The Windows Home Server Connector software must be installed on any computer that you want to use to connect to Windows Home Server either to manage your WHS or to have WHS backup that computer.
The Windows Home Server Connector performs the following functions:
• Connects your computer to your Windows Home Server
• Automatically backs up your home computer on a daily basis
• Monitors the health of your home computer
• Enables you to manage your Windows Home Server from your computer
You can install the Windows Home Server Connector on any of the following Windows operating
systems and their variants:
Windows Vista Operating System (minimum requirements)
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Enterprise
• Windows Vista Ultimate
Windows XP Operating System (minimum requirements)
• Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Windows XP Professional with SP2
• Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 with SP2 and Rollup 2
• Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 with SP2
• Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 with SP2
• Windows XP Tablet Edition with SP2
The Windows Home Server Connector will also work on the beta of Windows 7.
Also, if you are running Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 or higher then you can also install the Windows Home Server Connector software on a 64bit version of either Windows Vista or Windows 7, but not Windows XP.
Installing the Windows Home Server Connector
This section shows you how to install the Windows Home Server Connector on each computer.
If you have the Windows Home Server Connector CD available, start
at Step 1 and then skip to Step 9. If you don’t have the Windows Home Server Connector CD
available, you can connect to the Software share on your Windows Home Server, because a
copy of the Windows Home Server Connector software is placed there automatically during
the installation of Windows Home Server. Start at Step 2 to connect to the Software share on
your Windows Home Server and run the Setup program.
It is important to note that there may be a later version of the Windows Home Server Connector software residing on your Windows Home Server, so whenever possible use this rather than any CD you might have.
For this walk-through I am using the Windows Home Server Connector software that was updated as part of the HP MediaSmart Server 2.5 Update, but the steps are the same, or very similar for any version. When installing the Connector software from HP, the MediaSmart Console is also installed.
1. Insert the Windows Home Server Connector CD into the drive. In the AutoPlay dialog
box, shown in Figure 4-1, click the Run setup.exe option. (If you do not see this dialog
box, then locate the CD drive folder manually and double-click Setup.exe.) You may
then also be asked to confirm your permission to run the program, in which case click
Continue. Next, skip to Step 9.
2. Click the Start button and then click Network to view all of the available computers
and devices on your home network, as shown below.
3. Double-click the computer that represents your Windows Home Server (ATLANTIS in
the example shown above).
4. Enter the username and password to access your Windows Home Server (if you have already set up a user account and password that matches the one you are using on the current machine you won’t be asked for this), and then click OK to continue.
Don’t forget that the username is “administrator” and the password is the one you created during
the Windows Home Server post-configuration steps.
5. You are presented with all the shared folders that are available on your Windows Home
Server, including Music, Photos, and Videos. Double-click the Software shared folder to continue.
6. You are presented with the contents of the Software shared folder. Double-click the Home Server Connector Software folder to continue.
7. You are presented with the contents of the Home Server Connector Software folder. Double-click the Setup icon to start the installation process.
8. You may be presented with an Open File – Security Warning dialog box. This dialog box advises you that a file is attempting to run and asks you to confirm that you want to run it. Click the Run button to continue.
9. When you see the Welcome to the Windows Home Server Connector screen click Next to continue.
10. Read the End-User License Agreement and click the I Accept the Terms of the License Agreement radio button and then click Next to continue. Of course, if you don’t accept the terms, you can’t continue the installation, so what choice do you really have?
11. The installation commences and you can monitor the progress.
This completes this part of the installation phase of the Windows Home Server Connector. You next
need to configure it, as described in the following section.
Configuring the Windows Home Server Connector
After the Windows Home Server Connector installation has completed, you will see the Welcome Screen. Click Next to continue.
The wizard automatically tries to locate your Windows Home Server. This process can be
quick or it can take a few minutes—it all depends on your home network.
If for some reason the wizard cannot find your Windows Home Server, you will be given the option of searching again or finding your home server manually.
It is always a good option to try and search again, if it still cannot find it, check that you have all the network cables correctly plugged in and your Windows Home Server is switched on. If you want to try searching manually you can just type in the name of your Windows Home Server.
If you still cannot find it, then consult the troubleshooting documentation or go to the Windows Home Server Forum’s on TechNet for more help.
Assuming the wizard locates your Windows Home Server, you will be asked to enter the password for the administrator account and then click Next. If you have forgotten the password, and you entered a useful hint during installation and configuration of your Windows Home Server, you can click the Password Hint button for a gentle reminder.
You will then be asked if you want to automatically wake up the computer to back it up if it is in either sleep mode or hibernation mode, or only back it up when it is switched on. Make your choice and click Next to continue.
The wizard will then join your computer to the Windows Home Server, which means that it is added to the list of computers being monitored and automatically configure a backup for you, which you can of course change later on. Just click Next to continue when this has completed.
And that is it – the connector configuration is now complete. Just click Finish and you are done.
You can now launch the Windows Home Server Console and do whatever you need to do.
Removing the Windows Home Server Connector
You may decide that you no longer want to use the Windows Home Server Connector software
on a particular computer.
Removing the Windows Home Server Connector software from your computer doesn’t remove that computer from the list of computers shown in the Console, but you wont be able to backup that computer again, or at least until you reinstall the Windows Home Server Connector again.
You can easily remove the Windows Home Server Connector from a computer by following these simple steps:
1. On the computer you want to remove the Windows Home Server Connector from, click
the Start button and open the Control Panel.
2. Select Uninstall a Program from the Programs group.
3. Highlight the Windows Home Server Connector in the list of programs and click Uninstall.
4. When prompted, just click Yes to start the uninstall process. You may be asked to confirm your choice again. Just say yes.
And that is it, the Windows Home Server Connector software is now removed from your computer.
hi,
quick question about that.
You know how you only have a maximum of 10 PCs being able to be connected to the WHS. if you deinstall the connector software, will that also give you one license back?
robert
Hi Robert – no, in order for you to reclaim one of the 10 you need to remove the computer from the WHS Console, not just uninstall the connector from the pc.
Andrew, I am trying to re-install the connector software but get an error saying that there is already a version installed. When I go to Add/Remove programs Windows Home Server Connector is not listed. Re-booting has not helped. I am stumped. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Vince, to be honest I've not seen that error before. What is the exact error message? Also, what version of WHS and the connector are you using and what version of Windows are you trying to install to.
Usually if the connector is already installed you are offered the chance to remove it and reinstall.
Andrew
Andrew, thanks for answering. Lets see, Windows Vista is the PC OS, WHS is the HP Mediasmart EX487 fully updated using the most recent connector software. Backups were not happening on one machine, diagnosis revealed a problem with the connector. A repair via Vista Add/Remove programs changed nothing. I inserted the HP disk for a re-install. It indicated an existing version, gave me the choice to uninstall/re-install the connector. I clicked "Yes". A few moments later it gave me an error message and told me to use Add/Remove programs before attempting to re-install. The exact error message I now get is, "Another version of this product is already installed. Installation of this version cannot continue. To configure or remove the existing version of this product, use Add/Remove Programs on the Control Panel." Unfortunately, no such animal exists to uninstall. Do you think it's finding the HP MediaSmart server 2.5 application
and getting confused? If I uninstall that, how would re-install it? Last resort would be to do a complete restore, but some date would be lost. Thanks for your help.
Vince – that really is odd.
You should try removing the HP software as well – you can easily add it again from the original software disks that came with the server or it should also be in the software share.
I dont actually use the HP software with my MediaSmart, just the connector software.
Failing that, and I really hate to suggest it, you may consider contacting HP for support in case they have seen this before (dont shoot me!)
Andrew
Andrew,
The uninstall of the HP Mediasmart software did the trick. The connector software did reinstall properly. Thanks for the help. But… my original problem remains. This PC backs up one drive fine, but then fails at about 52 or 53% on the main drive. The log file states,"Received abort message with reason 7." When I run the Connector Troubleshooter in advanced mode Test 4.16 (Partner manager simulator fails with an error code of 13.) I was hoping the connector re-install would solve the problem but no dice. Again, thanks for any help in advance.
Vince
Hi Vince, I spoke with a friend in the WHS team at Microsoft and this was his reply: Abort message with reason 7 means an unexpected exception happened on the client. This is typically a problem with the client OS. His best bet, to get some help, is going to be to submit a connect bug with CAB
Hi Andrew. Hoping you can help with a problem I'm having getting my WHS Connector software to work correctly. I've had my WHS for over a year and never had any issues until now.
When I try to connect to my WHS via the connector, after being prompted for my admin password at the WHS blue screen, it appears to log on successfully but the screen is all black and I cannot see the console screen. I've uninstalled and installed the connector software multiple times (from WHS/Software, not the CD) with success but get the same result. I ran the Connector Troubleshooter each time and the only error it finds is under '5.2 Check client Version', which notes that the Server Version (6.0.2030.0) and Client Version (6.0.2030.2) are different. I click 'Explain' and it just tells me to follow the instructions for removing and installing WHS Connector from the WHS/Software folder. I even went through all the Microsoft troubleshooting steps to rule out firewall issues.
Any ideas?
Jason
WHS: HP MSS/EX470/AMD Sephron /2GB RAM
Desktop: Dell Optiplex GX260/XP SP3
Jason
It sounds to me like you might have something that is conflicting with the console. I recently installed an add-in that caused a problem with the console and did something similar.
Can you remote desktop to the server and launch the console from there?
Also, had you installed any new add-ins just prior to this problem?
Andrew
Andrew
I did confirm that I am able to remote desktop to the server and launch the console successfully from there from both of my home PCs.
In regards to installing any new add-ins, the only recent installs completed on the server was a download of new McAfee Total Protection virus definitions and a Windows Update.
Jason
When installing the Connector I'm being prompted for the server password, after typing it in. The connector tells me it is the wrong password. It see's the server and user accounts are set up, what am I missing?
Hank
The password is that of the Windows Home Server admin account you created when you configured your WHS.
Have you checked that the caps lock isnt on?
I know it sounds obvious….
Andrew
Okay I found the problem the CD that came with the software called the connector didn't work, so I used the folder on the OEM CD called WHS. That got me in but now I see the folders from the other computers but no access to the other systems from server! Remote access works from outside network but can't see other home P/C's.
Any thoughts on this?
Hank
You should use the software located on the WHS under servernamesoftware where servername is the name of your WHS.
As for remote access – 1) have you enabled remote access on each of the computers, 2) do they support remote access as not all version of Windows do
Andrew
How did you skip to step 9?
Because I had the connector CD – just like I said in the article. If you dont have it just follow each of the steps as directed.
Andrew
would like to add here…
I had a work laptop that was backing up just fine for months. at some point, it stopped backing up…. not sure what changed.
When the new connector software came out, i tried to upgrade but could not connect to WHS. I could reach it via remote desktop and via the web interface, but not the console nor the connector.
After a couple hours of troubleshooting, here is what solved my problem:
I just added an entry with the address of my windows home server to the hosts file on my laptop. Go to windowssystem32driversetc and edit 'hosts' file. add the ip address of WHS and its name.
that should do it…
Thanks for the tip Jim. That did the trick for me too!
I can't find my cd with the windows home server connector software. Can't access the server with hpserver/software.
Downloaded the .iso file from HP's website, burned it to disc. Where the instructions are to doubleclick on the setup file, there is no set up file.
Suggestions? I've set up 6 other computers in my home but this one's stubborn.
Kevin
its servernamesoftware (or was that just a type here?)
why not use one of the 6 computers to access the share and copy the software off that way?
if that doesnt work, please post the question in our forums so that more people can try to help.
Andrew
Hi, long road with whs, reinstalled twice, now when I access the link "On a home computer, browse to http://SERVER:55000/, and then follow the instructions on that page" for the Connect software I get the error message that "the downloaded files might contain a virus", " the publisher of at least one of the downloaded files is not trusted…."when i hit next the install process begins and I agree to the EULA. The I get the warning "The cabinet file "Sample.cab"required for this installation is corrupt and cannot be used…" I hit retry and get the same warning. I am not able to advance. Can you provide an insight to this issue?