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Windows Server 2012 – How to Add Desktop Experience Feature
If you are stumbling around trying to find the Desktop Experience Feature within the Server Manager of Windows Server 2012, then look no further!
Desktop Experience enables a few handy tools like:
- Windows Media Player
- Desktop themes
- Video for Windows (AVI support)
- Windows SideShow
- Windows Defender
- Disk Cleanup
- Sync Center
- Sound Recorder
- Character Map
- Snipping Tool
Steps to enable the Desktop Experience on Windows Server 2012 (Note: A restart will be required to complete install):
- Launch Server Manager
- Select Add roles and features
- Within the Add Roles and Features Wizard, select Features from the left hand menu
- Within the Add Roles and Features Wizard, expand the option User Interfaces and Infrastructure (Installed)
- Select Desktop Experience
- Click Add Features (on the next dialog window)
- Click Next
- Click Install
- Click Close (When complete) Note: A restart will be required to complete install
Below are the screenshots displayed during this process.
Hope that helps!
Greg Olsen
YellowDuckGuy
Categories: Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Windows Server 2012
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NZ Dynamics 365 User Group
Leader: Greg OlsenMeetup Site URL: http://www.meetup.com/NZ-Dynamics-365-User-Group-Auckland/
Greg Olsen - Yellow Duck Guy - 
Thank you
I asked my support for how to activate the Flash Player. The answer was: “You first have to install the Feature Desktop experience in the Server Manager.”
So started to look for it and didn’t find anything!…After an hour I searched the Internet and found You’re descrption.
I am so happy now, I can’t tell You!!
Thank You so much Sir, with Your help I finished my problem in two minutes!
Thank You very much 🙂
Yours
Sammy
Thanks Greg. Currently doing this now. Any idea how long it takes to install as I’ve been stuck on the install screen for an hour now with no change on the progress bar!
By the way it appears some of the time you need this when converting old projects to Visual studio 2013 particularly with projects with MVC 2.0 and 3.0 to 4.0 and to .NET Framework 4.5 / Windows Phone Silverlight 8 respectively.
When doing the conversion it will then ask you to register a Windows Server 2012 license, it can’t find it, then it says you need the developer expereince to do this.
Thanks! Shame on the Windows 2012 team for hiding these tools even when trying to install features. It is ridiculous that we have to dig through every option in my case to find “Media Feature Pack”. User Experience is not their forte!
Help lots – thank you.
Cheers, didn’t realise they had moved this feature and couldn’t work out why I couldn’t find it.
Thank you sir, you made my day..