Last week I ran into an interesting issue with a Windows Home Server (WHS v1) unit. I could connect via RDP/Mstsc to the WHS box and login as the administrator, but I could not startup the WHS Console program. Likewise, trying to start the WHS console by right clicking on the WHS Taskbar icon from a workstation also failed.
Unfortunately, there were no errors in the event logs, and nothing in the WindowsHomeServer log file folder.
Most posts I found on this issue suggested a bad add-in being the cause. To determine which add-in was failing, they suggest to rename all the associated HomeServerConsoleTab.XXX.dll files, and then rename them back, one at a time, until you find which one causes the Console program to crash or not run.
Unfortunately, that did not fix my issue – but it pointed me in the right direction.
I compared the contents of C:\Program Files\WindowsHomeServer folder with a known good WHS box. That’s when I discovered an extra file on the WHS server that was not wotking. The file in question was named HomeServerConsole.exe.config. I renamed this file, and the console started up properly.