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Understanding alerts

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Applies To: Windows Home Server 2011

This topic discusses understanding and managing alerts specific to your computer that is connected to the home server and which is appears in the Launchpad of your computer. For information about managing all alerts for all computers and server on your network, see Understanding and managing alerts.

Windows Home Server 2011 monitors health status of computers that are connected to the home server. These issues are displayed as alerts in the Alert Viewer which can be launched on any computer that is connected to the home server using the client Launchpad. Alerts that appear on the Launchpad provide a quick status as to the immediate health of the computer. To view information about a health alert, click an alert indicator to open the alert viewer. By default, the alerts in the Alert Viewer are refreshed every thirty minutes. You can evaluate your computer for alerts at any time by clicking Refresh in the Alert Viewer.

List of computer alerts

The following table lists some of the computer alerts that may be generated and displayed on the Alert Viewer if applicable to your computer.

Alert Title Alert Impact and Resolution

The current status of the Network Firewall provides reduced protection for this computer

Unauthorized people or software might be able to access this computer if the Windows Firewall is not turned on. To turn on the Windows Firewall on the computer do one of the following depending on the operating system of the computer:

  1. If the computer is running Windows XP or Windows Vista, open Security Center, and then turn on the Windows Firewall.

  2. If the computer is running Windows 7, open Action Center, and then turn on the Windows Firewall.

Virus protection is turned off, not installed, or not up-to-date

The data on your computer is at risk if the Virus protection security setting is turned off or not updated. To protect your computer:

  1. Open Security Center.

  2. Determine the status of installed virus protection.

  3. Perform one of the following tasks depending on the protection status:

    • If it is not enabled, enable it.

    • If it is not up-to-date, complete the process to update the signatures.

    • If Virus protection is not installed, consider installing it.

Spyware and unwanted software protection is turned off, not installed, or not up-to-date

The data on your computer is at risk if the Spyware and unwanted software protection is turned off or not updated. To protect your computer:

  1. Open Security Center.

  2. Determine the status of installed virus protection.

  3. Perform one of the following tasks depending on the protection status:

    • If it is not enabled, enable it.

    • If it is not up-to-date, complete the process to update the signatures.

    • If Virus protection is not installed, consider installing it.

Windows Update is turned off

You will not be able to benefit from the new and corrected functionality of updates unless Windows Update is turned on. To turn on Windows Update, in Alert Viewer, click Open Windows Update.

Note
If the Open Windows Update task is not displayed, you are not logged on to the computer where the alert was raised. You must be logged on to the computer on which the alert was raised to run this task in Alert Viewer.

Important updates should be installed

You will not be able to benefit from the new and corrected functionality of updates unless Windows Update is turned on. To turn on Windows Update, in Alert Viewer, click Open Windows Update.

Note

If the Open Windows Update task is not displayed, you are not logged on to the computer where the alert was raised. You must be logged on to the computer on which the alert was raised to run this task in Alert Viewer.

Restart the computer to apply updates

You will not be able to benefit from the new and corrected functionality of the updates until they are applied. Save all your data and restart the computer to apply the updates.

Free space is low on hard drives

If space is not made available, you will not be able to save additional information. To increase the free space on the computer, consider the following options:

  1. Add a new hard drive.

  2. Run Disk Cleanup to remove old and temporary files.

  3. Move your files to a shared folder on another computer.

  4. Archive files onto a removable media, such as a CD, DVD, or an external hard drive.

Viewing and responding to alerts

You can launch the Alert Viewer by clicking on the alert icon in the Launchpad. For step-by-step instructions, see View alerts using the Alert Viewer. When encountered with an alert, you can opt to do one of the following:

  • Resolve the alert Follow the resolution instructions in the Alert Viewer to resolve the alert. Once an alert is resolved, it will still be displayed in the Alert Viewer until is refreshed (which occurs every 30 minutes by default). To instantly refresh the alerts displayed in the Alert Viewer, click Refresh.

  • Ignore the alert You can chose to ignore the alert if you would prefer to address it later. When you ignore an alert, it is still listed in the Alert Viewer and is grayed out it. To address an ignored alert again, you will need to first enable the alert. For more information about ignoring alerts, see Ignore an alert.

  • Enable an alert You can enable an alert that you have chosen to ignore earlier. Once the alert is enabled, you can either resolve it or delete it as needed. For more information about enabling alerts, see Enable an alert.

  • Delete an alert You can delete an alert if you do not want to resolve or ignore it. For more information about deleting alerts, see Delete an alert.