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Configuring Windows Home Server

May 6, 2010

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This chapter takes you through some essential configuration tasks for Microsoft Windows Home Server. You can accomplish most of these tasks via the Windows Home Server Console, but several run outside the Console.

This chapter is from the book 

Microsoft Windows Home Server Unleashed, 2nd Edition

Learn More Buy

Windows Home Server isn't meant to be constantly tweaked in the same way that you might always find yourself fiddling with settings in Windows 7, Windows Vista, or even Windows Server 2003. After you get through the setup (which nearly qualifies as a forehead install—that is, an installation so simple that theoretically you could run through each step by just hitting the spacebar with your forehead) and the simple and straightforward OOBE (out-of-box experience—that is, what you must do to get a computer running after you take it out of the box), there isn't much you're supposed to do with the machine. You set up your users and permissions, perhaps add a few extra shared folders, and your Windows Home Server is good to go.

Of course, this only applies to the nongeek users that Microsoft is truly targeting with Windows Home Server. For the rest of us, adjusting the settings of any operating system (OS) is a must because there has never been an OS made that satisfies and is set up for everyone. We tweak; therefore, we are.

In a sense, this book is all about tweaking Windows Home Server to get the most out of it. However, this chapter in particular takes you through some essential configuration tasks. You can accomplish most of these tasks via the Windows Home Server Console (meaning that you can adjust the server's settings from any client machine), but some of the techniques in this chapter run outside the Console (and so require either a direct login or a Remote Desktop connection to the server). Be sure to also see Chapter 16, "Customizing the Windows Home Server Interface," for some tweaks on the look-and-feel front.

Changing the Name of the Home Server

The default computer name in a Windows Home Server install is SERVER, but you may decide to change the name after Windows Home Server is up and running. For example, you might simply be bored with the prosaic name SERVER, or you might be adding a second Windows Home Server machine to your network and you want them to have names such as SERVER1 and SERVER2.

Whatever the reason, here are the steps you need to follow to change the server's name:

Log on to the Windows Home Server computer, or establish a Remote Desktop connection to the server.
- SEE For the details on connecting to Windows Home Server via Remote Desktop, see "Making a Remote Desktop Connection to the Server," P. 31.
Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. The System Properties dialog box appears.
Display the Computer Name tab.

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You can open the System Properties dialog box with the Computer Name tab displayed directly. Select Start, Run (or press Windows Logo+R), type control sysdm.cpl,,1 in the Run dialog box, and then click OK.
Click Change. The Computer Name Changes dialog box appears.
Use the Computer Name text box to type the new name for the server.
Click OK. Windows Home Server tells you that you must restart the computer to put the change into effect.
Click OK to return to the System Properties dialog box.
Click OK. Windows Home Server prompts you to restart your computer.
Click Yes. Windows Home Server restarts. If you connected via Remote Desktop, the connection ends.

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