Server Question

echoesofeleven

A business has a computer that acts as a server. This desktop is running Windows 7 Professional. It does not run windows server 2012 or any version. Programs are configured through this server such a quick books and win 10. The past week their server has been freezing up and forced to do a hard reset. With that in mind that, how should this be properly checked?

I know I have to check the updates, logs, clean the machine with ccleaner, and do updates. Other than that what else should I do?

TechGromit

I assume the company has a very limited budget, best advise I can give is backup what critical data you need, wipe the drives and reinstall the operating system. Windows 7 isn't designed to act as a server, it has too many limitations. Linux would be a more stable server platform, but it takes someone well versed in Linux to set up and run. You can pick up a used server and windows 2008R2 software for under $500 on Ebay, that would be a far better option than to try and run windows 7 on a typical PC to be your server.

636-555-3226

If they were decent and had a full-image backup (such as a nightly backup), just restore from backup. Will take 15 minutes instead of hours trying to troubleshoot.

Realistically, they probably don't have any image and maybe a backup file(s) copied to a USB drive a year ago. In that case, tell them to quit surfing the internet and checking email on the box. If they say OK, then you need to figure out what they mucked up and clean it up. If they say they don't surf the net or check email on the box, it may be a hardware problem. RAM, CPU, Mobo (blown capacitor?), PSU, etc. Just need to start going down the line and test each one at a time.

alias454

Windows 7 as a local Workgroup file server should be fine. With that said backup, their files and do your troubleshooting steps. Look at the event logs and check for errors. then run a virus scan. After that, patch, clear temp files, update AV if you haven't already done it and see where you stand.