Microsoft HOME SERVER SETUP GUIDE

Getting Started Guide

For distribution only with a Windows Home Server

Contact your home server manufacturer for product support.

Getting Started

Windows Home Server

Microsoft Corporation

Published: June 2007

Part No. X13- 88582

Abstract

This document contains information about installing and configuring
Microsoft Windows Home Server.

For the latest information about installing, configuring, and
using Windows Home Server, see “Release Documentation for
Windows Home Server” at the Microsoft Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/
fwlink/?LinkID=84725).

Information in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site
references, is subject to change without notice. Unless otherwise noted,
the companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses,
logos, people, places, and events depicted in examples herein are fictitious.
No association with any real company, organization, product, domain name,
e-mail address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred.
Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user.
Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of
Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or
other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document.
Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft,
the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents,
trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.

© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, and Windows Vista are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/
or other countries.

All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Contents

Windows Home Server Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Network Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Supported Operating Systems for Home Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Wireless Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Step 1: Connect and Power On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Step 2: Install the Windows Home Server Connector Software . . . . . . . 12

Step 3: Complete Windows Home Server Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Windows Home Server Quick Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Shared Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Computer Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Server Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Windows Home Server Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Product Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Windows Home Server Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Technical Support Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Support Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Windows Home Server
Overview

The Microsoft® Windows® Home Ser ver operating system helps you centralize
and connect your digital things, enabling you to share, store, access, and
automatically protect your most important pictures, videos, music, and files.

Windows Home Server provides the following:

•

Automated backup and simple restore of your home computers.

Windows Home Server provides you with the peace of mind you want by
automatically backing up your home computers and your important files
every night, making it easy to restore an entire home computer or just a
file to a previous point in time.

•

Access and share everything from anywhere.

Windows Home Server enables you to easily and more securely access your
files and home computers from inside and outside your home. You can use
Windows Home Server to store your important files in a central location,
for access anytime and anywhere.

•

A server that grows with you.

Windows Home Server grows with you to meet your needs, today and into
the future. It is incredibly easy to add hard drives as you need more space
for your pictures, videos, music, and files.

Windows Home Server is an easy-to-use, affordable solution that enables you
to unleash the power of your home network.

5

Before You Begin

Find a suitable place to put your home server before you run
Windows Home Server Setup. The location you choose must have an available,
wired network connection either to your broadband router or to a switch that
is connected to your broadband router.

Network Requirements

To successfully use Windows Home Server, your home network must meet the
following requirements:

Requirement Minimum

Server connection 100 Mbps wired connection

Home computers One or more computers that are

Internet connection Broadband connection

Broadband router/firewall device An external Internet broadband router/

running a supported operating system,
with either a wired or a wireless network
connection.

firewall device with 100 Mbps wired
Ethernet connection.

Additionally, Windows Home Server
assumes that your home computers get
their IP address from the router/firewall
device on your home network.

7

Supported Operating Systems for
Home Computers

The following operating systems for home computers are supported to work
with Windows Home Ser ver:

The Windows VistaTM Operating System

• Windows Vista Home Basic

• Windows Vista Home N (European Union only)

• Windows Vista Home Premium

• Windows Vista Business

• Windows Vista Business N (European Union only)

• Windows Vista Enterprise

• Windows Vista Ultimate

The Windows XP Operating System

• 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

8