To fully get the Windows 8 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 8 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
- Miscelanous: Various screensavers, Ability to burn .iso’s from Windows Explorer, Sync Center in Control Panel, Adobe Flash Player
2. Skip the information page by clicking Next.
3. Select Role-based or feature-based installation as installation type and click Next.
9. After the installation has completed, your system will automatically restart if you checked the checkbox at step 7. Otherwise you can close the wizard and restart the server manually. In case you don’t know yet what possibilities there are to restart Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012, read the essentials page.
10. Wait while your computer finishes the installation and restarts.
11. After logging in, the Start screen will appear with the new applications installed.
13. Install a custom theme via the Get more themes online link in the Personalization screen.
Continue to configure Windows Server 2012 to automatically boot to the Classic Desktop…
Has anyone else noticed that the ‘Change PC Settings’ option at the bottom of the Charms Settings menu is missing?
All the other features have installed OK.
Does anyone have an idea of how to fix this?
Thanks
After installing the ‘Desktop Experience’ feature, the ‘Change PC Settings’ option should be there.
Hi Arris,
After installing the Desktop Experience, I get the Charm popup menu with the 3 icons that Server 2012 seems to get rather than the 5 Windows 8 gets. (From one screen dump, that seems to be normal.)
However, if I click the ‘Settings’ icon, I get the normal list of items at the top and 6 icons at the bottom. Below them I’d expect to see ‘Change PC Settings’. Is that correct?
(This is the second clean install I’ve done using Server 2012 Evaluation Build 9200, which I believe is the RTM build.)
I’ll try again and install Desktop Experience as soon as installation completes rather than running Windows Update, which is my normal course of action.
As a follow up, it does seem to be either an update to my graphics card driver or Windows Update has indeed been causing the problem.
I also have all 5 charms instead of 3 and the PC setting menu has now appeared.
As a further follow up, removing and reinstalling Desktop Experience (plus Media Foundation & Ink and Handwriting Services) cured the problem.
Thanks for reporting back!
This might help other people.
I had the same problem. Looks like if you install Desktop experience and then do the Boot to Classic Desktop instructions the Change PC Settings disappears.
Also I haven’t activated my Windows Server 2012 yet and if I access those settings it tells me they are disabled until I activate. This might have something to do with it also.
guys, highly suggested app:
Tiny Windows Borders, from http://winaero.com/download.php?view.31
to Reduce the Padding of your windows’ borders ;-D
Hi,
how can i cange user-Image?
(11. After logging in… Administrator Top-Right)
Regards,
R.
Ho can I get the system to let me use Windows App store?
Check the next pages on this manual, or on the forum. You have to enable the User Account Control for the build-in Administrator account or create another administrator account. Besides this, all you need is a Microsoft ID (Outlook/Hotmail adress).