In a nutshell it was easy. One day Gung-ho Guy will come
unstuck, but not on this job. I say upgrading to R2 was easy
because I followed my usual path of ignoring all instructions, just
clicking on setup and following my nose, and it worked. I have
done this for every Microsoft operating system since Windows 2.
Say what you will about Microsoft, their installs are the best of any
software that I have ever seen. If it worked for me, then it will
be even smoother for an organized person who reads the release notes,
checks the pre-requisites.
One thing to note about Microsoft installs, the past never equals the
future, each operating system setup has its idiosyncrasies, menus that I
have never seen before.
What get's me through is a belief that this setup will work. So
if it stalls, then you do have to go back and read and re-read the menu
to see what it wants you to do. I confess to sometimes doing silly
things just to see if the install can cope. This time I tried to
print out the product key while install was collecting data. This
was particularly stupid as:
A) You don't need the product key until AFTER the upgrade.
B) Printing seemed to upset the install. Intelligently, it
asked for a reboot then carried on without trouble.
With Windows Server installs you always get options, such as do you
want Core (headless server) or Web server. Ah yes, it has to be on
64-bit hardware, phew I was OK. These day's always take the time
for install to see if it has any updates, presumably late breaking
corrections in the light of customer feedback.
I saw install reboot automatically at least once, but then I left it
to get on with install, it did not need me to do anything at all.
I had stuff in the startup folder, no worries, it handled that easily.
I also had AutoAdminLogon set to 1, so I don't know if install would
normally require a physical name / password logon.
In passing I noticed it stuck on 18% Expanded for about half an hour,
but eventually it finished that aspect and proceeded.
I cannot say how relieved I was to see the install transfer 97% of my
old settings. This saved me hours of work, and of course all the
apps like Word for Windows were there and did not need re-installing.
I almost forgot, all the old server services such as DNS were there just
as I left them in W2K8.
The only two imperfections that I could vaguely blame Microsoft for
were I had to a new version of IE8, even though the old Server 2008 had
IE8. Also I had to find PowerShell in the 'Turn on Windows
features' (Control Panel), it was expecting a bit much for it to detect
the CTP version of PowerShell and upgrade that.
The IE8 for W2K8 R2 (Windows 7) opens up a whole can of worms,
add-ons flash, silverlight. Could not find a Adobe Flash add-on.
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In-place upgrades have different challenges from fresh installations.
One plus is all the apps and hardware are there, at least 80% will give
no trouble and work just as before. With the other 20%, how can
put this, at least you know they are there, you can remember where to
find them on your system, its just you have a challenge finding a
driver, or re-installing them. What I am trying to say is that
with a fresh installation, you get hassle when you want a program but
you have forgotten where you filed the DVD, or you have lost the product
key.
I had to Enable the Sound, which I did in the Control Panel,
Hardware, Sound.
I then had to Disable Windows sounds! I like music, but I don't
like my speaker squawking when I click in Explorer, I tweaked this
setting via Change system sounds, and adjusted 'No sounds modified' to
plain: 'No sounds'.
Like many other Windows 7 / W2K8 R2 aficionados, my web camera gave
up the ghost after the upgrade. I phoned
Logitech, they took all my details, made me read-out product codes on
the camera's lead, but could not find me a driver. In a fit of
pique I then punched these same numbers into Logitech's download
section, and low-and-behold, there was a recommended driver of about 50 MB, even more impressively, it
worked my web camera burst into life. A classic case where a germ
of an idea leads to a solution, I would never have written down those
numbers left to my own devices.
Skype needed re-installing, I guess if I had done any sort of
compatibility check, then I would have found this out ahead of the Windows
Server 2008 R2 upgrade. (You WILL have the same problem, but with
different program.)
Taskbar is new. Very much in the style of Windows 7. The
downside is no shortcuts are no longer allowed in this area. You have to create a new toolbar
with Quick Launch attributes to get that feature back.
Your upgrade is bound to have similar wrinkles. So my bet is
your upgrade will provide you a good working platform with all your old
important Windows Server 2008 stuff just as before, however, I guarantee
there will be minor glitches with peripheral
hardware, or moody software may not work. Your salvation is a
little research on the software site, or from the superuser forum.
Follow-up
The strange case of the silent Microsoft Product Key. Did I
miss it? Did I dismiss it? Anyway I found in the usual
place, Control Panel System and Internet, System (Again), bottom of the
screen click on: 'Change product key', naturally you need a genuine 24
digit number.
Features - Hybrid Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7.
Library
Windows Desktop Experience
What's in the Desktop Experience Feature? The Desktop Experience
feature includes the following Windows Vista components and features:
Windows Calendar Windows Mail Windows Media Player Windows Aero and
other desktop themes Video for Windows (AVI support) Windows Photo
Gallery Windows SideShow Windows Defender Disk Cleanup Sync Center Sound
Recorder Character Map
Requirements
Minimum
Recommend Optimal
Processor: 1 Ghz 2 Ghz 3 Ghz
RAM Mem: 512 Gb 2 Gb
Depends on the edition
Disk Space: 8 Gb 40 Gb 80
Gb
Also common sense actions, disable UPS, remove any anti-virus software,
realize once get the GUI, the firewall is active by default.
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Orion's performance monitor is designed for detecting network outages. NPM makes it easy to see what's working, and what needs your attention.
This utility guides you through creating network maps. It also helps troubleshooting by indicating whether the root cause is faulty equipment, or resource overload.
