Server Installation Error message: (NO HDD FOUND)

Dear Reader, 

Having setup and installed Servers for most of our clients all over Liberia such as, Water Aid- Liberia, Populations Services International-Liberia, Tetra-Tech ARD, Equatorial Palm Oil etc. on numerous occasions without any headache, last month January 20, Saturday morning was an experience a System Administrator wouldn’t want to miss or get to the bottom of.

An order arrived in our office by DHL that morning for a customer named Master Trading dealer in auto mechanic and spare parts located on the same street we are located.  An instruction was given to us from our Head of Operations to unpack and set up the server for installation at the client site.

As techies, my colleague and I removed the item out of the box (HP ProLiant 360 dl 360 Server G8, 1x4 TB HDD, 16GB RAM, Intel/Dual Processor and a RAID Array System already installed.

The power cord of the server was plug into the electrical outlet and to the power port of the Server. It booted up smoothly showing no operating system installed. I quickly arranged my Windows Server 2008 R2 software disc and inserted it into the CD ROM of the server, and booted from CD in the boot setting. It started up well where I could select the edition of Windows (Server 2008 64bits Standard Edition). In the process of installing, the software should detect each of the 1TB in total of 4 drives in other to select which one the OS is to be installed on, but in the process, it displayed the error message on the screen shown below:

I tried several times of installing the OS using different CDs and bootable USB drive, but the problem persisted. I did many online research on the error message but couldn’t find a suitable solution. All I could see from other websites was to download and update some device drivers which I did download but that didn’t work as well.

This drew my colleague, Farman Elahi attention after verifying that all the hard drives installed were brand new and reading from our HDD tester. He entered into the BIOS and System setting from one option to another until he found ‘’Enable RAID ARRAY’’ and then he hit enter. The option was enabled, and the system prompted a restart. Because the Server was running a RAID security, all HDD would show invisible until they were enabled.

 During this restart all the 4TB hard drives read and an option to select which drive to install the OS was shown. Many thanks to Mr. Farman my colleague who came in during the middle of my server installation nightmare. As a team, together everyone accomplishes a mission. The software installed successfully enabling me to complete the below necessary configurations.

1.    Connect to mains and network switch – allow for a network cable.

2.    Install Windows Server 2008 R2Standard Edition and Server name Administrator

3.    Configure server with static IP address.

4.    Run DCPromo.exe and install basic domain

5.    Configure DNS on the server – set it up with forwarder details of local ISP’s DNS or Google 8.8.8.8

6.   I set the local DNS of the Server to point to its own IP address and not the ISP or Google’s.

7.   Add all workstations to the domain and create usernames and password for users,

8.   Copy existing profiles into the new domain profile.

9.   Users are set to local administrators for their workstations.

10.   Set up network share for HP and Dell printer and, a folder. (username: admin PW: *****)

11.   Test connectivity of all workstations to share.

12.   Set up router to allow connection to the server via the internet for support purposes – Port  redirection (3389) to the server IP address.

       13.   Installed TeamViewer Host 10 on the server for outside support or remote login

A week later, the customer requested a remote desktop connection configured on the server. In the server manager, I installed the remote desktop feature. Got back to the user’s laptop, entered username and password an error message pop up! “cannot connect remote desktop, you must add the user in the group manually or use terminal service” In resolving this I click on “Start”, right click on Computer and click ‘’Properties”. Click on add users. Like for the client I created a login credential in the Active Directory called ‘Admin’ so when I click on ‘Add’ I selected Admin, click Apply and Ok. Restarted the server and all was okay with the end-user. Thanks to my colleague Farman who helped me cross the first level of all these configurations.

by Daniel Collins

Upgrading a Windows 2008 Server to 2012 R2 Standard

We have a client, Population Services International Liberia (PSI). All of their ICT infrastructure is being managed by us as a consultant.

There’s a file sharing server (HP ProLiant Server T620) that has been configured and setup for years running Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard. Last week, I was forced to upgrade the (OS) Operating System to Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard for below reasons.

I have had issues with RAM failure twice in the past and the RAM was replaced.

A monthly preventive ICT maintenance is also carried out on all their IT equipment including Anti-virus full system scan, defragmentation of disk space, deleting temporary internet files, Windows updates, checking all wireless access points, switches & routers, making sure everyone is seamlessly browsing the internet and system backups in case of disaster recovery or any other future problems.

One morning, I was just back in office from one of our clients sub office out of Monrovia, Sanniquillie Nimba County and doing the routine checks. I got an email request from PSI to creating new users and access to the said file sharing server. To be specific, Human Resource Department folder. I quickly arranged my tools and left for their site.

I typed in the administrative password for the server and got an incorrect password warning over and over. I couldn’t believe it because even if you woke me up at night I could read it out loud. I phoned the guy who’s in charge of the server room keys and whom I relate every sensitive information including Wi-Fi password, desktop administrative passwords, including the server just in case I am unable to get there on time due to emergency if he made any changes on the server password. He responded that yes he did, but can’t remember where he place it neither remember. I was so frustrated that why would he make changes without securing a system password or sharing it with me. I had no alternative but to get Windows Server 2012 software in resetting my password. Now if you don’t have this idea you will end up running a fresh installation, structuring files, configuring Active Directory, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), and creating all users over. This would have been more than a pain.

These steps are very easy and simple to follow once you have your software installation disk or USB available. (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard)

·      Boot from you Microsoft Windows Server 2012 DVD

·      From the Windows Setup menu, Click “Next’’.

·      Select “repair Your computer’’

·      Under Choose and option, click on “Troubleshoot”.

·      Under Advance option, click “Command Prompt”.

At the command prompt, run the following commands:

• d: and hit enter
• cd windows\system32 and hit enter
• ren Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.old and hit enter
• copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe

·      Close the command prompt and click “Continue.”

·     The server should boot and display a logon screen. In this case you only hold Windows Key + U.

·     At the prompt you can now change the password you wish by entering the following commands:

net user administrator ‘’Adm1n1str8t1ve” for example.

Close the command prompt, you will now be able to log back onto the server using the password you entered in the command prompt. Once you verified that you can log on to the server. That’s really cool. You still need to repeat the steps in getting to the command prompt by restarting the server and running these commands:

          · d: and hit enter

          · cd windows\system32, and hit enter

          · ren Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.new, and hit enter

          · copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe

Here are photos of my password reset. The server is now running without causing any inconvenience to our customers.

Reach out for NATC for all your IT needs and support!

Prepared by:

Daniel W. Collins

Senior IT Technician

New Africa Technology Company (NATC)

Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition R2 x 64-bit

Contributed by Jonathan Barwon

We have recently completed a server installation project of Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition R2 x 64-bit for one of clients. We are pretty sure this is one of the few deployments of this particular edition of Windows Servers here in Liberia because almost everyone is still using the 2003 version.

This blog entry will describe how we went about setting up the Server which took us a couple of weeks. We started in the second week of December but had to pause it over the Christmas & New Year break as our client had shut down its offices over the holidays. We completed and handed over the project in the second week of January. 

Brief Description of Project:

The objective of the project was to create a domain and a workgroup for common file sharing with high security among users; to have better control of the network end users’ devices i.e. to deny users' access to sites that use a lot of bandwidth (downloadable sites).

Hardware Requirements:

To deploy the Windows Server 2008 you need to meet the following hardware requirements:

Component	Requirement
Processor	Minimum: Single processor with 1.4 GHz (x64 processor) or 1.3GHz (Dual Core) Note: An Intel Itanium 2 processor is required for Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems
Memory	Minimum: 512 MB RAM Maximum: 8 GB (Foundation) or 32 GB (Standard) or 2 TB (Enterprise, Datacenter, and Itanium-Based Systems)
Disk Space Requirements	Minimum: 32 GB or greater Note: Computers with more than 16 GB of RAM will require more disk space for paging, hibernation, and dump files
Display	Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution monitor
Other	DVD Drive, Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse (or compatible pointing device), Internet access (fees may apply)

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/system-requirements.aspx

We were lucky enough to be working with a brand new and really sleek desktop – the Dell Studio XPS100 which we had imported for the client. The XPS100 was not intended to host the server but the client decided to use it anyway. As you can see the specs are significantly higher than the basic requirement: 

Processor:  Intel® CoreTM i7-870 processor (8MB Cache, 2.93GHz)

Memory: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs

Available Disk Space: 1TB - 7200RPM,  SATA 3.0Gb/s,  16MB Cache

Drive: 16X CD/DVD Burner + Roxio Creator 10 Premier - Ultimate Burn/Authoring

Display/ Peripherals: 

21.5" Dell SX2210 Full HD Monitor with Integrated 2.0 Megapixel  Webcam

Installing and Configuration of the ABA windows server 2008

December 28 2010 - January 14, 2011

Installation was quite easy and you can even find a step-by-step instruction on the Internet i.e. http://www.arabhardware.net/forum/showthread.php?t=76780. 

As for the configuration, here's what I did:

Day .1

It took me 2 hours to install the windows server 2008 standard edition.

I also installed McAfee antivirus and updated it, this took almost the whole day because of the slow Internet speed. 

Day .2

a. I started configuring the server by creating a common domain name for the server, with the domain name and a static IP address.

b. I created Accounts and Passwords for 15 users and their logon names to access the server. Active Directory configuration was done along with Active Directory Controller.

c. I also created personal folders for each of the 15 users to be able to save their document.

Day .3

a. I started configuration of Domain Name Service (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), win service to enable client access the Internet, and Configuration of User and Computer Environment using Group Policy. I also did the Accounts lock out policies, account management events, user rights assignments, restricted groups, and security options password settings all of these were done. 

b. I also set up the Preferred DNS server IPv4 addresses. 

I opted not to use WINS on the network and I clicked Next.

Then, I was promoted to configure a DHCP scope for the new DHCP server. I  opted to configure an IP address range of 192.168.0.20-150 to cover the 40+ PC Clients on the client's local network. To do this, I clicked Add to a new scope. I named the scope Client-local, configured the starting and ending IP addresses of 192.168.0.20-192.192.168.0.150.

Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, default gateway of 192.168.1.1, type of subnet and activated the scope.

c. Apart from the main office, I also had to set up a static IP address for 20 computers in the Computer Lab. I added these computers to the domain and set up their network printer on the network with a static IP address. 

After the first 3 days I had to pause the project, because client was closed down over the Christmas/New Year period. 

After a long holiday the client resumed work on January 10, 2011 and I was able to continue with my work. There was not much to do except to make sure all the users were on the server and able to share and access files. 

This Windows server 2008 x64 standard edition which was purchased by my company, New Africa Technology Company, from the Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 USA. It came with 40 user’s license (CAL's). 

How'd it go?

Building this server was not an easy thing for me to do because I have not worked on or built a Windows Server 2008 before. This was my very first time working in Server 2008,  I have only built and work within Windows Server 2003. But when I started things began working well as was planed. I had also done some reading on the Internet to familiarise myself. Towards the close of the configuration process, the clients' users were unable to access the Internet. The problem was that I did not share the network connection of the second network card of the server. I tried to get some help from other techies in the country but to no avail. I ended up e-mailing my IT teacher in Ghana and explained the problem to him and he told the problem was that because I did not share the second network. And, as soon as I shared the second network card, the problem was solved! 

The project was completed and handed over to the client who is quite happy! I am sure the next time I have to do it, it'll be quite easy and straightforward.