Friday, March 7, 2008
Windows Home Server Connector Installation Problem Solved
Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Talk" @ 05:00 AM
I've been running Windows Home Server for a while now, being one of the early beta testers, and for the most part I was quite impressed with the beta and RC1 versions of the software. When I got the final version and installed it though, things didn't work so well. My biggest problem was with the Connector software - the piece of software that you install on each PC, and that serves as the control point for your server, enables the back-up of that PC, etc. Well, the problem was that I simply couldn't get it installed on several of my PCs. I detailed the problem in this Windows Home Server Forum thread, but the short version was that I kept seeing this error message when trying to install the software:
An Error Occurred
This operation cannot be completed at this time.
Please try again later. If the problem persists, please contact window home server support
An error occurred? What kind of a useless haiku is that? No specifics, no details - who programmed that error dialogue, an Apple OS X developer? I'd put in my password for the server, and get that error - no other details were given about what was going wrong.
At any rate, I fought with that error for nearly five months - even working with a developer on the WHS team who tried valiantly to assist me - and nothing worked...until I tried an off-hand suggestion that the developer suggested I could try. It seemed like a silly suggestion: disconnect the router from the cable modem and try again. So here's what I did:
1) Pulled power plug from router
2) Pulled power plug from cable modem (in my case a Motorola modem on the SHAW network)
3) Re-connected power to the router
4) Ran the WHS Connector software on all three of the machines it wouldn't install on previously...and it worked!
5) Pulled power plug from router
6) Re-connected power to the cable modem
7) Re-connected power to the router
And, incredibly, things have been solid and stable since then. I don't know how or why this worked - it's something related to DNS resolution - but I'm much happier knowing that all my systems are now being backed up.
An Error Occurred
This operation cannot be completed at this time.
Please try again later. If the problem persists, please contact window home server support
An error occurred? What kind of a useless haiku is that? No specifics, no details - who programmed that error dialogue, an Apple OS X developer? I'd put in my password for the server, and get that error - no other details were given about what was going wrong.
At any rate, I fought with that error for nearly five months - even working with a developer on the WHS team who tried valiantly to assist me - and nothing worked...until I tried an off-hand suggestion that the developer suggested I could try. It seemed like a silly suggestion: disconnect the router from the cable modem and try again. So here's what I did:
1) Pulled power plug from router
2) Pulled power plug from cable modem (in my case a Motorola modem on the SHAW network)
3) Re-connected power to the router
4) Ran the WHS Connector software on all three of the machines it wouldn't install on previously...and it worked!
5) Pulled power plug from router
6) Re-connected power to the cable modem
7) Re-connected power to the router
And, incredibly, things have been solid and stable since then. I don't know how or why this worked - it's something related to DNS resolution - but I'm much happier knowing that all my systems are now being backed up.
