Server Core and UAC

We have just finished replacing our file server that was running on Windows 2008 Standard Core.

Replacing that server was not high on the priority list until after our migration to SBS 2011 RTM when we had a Group Policy setting that enabled UAC for the OU that contained our Core and Hyper-V Server installs. We restructured our GP scopes and OUs to eliminate UAC on our Core based servers.

By default, UAC is disabled on Server Core. All of our Core, Hyper-V Server, and cluster node servers took the settings changes that disabled UAC without an issue. But, the file server for whatever reason decided to ignore the GP settings and keep UAC enabled.

Try as we might we ended up with a Group Policy Tattoo for UAC thus rendering the server in a bad state.

We decided to cut and run so we reloaded it with Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Full.

The benefits of having the full install are huge. We now have access to the Windows Search service which allowed us to key in all of the shares on the file server into the Windows 7 Libraries feature and thus local search results.

We were able to mount the original server’s backup and attach the backup VHD to recover the needed folder share data.

It also allowed us to gain access to the File Resources management features which will help us to clean up our file stores:

The above screenshot was from a folder specific to Windows 95 . . . yeah, I actually said “Windows 95”! :)

The utility is the Enhanced Print Troubleshooter developed by the Decision Theory Group at Microsoft Research and Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS).

From the ReadMe.txt:

The Enhanced Print Troubleshooter is a diagnostic tool developed by
the Decision Theory Group at Microsoft Research and Microsoft
Product Support Services.  The Enhanced Print Troubleshooter uses
probabilities and costs associated with different faults to generate
a list of recommended troubleshooting steps.  When you run the
Enhanced Print Troubleshooter, the list of recommendations is
regenerated after each question is answered, based on what the
system knows about the problem you are having and the printing
configuration.

We will now be able to create and run reports that will allow us to see the big picture on all of those dormant files as well as other files and their usage on the server. Since we have well over a Terabyte of data to sift through we are anticipating freeing up a lot of storage space!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer