Rename osimage.wim to install.wim and overwrite the original. If you are going to use the optical media just use ultraiso or a similar sw, but nowadays usb install is more common, so just make the server standard or essential usb install media using the official MS tool or (better) rufus and then overwrite the file normally. That said the deployment via dism or imagex is a way faster path, not just for the scenario mentioned here but for any installation since vista, so is worth to experiment with it.
2011 does have issues that were never solved.... dont matter to me im not a big fan of testing older OS.....im testing 2016 and is real nice.
WHS 2011 hasn't any obvious/serious issue. Period. WHS 2007 had some, but were fixed with power pack 3. FYI 2011 was able to backup W10 machines as it was, while 2012 r2 users had to wait until november 2015 to have a functional connector. 2011 doesn't require a domain, which is pretty stupid on home and very small business scenario, while 2012 was shipped whit that requirement and only when the crowd screamed a workaround was released. 2011 comes with full multimedia capabilities, including mpeg 2/h264 codecs tv tuner support and so on, while 2012 requires the essentials and wsemp optional package to do that, the only real improvement of server 2012 is the deduplication support, which anyway isn't available on Server Essentials (the version that MS sells as WHS replacement) WHS was sold for a reasonably price, as low as 49$, while Server essentials cost around 400$. So aside your obvious fanboysm, please give me a single technical reason to prefer 2012r2 or even 2016 which is still in diapers. Storage Server Essentials I found is surely a nice thing, almost handy as WHS 2011, but MS won't sell it to the end users, so 2011 is still the best official/legit choice no matter what people who think that an higher version number is automagically a better thing.
no issues if you install all upds Upd for Windows Home Server 2011 x64 Edition (KB2934953) Upd for Windows Home Server 2011 x64 Edition (KB2992611) Upd for Windows Home Server 2011 x64 Edition (KB2813347) Upd for Windows Home Server 2011 x64 Edition (KB2992611) Feature Pack for Windows Home Server 2011 x64 Edition (KB2781272) Best Home Server OS ever ...
Anyway none of them is there tho fix a major problem. Some are usual security fix, a couple of them are updates to cope with the HW evolution of the client PCs. MS user was confused by the ancient news about WHS 2007. As always being confused is pretty easy when the news are second or third hand and not based on any personal experience.
im testing 2016.....i never said to run in a company.....but sense that is whats coming mite as well start playing with it and get familiar with it.
KB2781272 is important UEFI Win10Client Hotfix KB2934953 - Client backup fails on a computer that is connected to a Windows-based server that has a UEFI hotfix installed
Who said they aren't important? Obviously the client computers evolve ad the OSes installed on them evolve as well, windows update is there for a reason... But my point is that not being able to backup a client sold four years later is not a major problem of the server OS, it's just the natural evolution. MS wasn't obliged to fix that, it did and was a nice thing. File corruption that occurred on WHS2007 that was a major flaw, WHS-2011 never had something like that.
I'd forgot about this WHS junk ... 2016 whilst it may be nice, will expire as it's a TP. Assuming the OP won't want to do reinstalls.... so for now I'm in the 2012 R2 camp.
I came to the conclusion that I'm going to try Windows Storage Server 2012 r2 essentials ( Thanks to T-S) , windows server 2012 r2 and server 2016. I'm not any good with setup and stuff in windows server so I guess I'll go for the one that's easiest for me to configure. Getting a power supply tomorrow so I can start the testing
How do you plan to activate it? If it's via KMS emulator, I'd go with 2012 R2 Datacenter and forget the rest.
Not really, it's just if your using OEM with SLIC hack then you have fewer options (install 2012 R2 standard) Not that theres any difference on 2012 between standard vs dc - it's just about how many VM's (and not enforced)
Depends on your hardware. I run quite a lot. I don't think he wants it for VM's though. I was only trying to point out he should consider which method of activation he will be using as that could affect his choice.
Thanks guys for pointing things out for me. Unfortunately i didn't get my power supply yesterday, but I think its here today. Going to start with an install of 2012 r2 server and see how it works out. My plan was to activate with kms, and I don't need VM's at least for now. I'm not in need of very advanced stuff, but i want it to be stable.