ptg www.it-ebooks.info ptg Microsoft ® Windows ® Home Server UNLEASHED 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA Paul McFedries Second Edition www.it-ebooks.info ptg Microsoft® Windows® Home Server Unleashed, Second Edition Copyright © 2010 by Sams Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. ISBN-13: 978-0-672-33106-0 ISBN-10: 0-672-33106-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: McFedries, Paul. Microsoft Windows Home Server unleashed / Paul McFedries.—2nd ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-672-33106-0 1. Microsoft Windows server. 2. Operating systems (Computers) 3. Home computer networks—Computer programs. I. Title. QA76.76.O63M398173 2010 005.4'476—dc22 2010007840 Printed in the United States of America First Printing March 2010 Trademarks All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Sams Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Warning and Disclaimer Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possi- ble, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book. Bulk Sales Pearson offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact: U.S. Corporate and Government Sales 1-800-382-3419 corpsales@pearsontechgroup.com For sales outside of the U.S., please contact: International Sales international@pearson.com Associate Publisher Greg Wiegand Acquisitions Editor Rick Kughen Managing Editor Patrick Kanouse Senior Project Editor Tonya Sim p son Copy Editor Water Crest Publishing, Inc. Indexer Ken Johnson Proofreader Williams Woods Publishing Services, LLC Technical Editor Tim Barrett Publishing Coordinator Cindy Teeters Book Designer Gary Adair Compositor Mark Shirar Reviewers Tim Barrett Kevin Royalty From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Contents at a Glance Introduction 1 Part I Unleashing Windows Home Server Configuration 1 Setting Up Your Windows Home Server Network 7 2 Setting Up and Working with User Accounts . 35 3 Adding Devices to the Windows Home Server Network 63 4 Configuring Windows Home Server 93 5 Setting Up and Using Home Server Storage 125 Part II Unleashing Windows Home Server Networking 6 Sharing Folders and Files on the Home Server 143 7 Making Connections to Network Computers. 175 8 Streaming and Sharing Digital Media . 213 9 Backing Up and Restoring Network Computers . 239 10 Monitoring Your Network . 267 11 Implementing Windows Home Server Security 285 12 Setting Up a Windows Home Server Website . 319 13 Running a SharePoint Site on Windows Home Server 353 Part III Unleashing Windows Home Server Performance and Maintenance 14 Tuning Windows Home Server Performance. 391 15 Maintaining Windows Home Server . 427 16 Customizing the Windows Home Server Interface 459 17 Troubleshooting Windows Home Server . 489 Part IV Unleashing Windows Home Server Advanced Tools 18 Working with the Windows Home Server Registry 523 19 Using Windows Home Server’s Command-Line Tools 543 20 Using Other Windows Home Server Power Tools . 603 21 Scripting Windows Home Server . 655 Part V Appendixes A Glossary. 695 B Windows Home Server Keyboard Shortcuts 711 C Windows Home Server Online Resources . 721 Index 725 From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Table of Contents Introduction 1 Part I Unleashing Windows Home Server Configuration 1 Setting Up Your Windows Home Server Network 7 Configuring Windows Home Server for Networking 8 Changing the Windows Home Server Workgroup Name . 8 Displaying the Network Icon in the Notification Area 9 Configuring Windows Home Server with a Static IP Address. 9 Setting Up Windows Home Server as a DHCP Server 13 Viewing the Windows Home Server Network . 15 Troubleshooting Network Problems 16 Checking Connection Status . 16 Checking Network Utilization 19 Repairing a Network Connection 19 Working with Network Diagnostics . 22 Troubleshooting Cables . 26 Troubleshooting the Network Interface Card 27 Handling Multiple Network Subnets. 30 Making a Remote Desktop Connection to the Server. 31 Making Sure That Windows Home Server Is Ready to Host . 32 Making the Connection to the Server 32 Disconnecting from the Server . 33 From Here . 34 2 Setting Up and Working with User Accounts 35 Understanding Security Groups 35 Adding a New User. 38 Setting the Password Length and Complexity 38 Customizing the Password Length Requirement 40 Building a Strong Password . 41 Changing the Password on the Client 42 Adding the User Account. 43 Synchronizing the Client and Windows Home Server Passwords . 45 Automating Client Logons. 47 Modifying User Accounts . 48 Viewing Account Properties . 50 From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Contents v Changing the Account Password . 51 Disabling a User Account. 52 Enabling a User Account. 55 Removing a User Account 57 Changing the Account Name 58 Adding a User to a Group 58 Allowing a User to Log On to the Windows Home Server Desktop . 59 From Here . 60 3 Adding Devices to the Windows Home Server Network 63 Installing Windows Home Server Connector on the Client Computers 63 Supported Operating Systems 64 Preparing to Install Windows Home Server Connector. 65 Running the Windows Home Server Connector Setup Program on Windows 7 and Windows Vista. 65 Running the Windows Home Server Connector Setup Program on Windows XP 67 Rediscovering the Windows Home Server. 68 Using a Mac on Your Windows Home Server Network 70 Connecting to the Windows Home Server Network. 70 Mounting a Windows Home Server Shared Folder. 71 Backing Up Mac Data to a Windows Home Server Shared Folder 73 Using a Mac to Make a Remote Desktop Connection to Windows Home Server . 74 Letting Windows Computers See Your Mac Shares . 77 Using a Linux Client on Your Windows Home Server Network . 80 Viewing the Windows Home Server Network in Ubuntu 81 Letting Windows Computers See Your Ubuntu Shares. 81 Connecting Other Devices to the Windows Home Server Network 85 Connecting a Windows Mobile Device. 87 Adding an Xbox 360 to the Network 88 Connecting a Kodak Wi-Fi Digital Picture Frame 89 From Here . 91 4 Configuring Windows Home Server 93 Changing the Name of the Home Server . 94 Running the Windows Home Server Console. 94 Changing the Date and Time on Windows Home Server. 96 Setting the Current Date and Time. 96 Synchronizing the Date and Time with a Time Server. 98 From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Selecting the Windows Home Server Region . 101 Changing the Region in the Windows Home Server Console . 101 Customizing the Region Formats 102 Configuring Windows Update 103 Configuring Windows Update via the Windows Home Server Console . 103 Configuring Windows Update via the Automatic Updates Control Panel. 104 Updating Windows Home Server 105 Changing the Windows Home Server Password . 106 Restarting or Shutting Down Windows Home Server 107 Configuring an Uninterruptible Power Supply. 108 Configuring the Windows Home Server Startup. 111 Editing BOOT.INI Directly. 112 Using the System Configuration Editor to Modify BOOT.INI . 116 Configuring Startup with the Advanced Options Menu 117 Launching Applications and Scripts at Startup . 120 From Here. 124 5 Setting Up and Using Home Server Storage 125 Understanding Windows Home Server Storage . 125 Simplicity: Saying Goodbye to Drive Letters 126 Flexibility: Expanding (or Contracting) the Data Pool . 127 Safety: Using Duplication to Ensure No Data Is Lost . 128 Understanding Drive Extender. 129 Server Storage on a One-Drive System . 130 Server Storage on a Two-Drive System . 131 Server Storage on a Multi-Drive System 131 Setting the Primary Hard Drive . 131 Adding Storage to the Home Server . 133 Adding a Drive to the Storage Pool . 134 Adding a Drive for Windows Home Server Backups 135 Viewing Storage Status 137 Repairing Storage . 138 Removing Storage from the Home Server. 138 Removing a Storage Hard Drive. 139 Removing a Server Backup Hard Drive. 140 From Here. 141 Part II Unleashing Windows Home Server Networking 6 Sharing Folders and Files on the Home Server 143 Examining the Predefined Windows Home Server Shares 144 Setting User Permissions on Shared Folders 144 vi Contents From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Modifying Permissions for a Windows Home Server Shared Folder . 146 Sharing Server Folders Outside Drive Extender. 146 Creating a New Shared Folder. 149 Toggling Duplication for a Shared Folder . 151 Accessing the Windows Home Server Shared Folders 152 Understanding the Universal Naming Convention 153 Mapping a Shared Folder to a Local Drive Letter . 154 Disconnecting a Mapped Network Folder. 156 Creating a Network Location in Windows 7 and Windows Vista 157 Creating a Network Place in Windows XP . 158 Copying Files to a Shared Folder . 159 Publishing a Windows Vista Calendar to the Server. 160 Publishing Your Calendar 161 Subscribing to a Calendar 162 Working with Shared Calendars 164 Viewing Share Storage History 164 Searching the Shared Folders . 166 As-You-Type Searches with Desktop Search. 168 Advanced Searches. 168 Using Advanced Query Syntax to Search Properties 169 Deleting a Shared Folder 172 From Here. 173 7 Making Connections to Network Computers 175 Configuring a Computer as a Remote Desktop Host . 176 Configuring a Windows 7 or Vista Host 177 Configuring an XP Host. 178 Restricting the Computers That Can Connect to the Host 179 Connecting via Remote Desktop Connection 181 Getting the Client Computer Ready 181 Making the Connection to the Remote Desktop 182 Disconnecting from the Remote Desktop 187 Connecting via Windows Home Server Web Site Remote Access 187 Configuring Users for Remote Access . 188 Activating Remote Access on the Server 188 Displaying the Remote Access Home Page. 188 Making the Connection. 190 Disconnecting from the Host 193 Connecting via the Internet . 194 Determining the Windows Home Server IP Address 194 Setting Up Port Forwarding on the Router . 195 Contents vii From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg Configuring the Router By Hand . 197 Determining the Router’s External IP Address . 197 Using a Dynamic DNS Service. 198 Obtaining a Domain Name from Microsoft 199 Displaying the Remote Access Home Page. 200 Connecting to a Network Computer 201 Connecting to the Windows Home Server Console . 202 Connecting to the Windows Home Server Desktop 202 Working with Windows Home Server Shares in the Web Browser 205 Enabling Drag-and-Drop Uploading 207 Customizing the Remote Access Web Pages. 208 Setting Remote Access as the Default Home Page . 209 Customizing the Website Headline . 210 Customizing the Website Images 211 From Here. 212 8 Streaming and Sharing Digital Media 213 Streaming Digital Media to Network Computers and Devices 214 Getting Your Devices Ready. 214 Activating Media Sharing in Windows Home Server . 216 Connecting Devices . 218 Playing Streamed Media in Windows Media Player 220 Playing Streamed Media in Windows Media Center . 222 Connecting Windows Media Center to Your Home Server 223 Sharing Photos. 223 Customizing the Photos Share with a Template . 223 Using Server Photos as a Screensaver Slideshow 225 Adding the Photos Folder to Windows Media Player 226 Adding the Photos Folder to Windows Live Photo Gallery 227 Adding the Photos Folder to Windows Photo Gallery. 228 Running a Slide Show from the Photos Share . 229 Changing the Default Picture Import Location to Windows Home Server 229 Sharing Music. 230 Customizing the Music Share with a Template. 230 Adding the Music Folder to Windows Media Player . 231 Changing the Default Rip Location to Windows Home Server 232 Sharing Videos. 233 Customizing the Videos Share with a Template 233 Adding the Videos Folder to Windows Media Player . 234 Archiving Recorded TV on Windows Home Server 235 From Here. 238 viii Contents From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info ptg 9 Backing Up and Restoring Network Computers 239 Understanding Windows Home Server’s Backup Technology 240 Single Instance Storage . 240 No Backup Types 241 Smarter Backups . 241 Automatic Backup Management 242 Converting Client Partitions to NTFS . 242 Format the Partition as NTFS 243 Run the CONVERT Utility. 243 Configuring Windows Home Server Backups. 244 Configuring the Backup Time . 244 Configuring Automatic Backup Management . 245 Configuring a Computer for Backup . 247 Excluding a Disk Drive from a Backup. 247 Excluding Folders from a Backup. 248 Adding a New Hard Drive to a Backup . 249 Turning Off Backups for a Computer. 251 Running a Manual Backup 251 Cancelling a Running Backup . 252 Backing Up Other Systems to Windows Home Server. 254 Working with Backups 254 Viewing a Computer’s List of Backups . 254 Viewing Backup Details . 257 Preventing Windows Home Server from Deleting a Backup 258 Cleaning Up Old Backups . 259 Browsing Backed-Up Files. 260 Restoring Network Backups 261 Restoring Backed-Up Files . 262 Restoring a Computer to a Previous Configuration 263 From Here. 266 10 Monitoring Your Network 267 Monitoring the Windows Home Server Status Icon . 267 Monitoring the Icon Color . 268 Monitoring Network Health Notifications. 268 Monitoring the Windows Home Server Shares 270 Launching the Computer Management Snap-In. 271 Viewing the Current Connections . 271 Viewing Connections to Shared Folders 272 Viewing Open Files . 273 Closing a User’s Session or File. 274 Monitoring Remote Desktop Sessions 275 Starting the Terminal Services Manager 275 Contents ix From the Library of Wow! eBook www.it-ebooks.info [...]... the Windows Management Instrumentation Service 688 Referencing the WMI Service Object 689 Returning Class Instances 689 From Here 693 Part V Appendixes A Glossary 695 B Windows Home Server Keyboard Shortcuts 711 C Windows Home Server Online Resources 721 Windows Home Server Websites 721 Windows Home Server Blogs 722 Windows Home Server. .. Up Windows Home Server as a DHCP Server If your home network doesn’t have a device that acts as a DHCP server, or if you want more control over DHCP on your network, you can convert Windows Home Server into a DHCP server (The next three sections assume that you’re logged on to Windows Home Server either locally or by using a Remote Desktop connection; see “Making a Remote Desktop Connection to the Server, ”... with Microsoft Windows Vista, to get things going www.it-ebooks.info From the Library of Wow! eBook 8 CHAPTER 1 Setting Up Your Windows Home Server Network Configuring Windows Home Server for Networking Windows Home Server s default networking setup creates a basic configuration that should work without a hitch on most home networks However, you should know about a few small tweaks that can make Windows. .. Debugging Mode 516 What to Do If Windows Home Server Won’t Start in Safe Mode 516 Troubleshooting Startup Using the System Configuration Utility 516 Reinstalling Windows Home Server 520 From Here 521 Part IV 18 Unleashing Windows Home Server Advanced Tools Working with the Windows Home Server Registry 523 Starting the Registry Editor... OK Windows Home Server prompts you to restart your computer 11 Click Yes www.it-ebooks.info From the Library of Wow! eBook Configuring Windows Home Server for Networking 9 FIGURE 1.1 Use this dialog box to change the Windows Home Server workgroup name Displaying the Network Icon in the Notification Area You can save yourself a bit of time when working with some networking settings on Windows Home Server. .. (WMI) interface (Chapter 21) Part V: Appendixes To round out your Windows Home Server education, Part V presents a few appendixes that contain extra goodies You’ll find a glossary of Windows Home Server terms (Appendix A), a complete list of Windows Home Server shortcut keys (Appendix B), and a list of online resources for Windows Home Server (Appendix C) Conventions Used in This Book To make your life... much about Windows Home Server itself, but about getting his hands on the powerful Windows Server 2003 engine that comes with it In this book, I’ve tried to keep all these different families and situations in mind, and there’s lots of content here for everyone As a general rule, this book is for anyone who wants more from Windows Home Server If you want to learn more about how Windows Home Server works,... of what Windows Home Server has to offer You learn how to set up Windows Home Server for networking and how to troubleshoot basic network woes (Chapter 1) You learn how to set up and manage user accounts (Chapter 2), and I show you how to add various computer types Windows 7, Vista, and XP, as well as Mac and Linux—and various devices—including Windows Mobile and Xbox 360—to the Windows Home Server. .. is the router or wireless access point (If you have no DHCP server on www.it-ebooks.info From the Library of Wow! eBook 10 CHAPTER 1 Setting Up Your Windows Home Server Network your network, you can convert Windows Home Server into one; see the next section.) To find out the current IP address of the Windows Home Server machine, log on to the server and then use either of the following methods: In the... good stuff, and to keep the awful stuff away from their door —Walter J Williams Windows Home Server, like all versions of Windows, is loaded with good stuff, but it also comes with its share of awful stuff, too One of the goals of Microsoft Windows Home Server Unleashed is to help you find the good portions of Windows Home Server and avoid the bad bits I was helped tremendously in this by the editors . Glossary 695 B Windows Home Server Keyboard Shortcuts 711 C Windows Home Server Online Resources 721 Windows Home Server Websites . 721 Windows Home Server Blogs. the Windows Home Server Network 63 4 Configuring Windows Home Server 93 5 Setting Up and Using Home Server Storage 125 Part II Unleashing Windows Home Server