I upgraded my Windows Home Server (WHS) system from Version 1 (32bit which ran with very little issues for 5 years) to Version 2 (aka WHS 2011, a64bit) a few weeks ago and installed latest addins and drivers. I have a single 3 TB Segate / Western Digital USB3 drive (Windows didn't see this so I installed the driver separtely) in addition to 2 250GB SATA drives and 1 1TB SATA drive.
I went online and activitated Windows successfully. I was "genuine" at this point. I finised the configuration of WHS V2 and installed the Connector on the clinet systems.
Next I made sure Windows Defender and Firewall working (ran a test scan and created folder shares on WHS V2 server and the desktop client), installed MS SkyDrive, Adobe Reader and Google Chrome (leaving IE as my default browser of course). I moved the data folders around from where Windows had assigned them (the smallest logical drive, the back of the C drive) since Version 2 of WHS does NOT have the single stoarge pool functionality that V1 had (why this wonderfull feature was removed I cannot fathom) and I need to have documents, backups, pictures and music on separate drives to use the storage available and make everthing fit.
Next I ran Windows Update numerous times to get all the WHS V2 and Windows Server 2008 R2 patches installed. Several reboots were necessary. All steps above was about 12 hours work.
This config worked just fine for awhile (at least a day and one nightly backup ran... though it did not complete successfully for some reason) and then something happened:
1. I could no longer launch the WHS V2 Dashboard application (the administration and usage management tools for WHS V2) on the server itself or on the two client PCs (desktop Windows 7 Pro 32bit and a laptop 64bit Widows 7 Pro 64bit) either. Instead there is always Windows Home Eerver error message "Cannot retreive the activation status. Please try again later.". (I've tried again of course, many times.)
2. I could no longer run Windows Update.
3. I had left the default desktop background and noted that there was now a message in the lower lefthand corner of the screen: "Windows Server 2008 R2 Build 7601 This copy of Windows is not genuine".
At this point I went out on the net and searched for solutions. Spent hours and hours and hours. Tried everything I saw that I though might be applicable. Sadly nothing seemed to help or even change my situation.
What did work? I could get to the drives/files on the WHS sevrer and see its clients, and vice versa. I could use the WHS server to surf the net if I wished to (abeit with "Vista like" nagware messages in the middle of the screen that I could not get to go away). But at this point WHS V2 was basically useless for its stated and intended purpose: media sharing and client PC backups.
I set the matter aside for 5 weeks while I took took a business trip and a vacation. Then when there was time I did a complete WHS V2 install from the manufacturer's CD (Microsoft) for the second time. I was very careful this time. Following instruction to the letter. No issues (no issues the first time for that matter).
At the very end I renamed the disk drives like last time. This is necessary since there are 6 different HD in total (the system install partitioned the C drive into to logical drives of 60GB and 185GB), all odd sizes.
Shzam! At this point or shortly after I had the very same problem as after my first install: "Windows not genuine", etc.
What to do next? More Googling, of course. I found and ran Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostic Tool (v1.9.0027.0). It found licensing error 0x80070424.
I ran SFC /SCANNOW. It helped. It said that I had corrupt files that it had repaired. I rebooted and then the message in the lower righthand corner of the screen was not there and I could now run Windows Update successfully. (All patchs are applied.)
I saw several other suggestions while constructing this question (mostly Window Genuine Advantage) and I have checked out each of them. The net of what I got from them was that I should reinstall a 3rd time. Obviously that's a "no go" in this circumstance.
As for upgrading my Intel disk driver, I did download it (SP47845) as discussed widely in other posts, but it would not install. The error message was "This computer does not meet the minimum requirements for installing this software.".
Please help. I've now got over 40 hours into this "home recreation project" (not). The server cannot be used. My only other option would be to regress back to WHS V1.
Rodger