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Windows 10 Feature Upgrade breaks client connector for Window Server 2012 R2 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 Essentials and Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

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[This post comes to us courtesy of Schumann GE from Product Group and Sandeep Biswas from Global Business Support]

This article describes the issue – Windows 10 feature upgrade removes the already installed client connector and breaks the Essentials features such as client backup, Remote Web Access, LaunchPad APP etc. The issue only applies to Windows 10 client connected to Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 Essentials and Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials. This article also covers related topics such as the current workaround and the coming fix.

If you have a Windows 10 machine connected to a Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 Essentials or Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials server and you apply the Windows 10 feature upgrades (such as 1511), all the client connections to Essentials server will be lost. The following features will stop working –

  • Client Backups
  • LaunchPad APP
  • Remote Web Access
  • Client Domain-Joined (DNS pointing to Essentials Server will be stopped)
  • Essentials related services will be removed.

What is Windows 10 Feature Upgrade?

In Windows 10, Microsoft publishes two types of Windows 10 releases broadly to the public on an ongoing basis:

  • Feature upgrades that install the latest new features, experiences, and capabilities on devices that are already running Windows 10. Because feature upgrades contain an entire copy of Windows, they are also what customers use to install Windows 10 on existing devices running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, and on new devices where no operating system is installed.
  • Servicing updates that focus on the installation of security fixes and other important updates.

Learn more about Windows 10 servicing options for updates and upgrades.

Upcoming Fix

Currently we are working with the Windows Core team to fix this issue.

  • Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials

    • There will be a new package available for Windows 10 Client Connector of Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials. There will also be an inbox fix for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials for this issue. The inbox fix will be shipped via Windows Update to the server.

    • We recommend to connect the Windows 10 client one more time to Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials when the fix is out.

  • Windows Server 2012 Essentials and Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

    • Due to different root cause of the issue, the fix on these two products doesn’t require any new package of client connector or server update.  Also user doesn’t need to reconnect the Windows 10 client to these servers. The issue will be fixed as the same timeline as Windows Server 2012 R2 fix is out.

We will keep on updating the progress of the fix and announce the release of the fix when it is available. The fix is expected in the coming months; we are trying our best to get it published ASAP. Once there is a more detailed schedule, we will update this blog as well.

We will keep on updating the progress of the fix and announce the release of the fix when it is available. The fix is expected in the coming months; we are trying our best to get it published ASAP. Once there is a more detailed schedule, we will update this blog as well.

Current Workaround before the coming fix

Before the fix is out, user has to reconnect the Windows 10 client to the SBS/Essentials server again after any Windows 10 Feature Upgrade.

Via this blog, we will help to let you know if there is any upcoming Windows 10 Feature upgrade that could break your installed client connector and remind you to connect the client computer again. This is just a temporary solution before the fix is out.

Currently, after Windows 10 feature upgrade, when you connect your Windows 10 client to the SBS/Essentials server, you will find there is no client backup history on the LaunchPad on the client side. This is also a known issue. You can find the history and previous backups on the server Dashboard. This issue will be fixed in the coming fix as well.

Thanks to the MVPs, user’s feedback and report on this issue – Susan Bradley, Mark Berry, Tim Groves. We’ll update this blog and also add another post once the fix of this issue is published. Thanks for your support.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 24, 2016
    Good post.
  • Anonymous
    January 25, 2016
    قیافقیسیسظش
  • Anonymous
    January 25, 2016
    قیافقیسیسظش
  • Anonymous
    January 27, 2016
    Well hopefully this may finally fix my Windows 10 Machine that has never been able to use the connector since I upgraded from Windows 7. Install for connector just sits on the page asking for a username and password and never installs, just hangs.
  • Anonymous
    January 27, 2016
    212 Microsoft Team blogs searched, 44 blogs have new articles. 139 new articles found searching from
  • Anonymous
    January 28, 2016
    The latest build - 14251 - seems to have broken the standalone connector package that you can download from Microsoft. The connector package from the WSE Server still works however.