Converting the Windows Server to a Workstation

Back to Windows Server 2003/2008/20012

Follow the procedures below to convert your Windows Server 2012 into a fully functional Workstation (enabling gaming, audio, wireless, themes, etc).

Windows Server as Workstation

In the Server Manager click Manage in the upper right, choose Server Manager Properties and check Do not show me this console at logon to not show the Server Manager at start-up. You can access the Server Manager later via the the shortcut in your pinned items bar or Start screen.

Changing Owner Info

1. Open the Start screen, enter regedit and press Enter to start the Registry Editor.
2. In the Registry Editor navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersion and double click RegisteredOwner to edit name of the registered owner. Optionally you can also enter an organization in the RegisteredOrganization item.

Wireless Networking

1. Start the Server Manager and click the Add roles and features link in the Welcome Tile. If you already closed the Welcome Tile, make it visible again via the View menu or in the left panel navigate to Local Server, then in the right panel scroll all the way down to ROLES AND FEATURES, click the TASKS dropdown and choose Add Roles and Features.
2. Select Role-based or feature-based installation as installation type and click Next.
3. The Wireless LAN Service feature is not a Server Role, so skip the Server Roles page by clicking Next.
4. At the Select Features page, scroll down and check the Wireless LAN Service checkbox. Now, click the Next button to proceed.
5. At the confirmation page, optionally check the Restart the destination server automatically if required checkbox as the Wireless LAN Service feature requires a restart to complete. You can also manually restart the server after the wizard completed. Click the Install button to start the installation.
6. After restart, move your mouse to the upper or lower right corner of the screen or press WindowsKey + C to open the Charms bar. Next click the Settings button, then click Network to view the networks in your neighborhood and connect to them.

Enable Sound

1. Open the Start screen, click Administrative Tools and open the Services shortcut. Next, double click the Windows Audio service and set its Startup type to Automatic. Repeat this process for the Windows Audio Endpoint Builder service. If you want to use audio immediately, also click the Start button in the Properties window of both services in addition to changing the Startup type.

Desktop Experience

To fully get the Windows 10 experience to Windows Server 2012, Microsoft added the possibility to install this as a feature. This will install additional desktop applications and add several GUI improvements.

Installing this feature will have the following effects:

• Applications added to the Start screen: Windows Store / Default Programs / Windows Media Player / Character Map / Disk Cleanup / Snipping Tool / Sound Recorder / Math Input Panel.
• At startup, the Start screen will automatically appear instead of the classic desktop.
• Charms bar (bar on the right side of the screen) will beside the buttons ‘Search’, ‘Start’ and ‘Settings’ also have ‘Share’ and ‘Devices’.
• The Settings option of the Charms bar will also have the ‘Change PC Settings’ option which is a Windows 10 version of the Control Panel.
• The context menu of the classic desktop will have the ‘Personalize’ option added.
• Applications: Windows Mail, Windows Photo Viewer
• Services: ActiveX Installer, Offline Files, Windows Image Acquisition (WIA), System Events Broker, Time Broker, WebClient, Still Image Acquisition Events, *Microsoft Account Sign-in Assistant
• Miscellaneous: Various screensavers, Ability to burn .iso’s from Windows Explorer, Sync Center in Control Panel, Adobe Flash Player

1. Start the Server Manager and click the Add roles and features link in the Welcome Tile. If you already closed the Welcome Tile, make it visible again via the View menu or in the left panel navigate to Local Server, then in the right panel scroll all the way down to ROLES AND FEATURES, click the TASKS dropdown and choose Add Roles and Features.
2. Select Role-based or feature-based installation as installation type and click Next.
3. We want to install the Desktop Experience feature on the local server which is also selected by default so choose Next.
4. The Desktop Experience feature is not a Server Role, so skip the Server Roles page by clicking Next.
5. At the Select Features page, expand User Interfaces and Infrastructure and check the Desktop Experience checkbox. Probably it will now ask you whether you also want to install the features required by Desktop Experience. Click the Add Features button to proceed. Now, click the Next button to proceed.
6. At the confirmation page, optionally check the Restart the destination server automatically if required checkbox as the Desktop Experience feature will need a restart to complete. You can also manually restart the server after the wizard completed.
7. Wait while your computer finishes the installation and restarts.

Visual Effects and Thumbnails

1. In the Start screen enter performance, change the search scope to Settings and click the Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows icon.
2. In the Performance Options screen, check the improvements you want to have. Most have to do with smooth animations and graphical improvements, however the Show thumbnails instead of icons will generate small previews of images in Windows Explorer.

Performance for Applications instead of Background Services

Windows Server is built to be used as a serving operating system. Therefore by default, treatment priority is given to background services instead of Windows applications. To increase the responsiveness of applications, shop priority should be given to applications.

1. In the Start screen enter performance, change the search scope to Settings and click the Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows icon.
2. In the Performance Options screen, switch to the Advanced tab, change the value of the Processor Scheduling section into Programs and click OK to save the settings.

Disable IE Enhanced Security

1. To turn this feature off, open the Server Manager, select Local Server in the left pane and click at the On link behind the IE Enhanced Configuration setting in the PROPERTIES section. Next, switch the setting to Off for both Administrators and Users to disable it for both user groups. Save the changed values by clicking OK.

Changing the interface Language

It is possible to install language packs to get Windows in your native language. To do this, insert the language packs DVD or download the language pack of the language of your choice.

1. In the Start screen enter lpksetup, and press Enter.
2. Choose the Install display languages option.
3. Click Browse and select the folder in which the language pack(s) is/are stored. The list of languages will now be populated after which you can check the language(s) you want to install. Click Next to proceed to continue.
4. Accept the licence agreement and click Next to start the installation.
5. After the installation has finished, click Close.
6. Now, open the Control Panel in the Start screen: Add a Language under Clock, Language, and Region if you are using the Categorized view. Or Language if you are using the Classic view.
7. Next, click Advanced settings in the left pane.
8. Finally set the Override for Windows display language to the language you want to use and optionally click the link under the dropdown to also use this language at the welcome screen and for new user accounts. Click Save to apply the language change and log off and re-logon to immediately see the result.

Disable Ctrl+Alt+Del Prompt at Logon

1. Open the Start screen and click the Administrative Tools icon.
2. In Administrative Tools folder, double click the Local Security Policy icon, expand Local Policies and click Security Options. In the right pane search and open Interactive logon: Do not require CTRL+ALT+DEL and choose Enabled. Save the policy change by clicking OK.

Disable Password Restrictions

1. Open the Start screen and click the Administrative Tools icon.
2. In Administrative Tools folder, double click the Local Security Policy icon, expand Account Policies and click Password Policy. In the right pane double click Password must meet complexity requirements and set it to Disabled. Click OK to save your policy change.
3. Optionally you can also choose to never let passwords expire. To do this open the Maximum password age policy and set set the value to 0. Click OK to apply the change.

Disable Shutdown Tracker

1. Open the Start screen and enter gpedit.msc to start searching applications. Click the found result to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
2. In the left pane in Computer Configuration expand Administrative Templates and click the System section. In the right pane search for the Display Shutdown Event Tracker policy.
3. Open this policy, set its setting to Disabled and click OK.

Disable DEP and SEHOP

For security reasons, Windows Server 2012 by default has enabled Data Execution Prevention (DEP) and Structured Exception Handling Overwrite Protection (SEHOP) for all applications and services. This can lead to problems when running games and applications. In case you encounter applications crashing with exception code 0xC0000005 (EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION), use the steps below and the disable these security features.

1. Open the Start screen, right click the Computer tile and click Properties in the bar below.
2. In the System Settings, click Advanced system settings in the left pane, go to the Advanced tab and click Settings in the Performance section. Next in the Performance Options window, go to the Data Execution Prevention tab and select Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only.
3. Finally click OK in both windows to save the configuration change and restart your computer to apply it.

1. Open the Start screen, check enter regedit and press Enter to start the Registry Editor.
2. In the Registry Editor navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerKernel, double click the DisableExceptionChainValidation value to open the editor and change its value to 1.
3. Click OK to save the value change and restart your computer to apply the configuration change.