We've seen this before. People buy SBS to use as a "file server" because
it is cheaper than Windows Server 2003. If all you needed was a 'workgroup'
file server, Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition should have been
purchased. While SBS is based on Windows 2003, it has a few restrictions.
One of them is that it must be set up as a domain controller holding all 5
FSMO roles (meaning it is the 'main' domain controller in the network). In
addition, all SBS components, like Exchange 2003, must be installed on the
same server (they cannot be installed on separate servers).
The first thing you need to do is determine if you have the expertise to set
up and manage a domain environment. There will be a learning curve over a
Peer-to-Peer network (a 'workgroup'). You may want to hire a consultant who
has experience with SBS. You also need to make sure that you are
workstations are capable of being joined to a domain. Windows XP Pro, Vista
Business and Ultimate can join a domain. Windows XP Home Edition, Vista
Home Basic, Vista Home Premium cannot join a network. Though not
recommended, you could also promote SBS to a domain controller and not join
your present workstations to the domain, just using SBS as a "file server"
for your workstations (which would remain in a workgroup). However this
kind of setup requires much more knowledge of the workings of workgroups and
domains, would be more difficult to manage and would not let you use many of
the features built into SBS.
If you decide to proceed on your own, make sure you have the SBS 2003 CDs or
DVDs. Then on the SBS server, install and run a scan with the SBS 2003 BPA
to get a baseline on your server. This will show you any problems that it
finds with your server's configuration. I would also make sure you have a
backup of your important data files on the SBS server before proceeding.
Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3874527A-DE19-49BB-800F-352F3B6F2922&displaylang=en
Please post the results of an ipconfig /all for the server to this
newsgroup. (from a command prompt, type: ipconfig /all>servercfg.txt
then open the servercfg.txt file in Notepad and copy & paste the text into a
reply).
I suspect your Ex-Engineer, just installed the base Windows 2003 operating
system from SBS 2003 CD1 and then stopped at that point. This leaves SBS in
an unsupported position as the promotion to a domain controller is
incomplete. If you place CD1 back in, you should be able to run the Setup
program to install the rest of the required SBS components. (I am assuming
you only have 1 network adapter in the SBS server).
Installing and Configuring SBS 2003
http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Installing-and-Configuring-SBS2003.html
Windows 2003 Small Business Server Shuts Down Unexpectedly; Events 1001,
1013 and 1014 are Logged
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=555087
After SBS has been set up as a domain controller and all components have
been installed, run another scan with the SBS 2003 Best Practices Analyzer
and fix any problems it finds.
Once the initial SBS setup has configured it as a domain controller, you will
need to make sure that it has SBS 2003 SP1 installed. This may have been
done when it was converted to a domain controller or, if the CDs contain an
older version of SBS 2003, you will need to manually download and install
SBS 2003 SP1.
How to install Service Pack 1 for SBS 2003
http://www.smallbizserver.net/tabid/266/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/68/How-to-install-Service-Pack-1-for-SBS-2003.aspx
In the procedure, you can substitute:
Windows 2003 SP2 for SP1
Exchange 2003 SP2 for SP1
Windows Sharepoint Services 2003 SP3 for SP1
Please let us know if you have any questions.
--
Merv Porter [SBS-MVP]
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