Just switch on or restart the MS server?

Question

Just switch on or restart the MS server?

Mark Stevens 0

I help out a small office with my limited IT knowledge (I use to work for them as a 1st line support years ago and forgotten the simplest things now that I do something else).

They basically lost the network and internet access days ago but with the help of an IT company that does support them via email they've managed to get the internet back up but no access to the server folders and their Wi-Fi (an AP wired to the Aruba switch) does not work.

They've got a Fortinet firewall which the switch connects, both share rackmounts with various companies on the serviced office floor. Then somewhere in the shared server room there is a PC that sits on the floor which has the server on.

Apparently, this PC switched itself off somehow. The IT support company has quoted £1000 for them to physically come to the office and check everything.

Therefore and before they bite the pillow, they've asked me to go in and take a look myself and see if I can get it up and running.

Assuming it is off and I switch it back on, and say there's nothing wrong with it, should there be no need to log into the server?

I know the name of the server and IP address, whether or not the username and password has changed is another matter.

To start, will it be a case of logging into a client machine as an administrator, but then what?

Do I open up a browser and type the IP address or name of the server starting with \?

Do I open Windows Explorer and use one of the above?

I'm embarrassed to say I really can't remember!

I'm sure it'll be like a trip down memory lane if I get in.

Thanks very much and hope you can help.

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Answer 1

Hello @Mark Stevens

Yes. If the server has simply powered off, the first step is to switch it back on and allow Windows Server to boot normally. I wouldn't change any configuration yet.

Once it's running, use one of the office PCs to check connectivity.

Open Command Prompt and try:

ping <server-IP-address>
ping <server-name>

If both respond, that's a good start.

For the shared folders, you don't need a browser. Open File Explorer and enter \server-name or \server-IP-address in the address bar.

If the shares appear and users can open their normal files, Windows file sharing has probably recovered without you needing to log into the server.

However, there's one important point here: you mentioned that both the server folders and Wi-Fi stopped working. If the Aruba access point is connected directly to the Aruba switch, the server being powered off wouldn't normally explain why the AP itself stopped providing Wi-Fi.

That suggests there may be a wider network issue involving the switch, VLANs, DHCP/DNS, firewall, or other network services. It's also possible that this Windows server provides services such as DHCP or DNS, in which case shutting down could indirectly affect other devices.

Before changing anything, I would check:

Does the server power on and boot without errors?
Can a workstation ping its IP address?
Does \server-name open the expected shares?
Run ipconfig /all on a workstation and note which servers are listed for DHCP Server and DNS Servers.
Check whether Wi-Fi returns after the server has fully booted.

If everything starts working after the server comes back online, I would still investigate why the server unexpectedly powered itself off. Check Event Viewer → Windows Logs → System around the time it stopped. Event IDs such as 41, 6008, 1074, or 1076 can help determine whether it was an unexpected power loss, crash, or planned shutdown.

One caution: if this server is also a Domain Controller, DHCP/DNS server, or runs other business-critical services, don't start resetting passwords, changing network settings, removing/rejoining machines to the domain, or modifying AD just to get things working. If it doesn't recover after a normal boot, that's the point where I'd involve their company IT support.

And don't be embarrassed, \\server-name in File Explorer is indeed the thing you were trying to remember.

Please "Accept the Answer" if this information helped you. This will help us and others in the community.

Mark Stevens 0 Reputation points

2026-08-26T22:42:46.4033333+00:00

Thanks Allan for your reply.

Extremely helpful, your detailed response is giving me many flashbacks!

You've pretty much covered everything for me, I'll look at the server's log and see what could have been the cause...if of course I can log in.

Regarding the issue with the AP (Netgear) not working, upon looking at the messy emails between a user in the office and the IT support, it seems the user was told to go round to all the PCs and set the DNS to 8.8.8.8, which apparently worked. I wonder if that's what I need to do with this AP, if I can log into that too?

Thanks again, really appreciate this.