I want to convert my desktop PC to Windows Server 2012 essentials. 

My desktop PC is a Dell XPS Studio 435MT, I have i7 processer, with 8GB RAM, 1TB SATA drive. I have 3 additional SATA ports on the machine to add more hard drives. 

When i tried to install WS2012 this past weekend. The install seems to complete all the way to the point where I actually see my windows server 2012 desktop. Then it attempts to continue the installation and I get the error message that it has failed and please contact support. I will post the exact error message later. 

I did a search for my error message and it seems from what others posted that issue has to do with the hardware not meeting the requirements? If that is the case, can someone tell me what I need to add to my DELL to get this install to work?

T

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn383626.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396 shows the hardware requierments for Essentials.  Looks like you match that, unless you have a small drive partition on your 1 TB SATA drive.

Without the error message, it is pretty much guessing at this

This is the exact error message I get:

"AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED WHILE SETTING UP YOUR SERVER.

IF YOU PURCHASED YOUR SERVER FROM A HARDWARE MANUFACTURER, CONTACT THE MANUFACTURER FOR SUPPORT

TO SAVE THE ERROR LOGS, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU SELECT A FOLDER ON A REMOVABLE MEDIA SUCH AS A USB FLASH DRIVE SO THAT YOU CAN ACCESS YOUR FILES FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER."

Same error reported here

One other note on my installation. I was doing the installation on a 120GB partition with about 650gb drive

space left on my C drive. Ideally i would like to use dual OS on this pc, if possible?

Hi,

Where have you received the server installation media? It is better to install it on other device(virtual machine) and confirm that if it is useful.

For error message An error occurred while setting up your server during installation, it is recommended to use the Server Recovery DVD and the instructions provided by the manufacturer of your hardware to restore the server to factory default settings.

Best Regards,
Eve Wang

I downloaded the OS from my MSDN subscription and have burned it onto a DVD. I have already used this DVD to install the OS onto my media server. It worked just fine on there.

I just tried the install again. It still failed. This looks to be a post installation error. As I am able to actually boot up and into WS2012 to the point where I can see my desktop. When I look at my C drive partition for this install everything looks normal.

When I look inside the ZIP file created by the installer I can see the entries below in the application event logs.

Event Log entries

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone has ideas, I'm still looking for some help.

Thanks!