Windows Server Solutions

The issue occurs because the Cluster service does not handle regroup messages correctly. Microsoft Knowledge Base article 2552040 has a hotfix for this issue.

During setup, the failover cluster wizards create the necessary Active Directory computer accounts (also called computer objects) and give them specific permissions. If a needed account is deleted, or necessary permissions are changed, problems can result.

This issue occurs because the Remote Desktop Services Device Redirector service creates a new port every time that an RD session is established. However, the inactive ports are not recycled. Instead, the inactive ports for the redirected printers accumulate in the registry. This blog discusses how best to apply Windows Server 2008 R2 hotfix 2655998 to keep the registry clean on an ongoing basis.

Microsoft has released an update rollup for the printing core components that are included in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2. This update is dated March 14, 2012.

This video provides an overview of SPNs, discusses SPN issues and how to troubleshoot and resolve them.

Having a problem with nodes being removed from active Failover Cluster membership? This blog post explains one common cause and the solution.

This article contains a hotfix for an issue where the Cluster service may fail to start or the cluster Resource Hosting Subsystem (Rhs.exe) process may stop unexpectedly.

This article contains a hotfix for this issue, but the error and warning messages that are mentioned in the "Symptoms" section may also occur because of other issues such as storage problems or an incorrect configuration.

This article discusses the reasons you should not use a DC on a HA VM, and recommended DC locations.

This article outlines the reasons you should not run your DC as a HA VM.

If the Cluster Name Object (CNO) password is different from what is stored in the cluster database, no Network Names in the cluster will be able to come online. The Repair Active Directory Object option fixes this password.

This hotfix optimizes the hard disk resource implementation and improves the hard disk performance in a Windows Server 2008 R2 cluster.

This hotfix corrects a race condition in the reconnection logic of the Cluster service. When this race condition occurs, it leads to a deadlock situation in the Cluster database.

Cluster Name Object (CNO) being removed from Active Directory resulted in the Cluster Name no longer being able to function properly.

Review these requirements for using Cluster Shared Volumes in a Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2008 R2.

When installing updates such as a hotfix, service pack, installing a software program or adding a windows component for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 you might get an "Installation was not successful" error message. A common cause of this problem are an inconsistency in the Windows Servicing Store. Information on how to recover from this issue is documented in KB 2509997. This can often be resolved by Method 2, running the System Update Readiness tool (Checksur.exe).

For more videos on this topic, search http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/showcase for "kerberos." Common problems are SPNs not registered or are registered incorrectly, Service account is not trusted for delegation, and user account is marked as Sensitive.

New best-practice recommendations surrounding Receive-Side Scaling and TCP Chimney Offload.

To resolve this issue follow the steps in this Microsoft Knowledge Base article.

This article documents recommended hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Failover Clusters. For recommended hotfixes for Windows Server 2008-based Failover Clusters, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 957311.

This article helps troubleshoot this issue. For more information see the FAQ at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd560637(WS.10).aspx

This installation updates the New Replication Group and New Replicated Folder DFSR wizards. Additionally, this installation updates the Replicated Folder Properties page in the wizards with important information about how to size the staging folder quota to be large enough to prevent replication from slowing or stopping.

You can edit the quota of the staging folder and Conflict and Deleted folder on a per-replicated folder, per-member basis. You can also change the location of the staging folder. Also, optimizing the size of the staging folder can improve performance and reduce the likelihood of replication failing.

This article lists the hotfixes that are currently available for users who have installed the Distributed File System (DFS) technologies on a Windows Server 2008-based computer or on a Windows Server 2008 R2-based computer.

This blog post discusses using Sysprep’s CopyProfile setting to set up the default profile and using the Copy To function to move this profile as a network default or mandatory profile.

In Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2, the Data Encryption Standard (DES) encryption types for Kerberos are disabled by default. This article will help you determine if you need DES encryption in your environment and, if so, how to enable it.

Typically, this problem can occur when scavenging intervals are too aggressive. This blog post from the Microsoft Enterprise Networking Team discusses best practices for setting up scavenging.

RPC issues occur in many scenarios. Typical event IDs for RPC errors are Error 1727, 1722, 1723, 1721, 5719 or 1219. This troubleshooting guide explains RPC and provides steps to diagnose and resolve the most common scenarios.

The hotfix in this article is included in Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2. For non-SP1 systems, this fix is included in the Hyper-V rollup (KB2264080) available on the Windows Update site.

This article describes the hotfixes and updates that we recommend that you install on each node of a Windows Server 2008 failover cluster. For recommended hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Failover Clusters see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 2545685.

This issue is caused by a problem with the Host certificate (incorrect name, IP instead of FQDN or NetBIOS) or the certificate is missing from the VMM server.

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 2263829 contains information on a hotfix that addresses this issue.​ This hotfix is included in the latest Hyper-V rollup (KB2264080) available on the Windows Update site.

These problems can be caused by antivirus software that may be configured to monitor the Hyper-V virtual machine files.

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 976924 provides steps to disable host time synchronization by virtualized domain controllers that are running on a guest operating system.

This guide describes the requirements for Dynamic Memory and shows you how to configure this new feature.

Here is a great series of posts over on the virtualization team blog talking about a number of the changes that have gone into import / export in Windows Server 2008 R2.

This can be caused by low disk space. Resolution: Free disk space to allow the merge to complete or move the .VHD and .AVHD file to a volume with sufficient disk space and manually merge the snapshots.

The hotfix in this article is included in Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2. For non-SP1 systems, this fix is included in the Hyper-V rollup (KB2264080) available on the Windows Update site.

When you perform a live migration of a Hyper-V virtual machine on Windows Server 2008 R2, the live migration may fail with Event IDs 21203 and 21125.

There is a small but crucial difference in the way you configure a highly available virtual machine in a Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster and Windows Server 2008 R2 (which includes Live Migration and Clustered Shared Volumes). On Server 2008, the disk is not added to the Cluster. On R2, you must add the disk to the Cluster.

This can occur if the parent VHD was expanded. If you have backed up the files, restore the .avhd files from backup.

This usually occurs because you deleted the .avhd files to reclaim disk space. If you have backed up the files, restore the .avhd files from backup.

When you perform a live migration of a Hyper-V virtual machine on Windows Server 2008 R2, the live migration may fail and the virtual machine will have a status of Migration attempt failed. This issue can occur if a network adapter is added or removed on a highly available virtual machine using the Hyper-V Manager console.

The first step in configuring or troubleshooting Hyper-V. Use the BPA to avoid server configurations that can result in poor performance, poor reliability, unexpected conflicts, increased security risks, or other potential problems.

The latest Hyper-V service packs, updates, and hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 R2 are listed here in chronological order. You can subscribe to updates for this page using RSS.

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 2001093 examines the conditions that can exacerbate slow Windows startup and logging of the DNS 4013 event on Microsoft DNS servers configured to host Active Directory integrated zones, and provides the steps to avoid them.

DNS is a top source of support calls, according to the CSS engineers at Microsfoft. Use DNS scavenging, DHCP settings and Group Policy to keep DNS records up to date and uncluttered.

This issue can occur because of the Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS0) functionality that is supported in Windows Server 2003 DNS. Microsoft Knowledge Base article 832223 discusses your options for resolving or working around this issue.

This article provides a hotfix and a workaround for this issue. The issue occurs because of a deadlock in the Service Control Manager database. The Service Control Manager tries to start the HTTP.sys service and then puts a lock in place in the Service Control Manager database. Then, HTTP.sys makes a call that requires Cryptographic Services during startup. Then, a request is sent to start Cryptographic Services. However, a lock is already in place in the Service Control Manager database. Therefore, a deadlock occurs.

The new IPv6 Survival Guide in the TechNet Wiki contains links to Microsoft and third-party resources such as Troubleshooting IPv6, the IPv6 Learning Road Map and Test Lab Guide.

The kernel power Event ID: 41 error message is generated under different scenarios where the computer is shut down or restarts unexpectedly. MIcrosoft Knowledge Base article 2028504 provides steps to troubleshoot this issue.

This error occurs because the Microsoft Certificate Trust List Publisher certificate expired. A copy of the CTL with an expired signing certificate exists in the CryptnetUrlCache folder. An automated FixIt solution is available to fix this issue.

Microsoft KB article 822158 has recommendations that may help you determine the cause of potential instability on a computer that is running a supported version of Microsoft Windows when it is used with antivirus software in an Active Directory domain environment or in a managed business environment.

This issue may occur if you use volume-licensed media to install Windows 7, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Business, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2. When you start a volume-licensed installation of Windows, it will try to retrieve its product key from a Key Management Service (KMS) server over the network. If you do not have a KMS server installed, such as in an environment that has just a few computers, you receive this error message. You can follow the steps in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 929826 to locate your MSDN or TechNet product key, known as a Multiple Activation Key (MAK), and activate Windows by using a simple command.

This article describes an update that improves the reliability and the performance of an Advanced Format disk on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Advanced Format disks report themselves as having a 4KB physical sector size.

If you suspect metadata caching in the redirector as cause for misbehaving applications, follow the troubleshooting steps in this article to determine which of the caches is affecting the application.

This is a quick reference guide on how to calculate the minimum staging area needed for DFSR to function properly. Values lower than these may cause replication to go slowly or stop altogether.

This issue occurs because of incorrect Active Directory tombstoning of DNS objects. A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft.

The Encrypting File System (EFS) recovery policy that is implemented on this computer contains one or more EFS recovery agent certificates that have expired. This TechNet troubleshooting article describes the issue and solution.

This document provides guidance for the planning and implementation of a Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 public key infrastructure (PKI) using Suite B compliant cryptographic algorithms.

This guide describes security best practices for allowing custom SANs in certificates and provides procedures that can be used to request a certificate with a SAN.

This step-by-step guide demonstrates the process of setting up an advanced Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 security auditing policy infrastructure.

You receive a "Logon failure" message when you use a smart card on a Windows Server-based computer.

By default, LDAP communications between client and server applications are not encrypted. If your organizational security policies specify that LDAP communications between client and server computers should be encrypted., this blog post provides the steps to enable LDAP over SSL.

This document describes how to configure Active Directory® to back up recovery information for Windows® BitLocker™ Drive Encryption (BitLocker) and the Trusted Platform Module (TPM).

Microsoft has released an update for USMT 4.0 that adds support for Office 2010. USMT 4.0 migrations of Office 2010 are now supported.

The Setspn.exe utility cannot identify duplicate service principal names (SPNs) in Active Directory and cannot query for SPNs at the forest level. The Setspn.exe support tool update for Windows Server 2003 addresses these issues. Microsoft Knowledge Base article 970536 provides more information and installation steps.

The hotfixes in this article resolve common issues with Terminal Services or Remote Desktop Services. Do not proactively install the patches unless you are experiencing an issue that is listed, and install only the hotfix for that specific issue.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 support Extended Protection for Integrated Authentication, which includes support for Channel Binding Token (CBT) by default. If a non-Windows Kerberos server does not handle the CBT correctly, authentication fails. Microsoft Knowledge Base article 976918 provides steps to resolve the issue.

When a license server is activated by using the automatic method, the Microsoft Clearinghouse provides the server with a digital certificate chain that validates server ownership and identity. On February 26, 2010, a certificate that is part of the digital certificate chain expired. Certificate expiration is interpreted as a corrupted certificate. Therefore, Event 17 is logged. Microsoft Knowledge Base article 2021885 provides steps to resolve the issue.

By default, the MED-V 1.0 client is configured to use TrimTransfer when you download from an image distribution server in MED-V version 1. If you do not want to use TrimTransfer in image deployment, this post in the Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization blog has some alternatives to TrimTransfer for image deployment.

This post on the Microsoft Enterprise Networking Team Blog contains links to Microsoft Knowledge Base articles​ that can resolve these issues.

This article explains the process for upgrading domain controllers to Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. This information is based on the experience of the Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) team. This topic includes links to related information about the upgrade process.

Metadata cleanup is a required procedure after a forced removal of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). You perform metadata cleanup on a domain controller in the domain of the domain controller that you forcibly removed.