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Respond to computer alerts

Published: August 21, 2012

Updated: October 4, 2012

Applies To: Windows Server 2012 Essentials

This topic discusses understanding and managing alerts that are specific to your computer connected to the server and that appear in the Launchpad of your computer. For information about managing all alerts for all computers and servers on your network, see Manage alerts.

Windows Server 2012 Essentials monitors the health status of computers that are connected to the server. These issues are displayed as alerts in the Alert Viewer, which can be launched on any computer that is connected to the home server by using the Launchpad on the client computer. Alerts that appear on the Launchpad provide a quick status as to the immediate health of the computer. To view information about a health alert, click an alert indicator to open the Alert Viewer. By default, the alerts in the Alert Viewer are refreshed every thirty minutes. You can evaluate your computer for alerts at any time by clicking Refresh in the Alert Viewer.

The following table lists some of the computer alerts that can be generated and displayed on the Alert Viewer if they are applicable to your computer.

 

Alert Title Alert Impact and Resolution

The current status of the Network Firewall provides reduced protection for this computer.

Unauthorized people or software might be able to access this computer if Windows Firewall is not turned on.

Virus protection is turned off, not installed, or not up-to-date.

The data on your computer is at risk if the Virus protection security setting is turned off or not updated. To protect your computer:

  1. Open Security Center.

  2. Determine the status of installed virus protection.

  3. Perform one of the following tasks depending on the protection status:

    • If it is not enabled, enable it.

    • If it is not up-to-date, complete the process to update the signatures.

    • If Virus protection is not installed, consider installing it.

Spyware and unwanted software protection is turned off, not installed, or not up-to-date.

The data on your computer is at risk if the Spyware and unwanted software protection is turned off or not updated. To protect your computer:

  1. Open Security Center.

  2. Determine the status of the installed virus protection.

  3. Perform one of the following tasks depending on the protection status:

    • If it is not enabled, enable it.

    • If it is not up-to-date, complete the process to update the signatures.

    • If Virus protection is not installed, consider installing it.

Windows Update is turned off.

You will not be able to benefit from the new and corrected functionality of updates unless Windows Update is turned on. To turn on Windows Update, in Alert Viewer, click Open Windows Update.

noteNote
If the Open Windows Update task is not displayed, you are not logged on to the computer where the alert was raised. You must be logged on to the computer on which the alert was raised to run this task in Alert Viewer.

Important updates should be installed.

You will not be able to benefit from the new and corrected functionality of updates unless Windows Update is turned on. To turn on Windows Update, in Alert Viewer, click Open Windows Update.

noteNote
If the Open Windows Update task is not displayed, you are not logged on to the computer where the alert was raised. You must be logged on to the computer on which the alert was raised to run this task in Alert Viewer.

Restart the computer to apply updates.

You will not be able to benefit from the new and corrected functionality of the updates until they are applied. Save all your data and restart the computer to apply the updates.

Free space is low on hard drives.

If space is not made available, you will not be able to save additional information. To increase the free space on the computer, consider the following options:

  1. Add a new hard drive.

  2. Run Disk Cleanup to remove old and temporary files.

  3. Move your files to a shared folder on another computer.

  4. Archive files on removable media, such as a CD, DVD, or an external hard drive.

The File History agent on the server is not properly configured to run on this computer.

File History backups cannot be created.

One or more services are not running.

Change your Windows password.

Your Microsoft Office 365 password is not the same as your Windows password.

You can launch the Alert Viewer by clicking the alert icon in the Launchpad. For step-by-step instructions, see View alerts using the Alert Viewer. When you encounter an alert, you can opt to do one of the following:

  • Resolve the alert Follow the resolution instructions in the Alert Viewer to resolve the alert. After an alert is resolved, it is still displayed in the Alert Viewer until it is refreshed (which occurs every 30 minutes by default). To instantly refresh the alerts that are displayed in the Alert Viewer, click Refresh.

  • Ignore the alert You can chose to ignore the alert if you would prefer to address it later. When you ignore an alert, it is still listed in the Alert Viewer and it is dimmed. To address an ignored alert, you first need to enable the alert. For more information about ignoring alerts, see Ignore an alert.

  • Enable an alert You can enable an alert that you chose to ignore earlier. After the alert is enabled, you can resolve it or delete it as needed. For more information about enabling alerts, see Enable an alert.

  • Delete an alert You can delete an alert if you do not want to resolve or ignore it. For more information about deleting alerts, see Delete an alert.

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