Since I purchased my WHS last week when HP got them back in stock, I thought I might post my setup experience since others may run into the same issues I did.

1. After plugging in the server to my home network, I put the Connector Install CD into my desktop computer and ran it. The software could not locate my Home Server on the network.

2. Ran the Windows Home Server Connector Troubleshooter which I downloaded as part of the toolkit from Microsoft. I got about 9 errors so I evaluated the results to see what might be my problem.

3. I checked my firewall settings and saw the connector added to it. So that was good. One of the errors said something about the IP address not matching the Name of the server. The troubleshooter asked that I shut off DDNS in my router while I installed the connector. I did that and it didn't help.

4. Then I looked at the other errors and one other one stuck out from all the rest. It stated that the connector software was a different version then the WHS software installed on the server. Ah HA! I had a hunch that this error ment that the wrong software was installed at the factory. DAMN YOU HP!

5. I reviewed the help docs to see how to restore the server. I held down the power button to shut it off, then press it again to get it started. How my second hang up. I hit the recovery button on the front of the server too early and the health light was blinking red at me. Looking closer at the recovery instructions, I saw that I had to wait until the health light was blinking blue I believe, but when I did it right. The health light would alternate between red and blue. I tried the recovery software again, and it saw the server and started to restore it.

6. After restoring, I tried the connector software again. Still doesn't see the server. However, after rebooting the server one more time... it finally saw it and installation continued.

7. Now I'm at the point that updates are getting installed. I'll update this post if any other issues come up.

EDIT: 8. My updates got stuck at 70% and then the connector software couldn't locate the server. I checked my event log since the troubleshooter is now showing the same messages minus the "different version" error. I found this error. "Server ID is not set yet. On the client it means that the server discovery (discovery.exe) was not run or was not run successfully." Now I don't know if this makes any difference or not, but when I ping the IP address, I get to the server. But when I ping the host name - hpserver. I get a completely different IP address outside my home network. Could this be causing my connection issues?

AAR:9. Well I got it up and running. But in order to get the connector software to work I needed to unplug the Internet from the router and hard coded the server into the hosts file. I'm hoping that having to do that won't messup anything with the server. I did a little more digging into the issue afterwards and it looks like this is a common issue with other people that run OpenDNS. The DNS resolution for something on the private network doesn't stay inside the network like it's supposed to. There's supposed to be a way to fix it by putting an exception into your settings in OpenDNS, but either I'm not doing it right or it's not working. On another subject, when opening up the "configure backup wizard" on the console, does it take a really long time for the server to analyze the computer? I let it run for about 7 minutes before stopping it after the progress bar sat there for a few minutes.

As an additional setup tip, for folks... Try to ping your server after getting it setup online...

One of my issues with one of my PC's is NORTON didn't trust my router... I think this occured when I recently replaced it.... After adding it I could ping it and setup was a breeze... I had to do nothing else to Norton 360!

Hope that helps... You can usually find the name of the PC as it comes out of the box directly from your router's DHCP table.

Yes, this is indeed your problem. You have a couple options:

1. Run Factory Reset again, and during the setup process name your server something else.

2.Disconnect your router from the internet, reboot the router, server, and client PCs. You should now be able to correctly access the server.

3. Add an entry to your hosts file (c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts) with the IP address of your server. This may or may not work.

To be most safe, I'd try a combination of 1 and 2.

I can't reiterate enough the need to be patient during setup, this can take quite a while, and I've heard of several people rebooting the server during setup. People need to understand that this isn't an appliance, it's a true server running a Windows OS and doesn't take kindly to being shutdown while building volumes and updating vital system components.

I've found the "Version mismatch" error to be misleading. Not saying this wasn't the case, but I've seen the Troubleshooting incorrectly give that message before.

I hope this helps, and sorry to hear of your difficulties. We're here to help!
Alex