Corrupt .NET 2.0 prevents connection to WHS

I talked in a previous post about problems connecting to your WHS via the WHS Console immediately after an installation. Something that was then due to “incorrect” username on the computer trying to connect. There is another opportunity when you may have problems connecting to your WHS. Since this has happened both on my own Scaleo and a customer’s Scaleo once, it feels like something that may not be completely unusual. However, I do not know if there is something that affects Scaleo or if there is something in the operating system. For me, it all happened shortly after I changed the processor. But when it happened to my customer, it was a bit more of a mystery.

Symptoms

My client explained that he could connect to his shared folders without any problems. But he could not connect via the WHS Console. When I asked him to try connecting via RDC, he replied that this did not work either. The symptom of the problem is that you can access all shared files as usual, but can not connect via either the WHS Console or RDC.

Investigation

I connected the server to a graphics card via an adapter that I talked about in the post about processor change on Scaleo 2205. If you have a DYI WHS, you probably have the option of connecting a monitor to it, otherwise you have to investigate how to do on your particular model . Once inside Windows, I inspected the Event log, it can be found under “Administrative Tools”. I tried to start WHS Console locally on the server while keeping track of the log. I noticed a crash of the WHS Console due to an error in .NET 2.0. It soon turns out that .NET 2.0 on the server has become corrupt, something that also affects RDC as it seems to use .NET 2.0. This means that you can neither connect with the WHS Console nor via RDC.

Solution

I tried uninstalling or reinstalling over a new version of .NET 2.0, but whatever I tested, it simply did not work. There are ways to “force” an MSI package to install, but neither did it help. Since Windows since Windows XP (maybe even earlier) saves copies of many system files in order to just replace corrupt versions, I thought I would give it a try. To force a scan of the system files, open up the command prompt (is a bit unix / osx damaged and means the terminal). This can be done by selecting run / run from the start menu and typing cmd run the following command sfc / scannow. This starts a scan of the system files which may take a while. When done, restart the server and keep your fingers crossed that it solved your problem. This worked on both my own and my client’s server

Closing thoughts

As it happened very close for both of us, I thought a bit about whether there might be an update to the system released by Microsoft that in unfortunate cases could result in this. I have not investigated it further, but if anyone knows the reason behind it all, feel free to share.