Configuring Windows Home Server 2011 : Selecting the Windows Home Server Region, Configuring Windows Update

1. Selecting the Windows Home Server Region

In Windows Home Server, you can specify the region you’re in. This determines how Windows Home Server formats data such as numbers, currency values, dates, and times. For example, depending on the region, Windows Home Server would display August 7, 2011 in the short date format as 8/7/2011 or as 7/8/2011.

Changing the Region in the Windows Home Server Dashboard

Here are the steps to follow to use the Windows Home Server Dashboard to change the current region setting:

Customizing the Region Formats

The Windows Home Server Dashboard only enables you to switch from one region setting to another. However, you might need to customize a particular region’s formats. For example, you may select a region where the short date format is d/m/yyyy but you’d rather use m/d/yyyy. Windows Home Server enables you to customize the format not only of dates, but of times, numbers, and currency values. Follow these steps:

2. Configuring Windows Update

Windows Update is a feature that keeps Windows Home Server up-to-date by offering power packs, operating system fixes, security patches, enhancements, and new features for download. You can check for new updates at any time by selecting Start, All Programs, Windows Update to load the Microsoft Windows Update website into the browser.

Rather than you remembering to check for updates and then trying to figure out which ones to download and install, Windows Home Server offers the Automatic Updates feature. This takes the guesswork out of updating the server by automatically checking to see whether updates are available, downloading those that are, and then installing them, all without intervention on your part. The next few sections show you how to configure Automatic Updates and how to check for updates from within Windows Home Server.

Configuring Windows Update

When you started Windows Home Server, the OOBE program asked you to choose a Windows Update setting. If you want to change that setting, you can do it using the Windows Home Server Dashboard, as described in the following steps:

1.	Launch the Windows Home Server Dashboard.
2.	Click Server Settings to open the Windows Home Server Settings dialog box.
3.	Click the General tab.
4.	Click Change/Install Updates. The Dashboard opens the Windows Update window for the server. (This looks like your local Windows Update window, but it really is the server version.)
5.	Click Change Settings to open the Change Settings window, shown in Figure 2. Figure 2. Use the Automatic Updates dialog box to configure Windows Home Server’s automatic updating.
6.	Use the Important Updates list to select one of the following options: Install Updates Automatically—This option tells Windows Home Server to download and install updates automatically. Windows Home Server checks for new updates on the date (such as Every Day or Every Sunday) and time you specify. For example, you might prefer to choose a time when you won’t be using your computer. Caution Some updates require your server to be rebooted to put them into effect. In such cases, if you activate the Automatic option, Windows Home Server automatically reboots your system. This might lead to problems if you have a particular program that you need to be running at all times. You can work around this problem by setting up an automatic logon and by setting up the program to run automatically at startup. Download Updates but Let Me Choose When to Install Them—If you activate this option, Windows Home Server checks for new updates and then automatically downloads any updates that are available. Windows Home Server then displays an icon in the notification area to let you know that the updates are ready to install. Click the icon to see the list of updates. If you see an update that you don’t want to install, deactivate its check box. Click Install to install the selected updates. Tip An update that you choose not to install still appears in the Select Updates to Install window. If you’d prefer not to see that update, right-click the update and click Hide Update. If you later want to unhide the update, display the Windows Update window and click the Restore Hidden Updates link. In the Restore Hidden Updates window, activate the update’s check box, and then click Restore. Check for Updates but Let Me Choose Whether to Download and Install Them—If you activate this option, Windows Home Server checks for new updates and then, if any are available, displays an icon in the notification area to let you know that the updates are ready to download. Click the icon to see the list of updates. If you see an update that you don’t want to download, deactivate its check box. Click Start Download to initiate the download. When the download is complete, Windows Home Server displays an icon in the notification area to let you know that the updates are ready to install. Click the icon, and then click Install to install the updates. Never Check for Updates—Activate this option to prevent Windows Home Server from checking for new updates. Caution I strongly recommend that you not choose to turn Windows Update off. All recent versions of Windows have been plagued with security vulnerabilities, and Windows Home Server (or, more accurately in this case, Windows Server 2008, which underlies Windows Home Server) isn’t an exception. You need to keep your server updated to avoid having your system—and, almost certainly, your entire home network—compromised or damaged by malicious hackers.
7.	Click OK to put the new setting into effect.

Updating Windows Home Server

If you elected not to use automatic updating, you need to watch out for available updates and install the ones you want by hand. How do you watch for updates? The easiest method is to watch the alert icons either in the Launchpad or the Dashboard. When updates are ready for download, you see a warning alert (a black exclamation mark on a yellow triangle). To make sure this warning is update related, click the alert icon to open the Alert Viewer, and then look for an alert similar to the one displayed in Figure 3.

Figure 3. If updates are available, you see a warning in the Alert Viewer.

Follow these steps to update the server: