Downgrade Windows 2012 Server to Windows 2008 Server

Hello,
I can see this topic covered but the pervious answers are not solving my problem.
A client purchased Server 2012 standard OEM from us (distributor), he want to downgrade to Server 2008 STD.
They called the MS Activation Center and received the answer that for OEM the downgrade is not available. We called the Activation Center and we received the same answer.
Thank you in advance
Regards

What's your question? It appears the Activation Center provided the answer but you did not like it?
As an OEM, you should be aware that OEM licenses have some built-in restrictions. For detailed answers to questions you have, you should talk with your Microsoft representative.
.:|:.:|:. tim

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Windows 2012 Activation from Windows 2008 R2 KMS server

Hello,
We have 2 KMS servers in our Domain. One has server has KMS key for Windows 2012 KMS installed and other not.
I have joined first windows 2012 server to domain and its been 3 hours the server is still not activated from KMS server.
When client contacts KMS server for Windows 2012 licnese, if key is not installed on first KMS server, will it automatically contact second one? Do I need to change sonmething?
One more question:
Is it possible to have Windows 2012 key installed on the same KMS server, which is already acting as KMS sertver for Windows 2008R2? and Windows 2003 R2? or wil this cause any issues?
Mahi

Hello,
Once a KMS host is activated, it will publish it's record to DNS. KMS clients attempting to activate will query DNS to get a KMS host, if there is more than one, they will use the first one they get. The DNS server should be rotating which records
it hands out.
If they activate, they will cache that record and attempt to use it when they renew, if they fail to renew or activate, they will query DNS for the KMS host again.
Since this is a new KMS host it will need at least 5 KMS clients to contact it meet the count needs for Server.
What version of Windows is the other KMS host machine is it Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 or is it Windows Server 2003 R2?
Thanks, Darrell Gorter [MSFT] This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Windows 2012 Remote desktop session host server not detecting RD licensing server

Hi,
We have a customer server which is Windows 2012. We installed RDS session host server role and configured it to use RD licensing server as per the
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2833839?wa=wsignin1.0
After configuring, when I open RD license diagonser tool, it says, RD license server is not available. Also shows, credential not available. When I enter the credential by clicking, provide credentials, it does not get applied. I see no event logs related
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Umesh

Hi Umesh,
Thanks for your comment.
During your configuration, have you specified RD License server for RDSH to use?
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Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Licensing
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Also this setting can be specified by below method.
To configure the license server on RDSH/RDVH:
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$obj.SetSpecifiedLicenseServerList("License.contoso.com")
Note “License” is the name of the License Server in the environment
To verify the license server configuration on RDSH/RDVH:
$obj = gwmi -namespace "Root/CIMV2/TerminalServices" Win32_TerminalServiceSetting
$obj.GetSpecifiedLicenseServerList()
More information.
RD Licensing Configuration on Windows Server 2012
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2013/09/20/rd-licensing-configuration-on-windows-server-2012.aspx
In addition you can refer this article for reference.
Hope it helps!
Thanks.
Dharmesh Solanki
TechNet Community Support

Windows 2012 R2 AD RMS SQL Server Requirements

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indunil

Pat is the lead tester for AD RMS at Microsoft, so her response can be consider an official statement.
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Here is the scenario:
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Thanks
Gerhard Waterkamp ACSLA Inc.

Hi,
Could you try use the following method to fix this issue first?
1. Run the System Update Readiness Tool, then check if there is any error in the Checksur.log and checksur.persist.log.
1. Please run the System Update Readiness Tool on this affected server. Please download this tool from the following Microsoft article:
Description of the System Update Readiness Tool for Windows Vista, for Windows Server 2008, and for Windows 7
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821/en-us
2. The System Update Readiness Tool creates the log files that captures any issues that the tool found or fixed. The log files are located at the following location:
%SYSTEMROOT%\Logs\CBS\
3. Please paste the checksur.log here for analysis.
If there is no error found, please try the following step.
==================================
2. Use Fix it tool to reset the Windows Update components.
1. Open the following link.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058/en-nz
2. Select Windows 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 7 in the product selection box.
3. Click “Run Now” to reset the Windows Update components.
Note: We can reset the Windows Updates manually by following the steps in the KB above.
3. Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files
1. Open the command promote with Administrators.
2. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
sfc /scannow
Any errors are found in the steps above, please let me know.
Hope this helpful.
Best Regards,
Jason Zeng
Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

RemoteApp to Windows 2012 RDGateway to Windows 2008 RD Web

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to the gateway to pull the published apps it fails. If I point the client to the internal server it works.

Hi,
Please check if you install the latest updates of RDP for the Windows 7 clients.
Description of the Remote Desktop Protocol 8.0 update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2592687
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http://support.microsoft.com/KB/2830477
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Downgrade of Windows 2012 r2 to Windows 2012 Domain Service Active Directory

I have an uncertainty. we used adprep /forest and adprep /domain tools on windows 2012 R2 to update the domain active directory. But after promoting a domain controller to windows 2012 R2, we realized that a tool we use to authenticate computer account not
supported for domain controllers in Windows 2012 R2. Here comes the question, I can to install direct and promote a domain controller windows 2012 without running the adprep /forest and adprep /domain tools of Windows 2012?.
I hope be clearly.
tks.
migrations

Hello,
as others mentioned there is no problem to promote a Windows Server 2012 into the domain as the functional level is fine for this.
Best regards
Meinolf Weber
MVP, MCP, MCTS
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
My Blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/mweber/
Disclaimer: This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties or guarantees and confers no rights.

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So far I tried that on:
1. my HP Z230/i4770 workstation (Secure Boot disabled) host running Windows 8.1 Pro x64 (with Hyper-V feature enabled), can't boot any VM with supported OS ISO.
2. my home desktop/i3770K (secure Boot enabled) host running Windows 8.1 Pro x64, same result, error during VM boot from ISO, quoted below.
Synthetic SCSI controller (instance blah blah) Failed to Power on with Error 'The version does not support this version of file format'
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When I create a new guest and select Gen2, then no matter if I check or uncheck the Secure Boot in virtual Boot Order options for the guest (while setting the SCSI DVD at top of course), it simply doesn't work, always same error. I tried first connecting
to VM to see if it prompts for key press, but it doesn't, the error is instant on Power on when (supported) ISO image is selected to be booted.
I verified that both of official Enterprise Evaluation ISO's of either WS2012r2 and W8.1x64 are bootable in both the UEFI mode (Secure Boot enabled) and Legacy BIOS mode using a physical computer.
What am I missing here???

FYI, above is wrong! it's not about linking ISO to virtual DVD or selecting "Install OS later", it's all about the location of the ISO file and share permissions on parent folder!
I was actually suspecting several issues, but haven't had time to test it, was thinking about issues like assigning (or not) some of initial settings during Gen2 VM creation, e.g.:
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-Memory above 4096MB (makes no difference if < or > 4096MB)
-ISO file location (makes huge difference!)
The ISO file CANNOT be placed on network share OR in shared folder on same local drive as the VHDX file (works fine if parent folder is not shared).
I can now replicate the issue easily every time and it always fails with file format unsupported message whenever I have the ISO file located either on remote network share, or (fails the same way too) when I have the ISO file placed locally (on host drive)
when simply a parent folder is shared... must be some permissions issue... and a pretty dumb one considering that in production environments nearly everything is placed on remote file servers ...
... so the moral of the story is, if you want to install Gen2 VM in win8/2012 hyper-V then you must copy the ISO file to Hyper-V host drive AND make sure the parent folder is not shared. works every time now! :)

Can I migrate physical hard disks in storage space from Windows 2012 R2 to Windows 2012?

Hi,
We have a Windows 2012 R2 server. It's running storage space with 10 hard disk in Parity mode. We would like to move the hard disks from Windows 2012 R2 server to Windows 2012, so that we can "free" our windows
2012 R2 server to do something else. Can we just unplug the hard disks in Windows 2012 R2 and hook it to Windows 2012 server without any data lose? If we can do it, what's best "formal" procedures to do it?
Thanks,
Tak

Hi Tak,
Storage space will be recognized in different servers (and even clients) which support.
If it is just a "Parity mode", you can turn off the computer, unplug and connect these disks to the new server directly.
If any Windows Server 2012 R2 new feature is involved, it may not work in Windows Server 2012 but it should not damage your data and you can still connect these hard disks back to original server.
However, backup important files is always recommended.
If you have any feedback on our support, please send to [email protected]

Inplace upgrade Windows 2012 DC to Windows 2012 R2

Hi
We plan to upgrade some of our DCs from Windows 2012 to Windows 2012 R2.
Theese DCs is on a DMZ holding our virtual machines management servers so they are not the most critical DCs but they are critical enough to not working for a longer time.
Normally we dont do inplace upgrade but this is more of quick solution to raise the servers to the same OS level
So has anyone done an inplace upgrade from 2012 to 2012 R2 on domain controllers? Any problems?
We have two DCs, in differents locations.
BR

Yes, we've upgraded some of our DC's from Server 2012 to Server 2012 R2 without any issues at all. Obviously you want to do them one at a time, but we found it completely straight forward.
In fact, if it wasn't for some unrelated legacy issues at one site (old servers preventing us upgrading that sites DPM install as DPM 2012 R2 doesn't support them, but DPM 2012 doesn't support Server 2012 R2) we'd have upgraded all our DCs by now.

What's the fastest way to copy 151GB, 375000 files from win 2003 server to win 2008 server

Non techie here.
I have a project where I need to get 151GB of data spread over 375000+ files moved from a win 2003 FAP to a 2008 server. Copy, xCopy, Robocopy all take in excess of 50hours to move it to an external HDD. Has to be external move for security reasons.
I have 40 hours max to get it off and onto the new server.
Cheers
Ian

I copied over 12TB in 24 hours using the method below. A lot of this depends on your infrastructure. The scripts I used are unmodified for your case. I suggest you give them a look and understand the process and change it to fit your needs.
There are 2 parts. The first is a Main script that schedules PowerShell jobs that actually do the work. The main script will read a file called JobCount every loop to see how many jobs it can run at one time, the reason I did this was to change the number
of jobs depending on Day (production) times and Night times. Also, the Main loop reads a nomig file that tells the script, don't move these folders because they were our test cases, you can even do test cases during the migration since you can modify the file
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Main Script
VVVVVVVVVV
$homeOld = (Get-ChildItem -Path \\server\share | select name)
$JobRun = 10
$i = 0
$Count = $homeOld.Count
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=====
Thread Script - where Robocopy does the work.
VVVVVVVVV
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============
This comes with no warranty, it is just an idea I used to do a very fast copy with permissions and all attributes, where no other method was useable.
Thanks,
Allan
Allan

HP Proliant ML360 Server: How hard would it be to install Windows 2012 R2 on an older server like this one?

Hello,
I am an it tech in need of some help. I don't mess with our servers that often, and I could use some guidance in setting up this particular machine. We would like to use this server with 2012 R2 for Michigan M-step caching machine, and possibly setting up
a ticket system for maintenance, and technology repairs. This server was configured before I got here, and I would like to delete the current novell software and Server 2003, and start over fresh. Is there a manual that you could recommend, or a step by step
instruction guide that will show me the correct steps to take. I have watched youtube videos, read different articles, however they really didn't give me the information that I am looking for to set up this server. Any help you can give me would be greatly
appreciated!!
Thank you,
Angie

The very first thing you need to determine is if the ML360 is a 32-bit or 64-bit server. If it is 32-bit, it's a no-go. Windows Server 2012 is 64-bit only.
The next issue is installation media. Does the ML360 have a DVD or CD reader? 2012 R2 comes on DVD. It's possible to install from USB, but that's if the system supports it. Does the ML360 support booting from USB?
Yes, the smart start capability is neat, but it is generally geared to a specific release of an operating system for a server that supports that operating system. The ML 360 is old enough that smart start may not work on it.
I would go out to HP.com and download all the latest drivers for the ML360 and put those on a CD. I would also get the latest BIOS/Firmware. Make sure the system is updated to the latest BIOS/Firmware.
Before trying to give any further suggestions, it would help to know exactly what you have.
. : | : . : | : . tim
Tim -- all HP ML360s support 64-bit architecture. That was the first Series HP released full x64 bit architecture support. (I'm an HP Accredited Platform Specialist)
I agree with the other points however.
Entrepreneur, Strategic Technical Advisor, and Sr. Consulting Engineer - Strategic Services and Solutions Check out my book - Powershell 3.0 - WMI: http://amzn.to/1BnjOmo | Mastering PowerShell Coming in April 2015!

Windows CAL server 2003 and Domain Server with a 2008 server as domain member

We have a Windows Server 2003 as domain controller with 70 user CALs, and we have added a Windows 2008 R2 OEM with 5 users licences.
I have no plans to migrate my domain controller 2003 to 2008 but the 2008 is a member of the domain and I need to know if we are fine with the licences.
Thanks for your help,
Alejandro Sueldo

Hi
You need CAL for anything that would access the 2008. If a server that is accessed by only 5 user you are ok, but if like a Exchange for your 70 users, then you have to buy more CAL. (that link explain it good;
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Answer an interesting question ? Create a
wiki article about it!

Use Windows 2010 Professional in Win 2008 server

Sir I am not able to access office 2010 from win 2008 Terminal server
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Rafiq

Hi Anil,
LDAP, Lightweigt Directory Access Protocol.
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How to activate Windows 8.1 on a Windows 2008 R2 KMS server when I don't have Windows 2012 R2 kms host key

I only have windows 8.1 kms host key but I can't add a client OS kms key to Windows 2008 R2 kms server. And I don't have Windows 2012 R2 license either. Is there any way I can activate Windows 8.1 using my existing kms server? Thanks.

I would like a yes no clarification answer. So does this mean that EVEN WITH THE PATCH. My Server 2012 Standard edition that currently hosts KMS VA for clients running Win7, Win 8, Office15, Server 2008, Server 2012. Will not be able to host windows 8.1?
I will have to install 8.1 and use as a host?
if you have a KMShost product key for WS2012R2, you can patch a down=level Server and be fine.
(the OP didn't renew SA or otherwise has no KMShost pkey for WS2012R2)
Don
(Please take a moment to "Vote as Helpful" and/or "Mark as Answer", where applicable.
This helps the community, keeps the forums tidy, and recognises useful contributions. Thanks!)
I'm having similar issues and have a similar question that doesn't seem to be answered:
My KMS server is Windows 2008 R2 (Also is my domain controller). I want to activate Windows 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 machines off this KMS server. I can install the 2012 R2 key just fine but receive error 0xC004F015 (The Software Licensing Service reported
that the license is not installed) when I try to install my 8.1 KMS key.
What I'm gathering from this thread is that I have to set up a Windows 8.1 host and set it up to be a KMS server exclusively for activating Windows 8.1. Is this correct? If so, Microsoft needs to fix that. I have a SERVER for activations for a reason: it
is a server, not a client. If I am mis-understanding, how do I get my Windows 2008 R2 server to accept the Windows 8.1 KMS key for activating 8.1 clients?
Thanks!
You don't need Windows 8.1 KMS key. Your 2012 R2 KMS key will be able to activate your Windows 8.1 machines. So your current set up is fine, no need to set up another Windows 8.1 KMS host.
My problem is I don't have 2012 R2 KMS key as I didn't buy any Windows 2012 R2 license. So I can't use 2012 R2 KMS key to activate my Windows 8.1.
Oh that's interesting. I guess I need to play around more because my 8.1 test machine isn't activating. I'll start a new thread for that if needed. Sorry for the confusion.

Windows 7 SP1 client file lock on network share hosted ny WIndows 2012 Server

Hello
I have one strange problem after migration from Windows 2003 Server to Windows 2012 Server R2 Standard.
All migration tasks went well but two things do not work.
In Computer Management you have The Opened Files feature and if you open any file that is located on the network share hosted by Windows 2012 R2 form Windows 7 SP1 and then close it
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Can someone help me with that ?
About the environment:
It is one server Domain migrated form 2003 to 2012R2.
The domain and forest level was raised to 2012 R2.
I have made clean install of Windows 2012 R2 and then migrated AD.
Best Regards
Sebastian Sala

Hi Sebastian,
>>There is no problem with Windows XP SP3. The issue exist only with Windows 7.
T>>he session view of sessions to the file server do not work. If I try to open it I get the message that the application is not responding.
Based on the description, please check event logs in Event Viewer to see if there were some related events logged. Besides, does this phenomenon happen all Windows 7 clients? We can try to restart the client to see if it helps.
Best regards,
Frank Shen
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact [email protected]

Downgrade Windows 2012 Server to Windows 2008 Server

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