Windows Update 1903 and Windows Server Connection Issues Part 2

In my previous post on this subject, I thought I had figured out a way to painlessly install the Windows Update 1903 and keep the connection with Windows Server 2016 Essentials. It turns out, there was one oversight on my part which prevented the Windows 10 clients from being backed up.

Most Windows Servers and Windows clients are going to have their backups scheduled for a time when they are not in use. A few days after I installed the Windows Update 1903 with Windows Update Assistant, I saw a notification on the Windows Server Essentials Dashboard informing me that a few of the clients had not had a successful back up in a few days. When I checked the devices tab from the Windows Server Essentials Dashboard, I saw that all of the Windows 10 clients that I had installed Windows Update 1903 via the Windows Update Assistant were offline. But they weren't really offline. Each of the computers could access the server folders and server applications, even the Client Connector Dashboard in the same way they always could. The only difference was they were not being recognized by Window Server 2016 Essentials. 

In this image are 3 of the Windows client machines that were given Windows Update 1903 with the Windows Update Assistant. At the time of taking this screenshot, the client labeled "Managers" had been fixed, was showing to be online, and had a successful backup. "Managers2" had been fixed, was showing to be online, and was in the process of its first backup since the update to Windows version 1903. However, the Alert colum is still showing a warning for that client. Once the first backup finished, that alert went away. "Membership" was also updated to Windows version 1903 with the Windows Update Assistant, but at this point, I had not yet implemented the fix. It took a while to find the solution, but I was able to find one that worked prefectly for me on all of the clients that were updated with the Windows Update Assistant.

1. Uninstall Client Connector for Windows Server Essentials.
2. Say yes to automatically closing  the system tray app.
3. Open Task Scheduler. Inside the Task Scheduler Library, navigate to Microsoft > Windows > Windows Server Essentials  and delete every task in that folder.
4. Open a web browser and navigate to your server's Connect page: Examples:
   http://[ip address of server]/connect  OR
   http://[name of WSE Server]/connect
5. Open the Connector Software.
6. Follow the instructions to connect the machine.

Pay very close attention to step 4. In my previous post, I said it was important to download the connector software before using the Windows Update Assistant. On my first attempt to reconnect after clearing the Task Scheduler, the Client Connector Software said it was unable to connect the client to the server due to an unknown error. I uninstalled the Client Connector Software again, the Task Scheduler was still empty, and then I downloaded a new version of the Connector Software. That time, everything went smoothly so please don't forget to download a new version of the Connector Software after you clear the tasks in the Task Scheduler. Good Luck!