No Leap of Joy for Home Server Users

February 29th caused a few problems for Windows Home Server owners last week. Installations of the software went fine until the Welcome/Setup screen requesting the initial WHS password appeared, it would carry on appearing after every login continuously. Users like Julian B and patterson76 posted on the WHS forums:

“How can I stop the Welcome/Setup screen ?”

Users found that setting the home server system time/date ahead to March 1st in the bios solved the issue but hose using totally headless units like the HP MediaSmart can not access their bios and were told by HP to try again tomorrow (March 01).

Basically it was a leap year issue that occurred if the system date on the server was February 29th. Users got caught in an OOBE loop which also affected those trying to connect computers to the server on that day.  Those using the recovery CD as well and those trying to install the WHS Connector software on their networked PC’s were also affected. One user added:

“I enter my Home Server password and then I get a dialog box with An Error Occurred, This operation cannot be completed at the time”.

Those waiting until March 1st to work on their Windows Home Server’s found that the problems no longer existed. Also affected were Small Business Server and Exchange 2007 amongst others.

Share this WHS Article with Others: