEST Enter all of Read more…
If you see the following error on your Server 2012 RD install: The Remote Desktop Connection Broker server could not enumerate the targets for the provider named NULL from the database. Pooled virtual desktop collection name: NULL Error: Logon to the database failed. you likely have either an old domain or Read more…