How to Install Windows Server 2012 R2 on the Acer Easystore H340

Those of you running older Windows Home Server v1 hardware, such as the Acer EasyStore H340 may be thinking about an upgrade to a new server running Windows Server 2012 Essentials or Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials. But before you grab that wallet, wait! Over at WGS Forums, the intrepid mr_yellow has posted a guide to installing Windows Server 2012 R2 on the Acer H340 hardware – without the need for a VGA cable.

Here’s the first part of the guide, then head over to WGS Forums to read it in full.

I’m currently on a journey to update the OS on my H340 still running the original WHS v1.  This process should cost you essentially nothing (except maybe the ultraISO license if you’re not enterprising enough).  I cobbled this process together after lots of Googling and lots of experimentation.  Hopefully someone here finds it helpful.

Prep physical drive: This involves taking your target system drive and seeding it with the Windows installer. Note, this will destroy anything on the drive.  Also be careful picking the drive number if you have lots of drives installed.  I had my target drive connected via a USB drive mount.  I opted to go this route because I’m a cheap-ass and didn’t want to buy the diag VGA cable and go through the hassle of jumpering to enable the KB/mouse and figuring out how to boot the H340 from a USB key and then to load the USB Key with the Windows ISO.

1. Set the target drive in Disk Manager to offline (go to Disk Manager, right click and select Offline)
2. Set the target drive’s read only attribute
3. Open command prompt as admin
4. Run “diskpart”
5. List disks with command list disk

Source : wegotserved