Windows 10 1903 feature update breaks the client connector

Windows 10 v 2004 Upgrade Breaks Server Essentials Connector Install

Discovered a lot of posts on this issue relating to v 1903 (none of which worked for the v 2004 Upgrade) but nothing relating to 2004 but after much trial and error I found a solution that works (if you had previously completely uninstalled all WSE files) and it is this:

1) Download the appropriate.msi installer from:  https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=40285

2) Run the installer. (It will not fully complete but it will reinstall the WSE Services.)

3) Find the ClientComputerConnector program listed under "Programs & Features."

4) Run the Repair function a couple of times (it too will not complete.)

5) Go to the Services list under Administrative tools (Run as Admin) and scroll down to find all the Windows Server Essentials services.

6) They will be Disabled. Right click to highlight and select Properties.

7) Change Startup Type to Automatic or Manual and hit "Apply".

😎 Hit the Start button.

9) Rinse & Repeat until all Windows Server Essentials are started.

10) Run the ComputerConnector installer either from disc or from https://<<Homeserver Name>>/CONNECT. 

11) It should run to completion this time.

Actually that thread doesn't.  The gentleman there is still struggling with a broken essentials and reinstalling the connector isn't working for him.  Note that reinstalling the connector worked for me.  

Microsoft has not fixed this issue and the proposed solution of uninstalling / reinstalling the connector does not work as described. There are many other steps that need to be taken. I have successfully reconnected 15 Windows 10 client computers to a Windows Server 2016 Essentials server. Please read the following blog posts (2 parts) to find the exact solution. 

https://smulholland.me/blog/windows-update-1903-and-windows-server-connection-issues/ 

https://smulholland.me/blog/windows-update-1903-and-windows-server-connection-issues-part-2/ 

Thanks NICKROSE , your solution worked perfectly for my connection issues. 

Thanks so much for the shared information.  After a windows 10 update I have lost all client essentials services on the client.  I was able to run the msi file and restart the services without having to reinstall the connector software.  Thanks again for the help.

Something here may help.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/044c29e5-7b0e-4241-803f-0cdcbe27db97/win-10-1903-clients-not-visible-in-ws2012r2-essentials?forum=winserveressentials#70dff28c-975e-4fb1-a1bc-80514ad88414

We couldn't reinstall the connector either.

Reinstalling was the usual goto when MS bricked the connector with an update. However, we kept getting an error when trying to select the server to connect to in the wizard, "Cannot get information from (IP) please contact your system admin" or "No server detected in the network".  

Try the connector available through the remote web access page of your server. HTTPS://servername.remotewebaccess.com/connect. 

I connected to the machines as a local admin and ran it which seemed to work. 

On the first machine, I took the machine off the domain and rejoined but on the second I didn't bother and it's fixed both.

I can't explain how this is any different but it worked for us.

It seems to skip the "select the server in the drop-down list" part of the wizard that our machines were getting stuck on. 

I have a server2012r2 essentials with 13 clients all at 1803 or 1809 update versions with all set to hold off the 1903 update for 120 days in windows 10 update settings.

I have successfully updated one of the clients but what a pain in the ... that was.

Other than the "Current Workaround" Mentioned above, is there any fixes from Microsoft as yet to fix the problems created by the update??

Thanks for any info you may have.

JohnBoy5

Current Workaround: The user needs to manually remove the "Client Connector for Windows Server Essentials" and reinstall it via the connect website on the affected Windows 10 client machine.

Nope: Still broken

Even tried NICKROSE solution and it did not work for me.  

Every Repair/install resets the services to disabled.  Changing to automatic and running them errors out.  

I am so sick of Microsoft's lack of quality.  

I went to another desktop that has the green connector to check its services and there were none.  From the servers dashboard the client shows up as offline. No surprise there.