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See forum topic.

Screenshots (from version 2; tool looks slightly different now)

Features

Services

Packs

Tweaks

Fixes

Misc

Credits

If you have any suggestions or need any help, please drop a comment below or ask your question at the forum.

1. To enable Remote Desktop access click Run in the Start menu and enter SystemPropertiesRemote. In the window that pops up select the second or third option and click OK.

2. To enable 32bit color depth needed for Aero and high quality audio and video playback over Remote Desktop click Run in the Start menu, enter tsconfig.msc and click OK. Now double-click the (default) RDP-tcp connection and go to the Client Settings tab. At the Client Settings tab uncheck the Limit Maximum Color Depth checkbox and optionally also uncheck the other checkboxes in the Redirection section to allow audio and video recording/playback. Click OK to save the new settings.

3. To enable Aero over Remote Desktop click Run in the Start menu, enter gpedit.msc and click OK. Browse to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Remote Desktop Services -> Remote Desktop Session Host -> Remote Session Environment and open the Allow desktop composition for remote desktop connections property.

4. Change the "Allow desktop composition for remote desktop sessions" setting to Enabled and click OK to save the change.

5. If you now start the Microsoft Remote Desktop client (Start -> Run -> mstsc), click the Options link, go to the Display tab and set the color depth of the remote session to Highest Quality (32bit) and also at least check the Desktop composition and Visual styles checkboxes at the Experience tab, you will get the Aero experience over Remote Desktop..

6. Enjoy 3D Flip and all other Aero features over Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop! The client system also needs to be running a Windows Vista a or later Operating System and also needs to support Aero.

1. Download sticky_notes.zip (293 KB) from win2008r2workstation.

2. After downloading the zip extract the zip, run install.cmd as an Administrator and follow the instructions on the screen.

3. Enjoy the Sticky Notes on your desktop!

1. Download eHome.zip (296 KB) from win2008r2workstation.

2. After downloading the zip extract the zip, run install.cmd as an Administrator and follow the instructions on the screen.

3. Install the drivers via the Device Manager using step 2 – 5 at the Drivers page.

Installation

1. Boot up your Windows Server 2008 R2 dvd. After you see the screen below, choose the approperiate settings and click Next.

2. We will shrink the partition of the Windows that is already installed first to create some space for the new Windows Server 2008 R2 installation. To do this click the Repair your computer link.

3. Select the “Restore your computer using a system image that you created earlier” option and click Next.

4. Windows will warn you that it couldn’t find an image backup on your computer. Just click the Cancel button and after that close the “Re-image your computer” window.

5. At the System Recovery Options screen click the Command Prompt link to open a command line window.

6. Shrink Vista partition:
a. At the command prompt first enter the diskpart command to start the Disk Management application.
b. Now execute the list volume command to view the available cd- and harddrives.
c. Select the Vista partition by executing the select volume # command where # is the volume id from the first column.
d. Shrink the selected partition using the shrink desired=# command where # is the amount of space in MB’s you want the volume to shrink. Make sure you shrink the volume at least 14GB (14000) to have enough space to install Windows Server 2008 R2. You can view the maximum amount you can shrink by executing the shrink querymax command.
e. After successfully shrinking the Vista partition type exit twice to exit both the Diskpart utility and the Command Prompt window.

7. Close the System Recovery Options screen to return to the main installation screen.

8. Back at the main installation screen click the Install now button to start the installation wizard of Windows Server 2008 R2.

9. Select the version of Windows Server 2008 R2 that says Full Installation. Don’t select one of the Server Core Installation’s, because then you won’t have a GUI

10. If you agree to the license terms, select I accept the license terms and click Next.

11. Choose the Custom (advanced) option to create a new installation and be able to select the partition you want to install Windows Server 2008 R2 to.

12. Select the Unallocated Space we just created using the diskpart utility by shrinking the Vista volume and click Next to start the installation.

13. Now Windows Server 2008 R2 setup will install the selected version to your harddrive.

14. After the installation has finished the computer will restart and a message about changing your password will be shown. Click OK.

15. You MUST type in a strong password with at least one capital letter and one number, for example P4ssword (capital P/number four), otherwise you will get an error message saying that you doesn’t comply to the security enforcements of the domain. You can disable this strong password enforcement later. After succesfully changing the password you will see the message that your password has succesfully been changed. Click OK. Your desktop will now show up.

16. In the Initial Configuration Tasks window check the Do not show this window at logon to not show the Initial Configuration Tasks at startup. You can access it later by typing oobe in Start -> Run.

17. In the Server Manager window check the Do not show me this console at logon to not show the Server Manager at startup. You can access it later via the the Server Manager shortcut in your quick launch bar or Start menu.

Configuring Boot Menu

By default the Windows Server 2008 R2 Setup sets itself to the default startup. (See image) You probably don’t want that while it’s still your secondary operating system. To change the startup order we will use the commandline tool bcdedit.

1. To edit the boot menu start the Command Prompt by clicking Run in the Start menu, entering cmd and clicking OK.
a. After opening the Command Prompt enter the bcdedit command without any parameters to view the boot configuration. Notice the identifier and description values of the different Windows Boot Loaders.
b. First we are going to configure Windows Vista as our default startup Operating System. To do this enter the command bcdedit /default {identifier} where {identifier} is the identifier of the Operating System you want to boot by default.
c. The timeout before automatically booting the default Operating System can be set using the bcdedit /timeout # where # is the number of seconds to wait before automatically booting the default OS.
d. Optionally you can also change the order in which the Operating Systems are displayed in the boot menu by using the bcdedit /displayorder {identifier 1} {identifier 2} {identifier N} command where you replace the identifiers by the ones corresponding with the different Boot Loaders.

2. Restart your system and see the results!

Continue to the installation of the Device Drivers…

1. Open the downloaded file and wait for the installation to complete.

2. After the installation has finished, click Start and go to the Control Panel. In the Control Panel click Change display language under Clock, Language and Region if you are using the Category View. If you are using the Icon View click the Region and language option and go to the Keyboards and Languages tab. Now choose the language you want from the display language dropdown and click OK. Click Log off now when asked.

3. Log on again and enjoy Windows Server 2008 R2 in your own native language!

Continue to change the Computer Name…

There are 3 different types of licenses with corresponding dvds for Windows Server 2008 R2: Volume License, OEM and Timebased Evaluation. All these licenses have different time limits before you have to activate in order to continue using the Operating System. There is a possibility to reset the evaluation period for a few times which is called “rearming”. This method is also explained in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. The different licenses with corresponding DVD-image, hashes and evaluation times are as follows:

Windows Server 2008 R2 Evaluation English (TIMEBASED_EVAL) – Usable: (10 days + 5 * 10 days using rearm) + 180 days after activating = 240 days
Filename: 7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_server_eval_en-us-GRMSXEVAL_EN_DVD.iso (download)
SHA1: 799BF8DA077A3E842AA97C990E468B3AA7BDA4EB
MD5: 134F607CF4C633EF11D2576D1C635D08

Windows Server 2008 R2 OEM English (RETAIL) – Usable without activation: 30 days + 3 * 30 days using rearm = 120 days
Filename: 7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_server_en-us_OEM-GRMSXFREO_EN_DVD.iso (only available for OEM manufacturers)
SHA1: 515A9E7F4C7DF41AACA6872CB806DABD15BF7D64
MD5: 4FFB420543F5A9265BE5EEDB6C4E55A2

Windows Server 2008 R2 VL English (VOLUME_KMSCLIENT) – Usable without activation: 30 days + 3 * 30 days using rearm = 120 days
Filename: 7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_server_en-us_VL-GRMSXVOL_EN_DVD.iso (only available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers)
SHA1: AD855EA913AAEC3F1D0E1833C1AEF7A0DE326B0A
MD5: 0207EF392C60EFDDA92071B0559CA0F9

As you can see you can use the evaluation version of Windows Server 2008 R2 for free for 6 months and even for more than 7 months if you use the rearm method described below!

Rearming

1. Check your remaining time by clicking Run in the Start menu and entering slmgr.vbs -dli. After clicking OK a window will show up which shows you the remaining time before expiration.

2. If you have less than one day left rearm your license so you have 10 days left again. To do this click Run in the Start menu, enter slmgr.vbs -rearm and click OK. After a few moments a window will popup that shows you the rearm has been completed and you have to restart your system.

3. After restaring your system verify that the rearm has worked by running slmgr.vbs -dli again. The remaining time should now be reset to 10 days!

Checking rearm count left

You can rearm the Evaluation version of Windows Server 2008 R2 up to 5 times. To check how much rearms you have left click Run in the Start menu, enter slmgr.vbs -dlv and click OK

1. After you used all rearms it’s time to activate. To activate click Activate Windows online now Windows Activation assistant.

2. Wait until the online key verification and activation has finished.

3. If everything went right Windows will now be activated with a 180 days license and a watermark appears on your desktop.

1. Download watermark.zip (9KB) from win2008r2workstation.

2. After downloading the zip extract the zip, run install.cmd as an Administrator and follow the instructions on the screen. After a successful installation, reboot your pc to remove the watermark. If you want to do this manually, open %SystemRoot%\System32\en-US\user32.dll.mui with a resource editor and replace the strings in the following resources with a space (” “): 45.715, 45.716, 46.* and 47.739.

If you get a sharing violation error during the installation, try running it again in Safe Mode. I Couldn’t test it myself because for some reason I can’t get into Safe Mode. Please confirm this works!

To view all games that are working in the non-R2 version of Windows Server 2008, click here.

Game	Website	Compatible	Issues	Fix
Age of Mythology - Titans Expansion		No	Installs fine, but when executed, does not run, locks computer, requiring hard reset. No error message presented.
Aion		Yes	-	-
Anno 1404	http://anno.ubi.com/	Yes	-	-
ArmA: Armed Assault - 1.16 Beta		Yes	-	Patch 1.16 is important for 4GB+ and ATI users
Armed Assault 2		Yes	-	-
Battlefield 2142 : Northern Strike		Yes	-	-
Battlefield 2 (and all Expantions)		Yes	-	-
Bioshock	http://www.bioshockgame.com/	Yes	-	-
Call Of Duty	http://www.callofduty.com/	Yes	-	-
Call of Duty 4		Yes	-	-
Crysis (32-bit)	http://games.ea.com/crysis/	Yes	-	-
Doom 3	http://www.idsoftware.com/games/index.php	Yes	-	-
Dyson		Yes	-	-
Eduke32 (Duke Nukem 3D)		Yes	-	-
ET: Quake Wars		Yes	-	-
ezQuake (Quake 1)		Yes	-	-
Fallout Tactics - Brotherhood of Steel		Yes	-	-
FlatOut 2		Yes	-	-
Frets on Fire		Yes	-	-
Grand Theft Auto 2	http://www.rockstargames.com/classics/	Yes	-	-
Gothic 3	http://www.gothic3.com/	Yes	Doesn't start, executable just exits quietly.	Download & Apply Patch
Guild Wars		Yes	-	-
Fallout 3	http://fallout.bethsoft.com/	Yes	-	-
Far Cry 2	http://farcry.ubi.com/	Yes	-	-
IcyTower		Yes	-	-
Mafia		Yes	Unknown	works great after settings compatibility to Vista SP2
Max Payne		Yes	Unknown	works great after applying unofficial patch
Max Payne 2		Yes	-	-
Medieval Total War 1 / Viking Invasion		Yes	-	-
Monopoly by Parker Brothers		Yes	-	-
Need for Speed - Porsche Unleashed 2000		Yes	-	-
Nexuiz		Yes	-	-
Oblivion		Yes	-	-
OpenArena		Yes	-	-
Operation Flashpoint CWC/Resistance (Update 1.96)		Yes	-	-
Osmos		Yes	-	-
Project IGI 2		No	This application requires DirectX version 8.1 or later	None yet.
Quake 3 (with ioquake3 engine)		Yes	-	-
Red Orchestra OstFront 41-45	http://www.redorchestragame.com/	Yes	-	-
rFactor 1.255	http://www.rfactor.net/	Yes	-	-
Rome Total War - Barbarian Invasion - Alexander		Yes	-	-
Sauerbraten		Yes	-	-
Savage 2		Yes	-	Requires Administrator rights
Second Life client		Yes	-	-
Silent Hunter III	http://www.silenthunteriii.com/	Yes	-	-
Smokin		Yes	-	-
Soldier of Fortune 2 - Double Helix		Yes	-	-
Stalker Clear Sky		Yes	-	Remember to install the last patch
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl		No	-	-
Starcraft		Yes	Menu is discoloured.	-
Steam & Valve games (Half-Life 1 & 2 engine powered games)		Yes	-	-
Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942		Yes	-	-
StepMania		Yes	-	-
Street Fighter IV	http://www.streetfighter.com/	Yes	Unknown	Comment
Team Fortress Classic	http://www.teamfortress.com	No	Screen flashes quickly and then it closes.	-
Team Fortress 2	http://www.teamfortress.com	Yes	-	-
Teeworlds		Yes	-	-
Test Drive Unlimited		Yes	-	-
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08		Yes	-	-
Theatre of War 1.081		Yes	-	-
The Saboteur		Yes	-	-
Tremulous		Yes	-	-
UltraStar Deluxe		Yes	-	-
Unreal Tournament 2004	http://www.unrealtournament2004.com/	Yes	-	-
Unreal Tournament 3		Yes	-	-
Urban Terror		Yes	-	-
Wizardry 8		Yes	-	-
Wolfenstein		Yes	-	-
WolfQuest		Yes	-	-
World of Goo		Yes	-	-
World of Padman		Yes	-	-
WWII Battle Tanks: T-34 vs Tiger		No	Too many problems (sound etc etc)...And, the software house that made this game went bankrupt...so no updates	-
Zdaemon (Multiplayer DooM)		Yes	-	-

All credits for keeping this list up-to-date go to Win2008[R2]Workstation crew member xxcom9a!

Security Software Compatibility

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1. Download logonscreen.7z (11,7MB) via Mirrorcreator or logonscreen.zip (29,9MB) via Mirrorcreator.

2. Extract the .zip or the .7z using 7-Zip to a folder and run install(.cmd).

3. Enjoy your new logon screen!

Manually

The files in this patch are the original ones from Windows Server 2008 R2 which are edited. You can edit them by opening the imageres.dll file with a Resource Editor like Restorator 2007, expanding the IMAGE resource and replacing all gray logon screens with the Windows 7 equivalent. Do this as follows (read as: copy … to …): 5031 -> 5044, 5032 -> 5045, 5033 -> 5046, 5034 -> 5047, 5035 -> 5048, 5036 -> 5049, 5037 -> 5050, 5038 -> 5051, 5039 -> 5052, 5040 -> 5053, 5041 -> 5054, 5042 -> 5055, 5043 -> 5056.

Continue to install the missing gameux.dll file…