Tag: Windows 8

How-To: Obtain Windows Install Media

Lost that DVD? That USB key? Misplaced your ISO? Microsoft has you covered! Below are the official links to download media directly from the source.

Windows 7 – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

Windows 8.1 – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8ISO

Windows 10 (Media Creation Tool) – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

NOTE: If you’re looking to upgrade an existing system, use the media creation tool. It will intelligently download the necessary bits and walk you through the Windows 10 upgrade process.

Windows 10 (ISO) – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

 

Install Windows 10 Tech Preview using Parallels Desktop

Microsoft has released the Windows 10 Technical Preview and Preview for Enterprise this week. If you’re like me and you use a mix of Macs and PCs, you may decide to run the Technical Preview using some sort of virtualization software. In my case, I was trying to install the preview with Parallels Desktop 10.

During the install, it was asking for drivers before the install could continue. Turns out the fix for this issue is a very simple one. Instead of using a SATA DVD drive in the VM, change the DVD drive to use and IDE drive, as illustrated below.

Screen Shot 2014-10-01 at 10.16.40 PM

Tip: Install Windows Server 2012 Essentials Connector without Domain Join

There may be times where you want to install the Windows Server 2012 Essentials Connector without joining a domain. By not joining the Essentials domain, the following features are impacted:

– Any features that require a domain such as Group Policy, SSO by use of AD credentials to domain resources

– Any 3rd-party add-ons or applications that require the use of a domain

The connector can be installed in these cases by creating a registry key prior to launching the connector installation.

1. Launch Command Prompt as an administrator

2. Run the following command (may need to remove the dash in “SkipDomainJoin” due to formatting):

reg add “HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows ServerClientDeployment” /v SkipDomainJoin /t REG_DWORD /d 1

3. Launch the Connector Installation

Honored for 4th year in a row as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional

I am very pleased to announce that Microsoft has chosen me to be a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for the 4th year in a row. As many of you may know, I have been an MVP for Windows Home Server. However, with the discontinuation of Windows Home Server, I have been chosen to be an MVP for Windows Server for Small and Medium Business.

I am honored to have been chosen, and I look forward to all the amazing community work ahead in 2014.

Dear Tom,

Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2014 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in Windows Server for Small and Medium Business technical communities during the past year.

Microsoft releases Media Streaming Pack for Windows Server 2012 R2

As some of you may have noticed, Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials no longer includes media streaming functionality out of the box. This feature existed in the non-R2 version, as well as previous versions, dating all the way back to Windows Home Server v1.

Instead of keeping this feature in the base product, Microsoft have released the Media Streaming Pack for Windows Server 2012 R2.

The Media Streaming Pack adds media streaming functionality to Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials as well as those Standard and Datacenter servers running the Essentials Experience role.

The following features are included:

  • Streaming of media (photos, music and videos) to DLNA-compliant receivers
  • Smooth streaming to HTML5-compliant browsers through Remote Web Access and web service applications
  • Configuration through the Windows Server Essentials Dashboard

The Media Streaming pack is a free download from Microsoft and is available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40837

How-to: Install Windows Server Update Services on Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials

It’s here! As part of the general availability of Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, I’m releasing a new how-to guide. This guide is for installing Windows Server Update Services on Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials. Windows Server Update Services is a valuable tool in any IT professional’s toolkit, and can be used to manage the distribution of updates to clients, be very useful in low-bandwidth environments where it is not a good idea to have 20 clients downloading the same files 20 times from the internet, and is a great way to get basic reporting about systems.

If you have feedback, either leave it in the comments or send me an e-mail (tom at tomontech dot com). NOTE: I can not provide individualized installation support, I simply don’t have the time.

WARNING: By viewing and / or downloading this guide, you assume all responsibility and liability in case anything goes wrong. You agree that I can not and will not be held responsible for any data loss or other issues resulting from the installation or use of Windows Server Update Services. This guide is intended to be a sample and is not representative of every scenario. Please consult with a qualified professional if you are unsure about any of the steps herein.

To view the guide, click here, or view the embedded version below. To download a PDF copy of this guide, click here.

//www.scribd.com/embeds/177586048/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-1s8n6ss0lrri27hsxa8o&show_recommendations=true

Windows Server 2012 R2 is now available to MSDN / Technet Subscribers

Today, Microsoft has released the RTM Windows Server 2012 R2 bits to MSDN and TechNet subscribers.

Microsoft has said that they will be continuing to improve the product between now and General Availability in October.

Windows Server 2012 R2 brings a ton of awesome new features from refinements in Server 2012 R2 Essentials, to the Windows Server Essentials experience, improved support for BYOD with Work Folders and Active Directory, Storage Tiering in Storage Spaces, and many other awesome features.

To learn more about What’s New in Windows Server 2012 R2, I suggest visiting the TechNet Library, and reading Brad Anderson’s blog about the new features.

For the build curious amongst us, the build string for Windows 8.1 RTM is 9600.winblue_rtm.130821-1623. The SHA1 hashes for the ISO have been posted below along with steps to check the integrity of the downloaded ISO.

Hashes for today’s release:

en_windows_server_2012_r2_x64_dvd_2707946.iso
SHA1: B6F063436056510357CB19CB77DB781ED9C11DF3

en_windows_server_2012_r2_essentials_x64_dvd_2707177.iso
SHA1: 8A4CB96563DDA4F1BF637E57A992F3255D56B6F8

To run MSCDCRC against an ISO file that you have downloaded follow these steps.

  1. 1. Download MSCDCRC to the same folder that you downloaded the ISO to. (Click here to download MSCDCRC)
  2. 2. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the folder from Step 1
  3. 3. Type “MSCDCRC InstallDVD.iso” (without quotes)
  4. 4. The integrity check will take a few moments to complete. After the check is complete compare the CRC and SHA hashes to the hashes posted above

Windows 8.1 now available to MSDN and Technet Subscribers

Win8Blue_WebToday, in a change of heart, Microsoft has released the RTM Windows 8.1 bits to MSDN and TechNet subscribers.

In a blog post published by Steve Guggenheimer, Microsoft notes that they are working through how to best support developers and IT pros as they align to a faster release cadence.

In my opinion, it would have been much better to release the bits to developers and IT pros back around the original RTM timeframe, but this is better than nothing.

For the build curious amongst us, the build string for Windows 8.1 RTM is 9600.winblue_rtm.130821-1623. The SHA1 hashes for the ISO have been posted below along with steps to check the integrity of the downloaded ISO.

Hashes for today’s release:

en_windows_8_1_x86_dvd_2707392.iso
SHA1: 802CFCD3A411D99C097EA7E747F0B6697F9BDAC4

en_windows_8_1_x64_dvd_2707217.iso
SHA1: BC2F7FF5C91C9F0F8676E39E703085C65072139B

To run MSCDCRC against an ISO file that you have downloaded follow these steps.

  1. 1. Download MSCDCRC to the same folder that you downloaded the ISO to. (Click here to download MSCDCRC)
  2. 2. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the folder from Step 1
  3. 3. Type “MSCDCRC InstallDVD.iso” (without quotes)
  4. 4. The integrity check will take a few moments to complete. After the check is complete compare the CRC and SHA hashes to the hashes posted above
  5. 5. If the hashes match then you have successfully downloaded the ISO

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials – What’s New

In this R2 wave of Windows Server products, Microsoft is taking the time to update its “first server” version, Windows Server 2012 Essentials.

The Essentials SKU historically has been intended to be the entry level server for a small or midsize business. With Essentials R2, Microsoft is extending this feature set into the enterprise. Because the Essentials feature set is now an available role in the Standard and Datacenter editions of Windows Server 2012 R2, companies with more than 25 users can backup their PCs, seamless integrate with cloud services or on-premise Exchange servers, and provide remote access to company data.

Besides the Essentials features now being available as a role, there are number of additional new features.

  • Full PC Restore over the network is now supported
  • Mobile Devices can be managed in the dashboard using Exchange ActiveSync
  • Quotas can be set on shared folders in the dashboard
  • The client connector can trigger a VPN connection so clients can always be connected to the network
  • Now supported as a member server in a domain
  • Health monitoring and reporting is now built-in
  • Remote Web Access theme now follows in the style of SkyDrive

What I like about this release is that its the small things that really make it all come together. There is now an option in configuring the remote access website to allow direct RDP access to the server or only access to the dashboard. PXE boot restores of client computers is awesome and is something I’ve been asking for since the Windows Home Server days. The dashboard now lets customers integrate with Office 365, Windows Intune, and Windows Azure Backup. BranchCache is now supported as well. If a company has multiple servers, the connector will now let users switch between them.

These are just a few of the many examples of what Microsoft has brought to the R2 release of Windows Server 2012 Essentials. Over the next few days and weeks I’ll be posting some tours of the new functionality.

Windows Server and System Center: Designed with You in Mind

If you’ve been keeping up with Microsoft related news, you’ve probably heard that Microsoft announced new features in Windows Azure, announced Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2, and SQL Server 2014. For many of these products, they are here less than a year after their predecessors. This is a huge accomplishment for Microsoft.

According to a blog post published by Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President for Windows Server and System Center, Microsoft is able to do this because they are building for the cloud first.

By building for the cloud first, Microsoft says that they are able to do couple things:

  • Battle harden what is built. By deploying in Windows Azure first, Microsoft can ensure that they are delivering a solid product both in the cloud and on-premise.
  • Unify the planning and delivery across multiple products. With this wave of releases, Microsoft has brought together Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2, Windows Azure, and Windows Intune.

What this means for you as a Microsoft customer is that scenarios are being designed for better integration end-to-end, using real world feedback from people like you and I, and validated in the Windows Azure cloud.

It’s an exciting and interesting time for both Microsoft and its customers. I’m encouraged by the products I’m seeing and the scenarios that are being unlocked.