I ran into a very frustrating issue today. My job was to join a brand new Windows 10 computer to a domain. The server was running Windows Server Essentials 2012 R2. I felt this would be a simple job- but it didn’t turn out that way.
Typically, I join the computer to the domain using the Windows Server Essentials connector tool. Here are the steps I use below.
Step One: I went //servername/connect and installed the connector software. I rebooted the computer when I was prompted to do so.
Step Two: The computer rebooted and started booting into a _clientsetup_$ profile. The computer took a minute or two but it logged into the _clientsetup_$ profile. I was then prompted to enter the user’s credential’s to connect the computer to the domain.
Step Three: I entered the credentials, and then I selected “Setup this PC for myself”. Instantly, the connector software froze and said: “Windows Server Essentials Connector” has stopped responding, end program. The Connector software closed but the computer kept me logged into the _clientsetup_$ profile until I rebooted the computer.
I then logged into the computer. The computer was joined to the domain but the Connector software was not installed.
I thought this may have been a one-off issue so I tried joining the computer again. Once again, I was greeted with “Windows Server Essentials Connector” has stopped responding. I will list below all the things I tried -none of them worked.
- I tried to join the computer to the domain with the admin credentials instead of the user’s credentials.
- During the Connector software setup, I selected “Setup this PC for myself and others” instead of “Setup this PC for myself.
- I checked Event Viewer. It said clientdeploy.exe has stopped working. Right before that error, I got a .Net framework error as well. I ran the Microsoft .Net Repair Tool. The .Net repair tool didn’t fix my problem, so I turned off .Net framework in “Turn Windows Features On or Off” in Windows. That didn’t work as well.
- Installed the Windows Server Essentials R2 Connector from Microsoft’s website.
- Right-clicked on the connector file and “Ran as an Administrator”
- Connected the laptop via an Ethernet connection (instead of wireless) and ran the wizard.
- I joined the domain manually and then tried to run the Connector software. It still failed.
- I created a new local admin profile and ran the Connector wizard from that profile.
- I rebooted the server.
- Disabled IPv6 on the laptop- we thought maybe there was a conflict
- Renamed the laptop multiple times
- I checked the server. The computer showed up under the devices tab in the dashboard as being on the domain. However, the computer showed offline and the server didn’t know what OS was installed or anything about the client.