Remotely install WS2012 R2?

Question

TL;DR How do I install Windows Sever 2012 over a network to a remote sever?

I purchased an Acer WHS h340 for very cheap, but it didn't come with the Recovery Disks and had a bad motherboard. Replaced the motherboard with a new h341 motherboard.

Been trying the last the few days to get Windows Server 2012 installed on the box. I have access to Dreamspark, so my copy of WS12 is legit. I downloaded the Windows Home Sever Connector from Microsoft, but that does not find my server.

When I look at my connected clients in my router, I see the WHS has an ip address. However I am unable to PING the host name, or the IP address. In my router, the host name shows up too. However, when I NBTSTAT -A IPADDRESS the host name I get back a 172 address.

So I am at a loss. I am afraid the Windows Home Sever Connector isn't able to see my WHS.

I contacted Acer and they said my box was out of warranty. So they referred me to a 3rd party that handles their boxes now, I asked if I could buy recovery disks and they said no.

Is there a guide on how to install an OS without the recover disks?

Answer 1

Well you are not going to be able to install it over the network if it's not responding. The only other way would be to pxe boot it but this system most likely does not support that. I would plug in a USB CD drive and try and try to install it that way.

Answer 2

If it is already out of warranty, is there any reason you couldn't just take the the HDD out and throw it into another box to reinstall?

Also, they seem to have a recovery cd option on their website.

http://store.acer.com/store/aceramer/en_US/eRecovery