About

Mike Craven is a software developer specializing in the writing of add-ins for Microsoft’s Windows Server Solutions (Windows Server 2016 Essentials, Windows Server 2016 Standard/Datacenter (with WSEE added), and Windows Server 2019 / 2022 / 2025 Standard/Datacenter (with WSEE installed)) and the Microsoft Office suite of applications (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, etc.).

Mike founded his company, The Office Maven, over twenty years ago (spurred on, and named by, his dear friend Woody Leonhard). He leads a modest life, alongside his wife Renee, in the sunny Southern California area of the United States of America. When Mike’s not busy writing, selling, and supporting his software, he’s out riding mountain bikes with his wife and friends:

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🙄 Never thought we’d see the day arrive, but we’re now living in an absolute clown world! If you can’t recognize what’s happening to us all, then you really should read George Orwell’s 1984… "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." – George Orwell

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"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right." – George Orwell

😉 Special thanks to Renee Craven, Bridget Simone, Evelyn Woollen, Woody Leonhard, and Alexander Kent for all of their help and encouragement throughout the years. And of course a HUGE shoutout to Microsoft, as without them, none of this would have ever of been possible!

Feel free to contact Mike with any questions or comments via the Support page, or you may…

Ask Mike Anything (anonymously)

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Asked So Far...

  • Someone asked:
    on October 15, 2023 12:59 pm
    Hi Mike, I have a hp microserver gen8 running 2016 essentials. Love it for the easy access from our home computers to the server shares. Also the client backup and remote access off course. But what is best to do: keep this server off the internet, or upgrade (to 2022 server with your tutorial and software)? If I upgrade, I can just purchase a license for server 2022 standard, and can you tell me what best step it is to get your software installer? Rgds
    • Mike replied:
      on October 16, 2023 6:59 am
      If you can get Windows Server 2022 installed onto your Gen8 HP Microserver (via an in-place upgrade or a brand new install), then you can indeed put the Windows Server Essentials Experience (WSEE) onto it via the WSEE Installer. All of the details on how to obtain the WSEE Installer are provided within my main how to article that's posted over here. As for whether or not you should stay with 2016 or move up to 2022, that's completely up to you seeing as I have no dog in that fight. Best of luck!
  • Someone asked:
    on July 17, 2023 1:15 pm
    Yes we are in an Orwellian nightmare for sure..... Listen to Spirit 1984 great song circa 1968-9. I have a customer that loves the remote access anywhere part of essentials. I'm setting up a new server on 2019. what do I need from you to make it work?
    • Mike replied:
      on July 18, 2023 9:22 am
      I know Spirit well from my younger days. Nature's Way is one of my favorite songs by them. 😉 To run the Windows Server Essentials Experience (WSEE) (taken from Windows Server 2016 Essentials) on Windows Server 2019/2022 (Standard or Datacenter), all you'd need from me is access to the WSEE Installer. The details on how to acquire and use the WSEE Installer can be found over here.
  • Someone asked:
    on March 4, 2023 9:46 am
    I want to buy something to get me access to WSEE to install on 2019 std, but I see no prices or means to put anything in the basket?
    • Mike replied:
      on March 5, 2023 9:29 am
      All of that (including pricing) can be done from our Pricing page here.
  • Someone asked:
    on December 18, 2022 3:48 pm
    I have a new server I am setting up for a client with the host machine has 2 VM's on it; a server as the AD machine, and a server as the file & application machine. Can WSEE be installed on the file & application server or does it have to be installed on the AD server?
    • Mike replied:
      on December 19, 2022 6:45 am
      WSEE must either be or see a domain controller... By default, WSEE configures the server as a primary domain controller. However, if you already have an AD DC running in your network, then you can simply natively join your file & application server to that AD DC server BEFORE installing WSEE onto it. That way, the WSEE configuration wizard will recognize the existing AD DC, and will then configure WSEE on it as a member server instead. SEE: Add Windows Server Essentials as a Member Server
  • Someone asked:
    on December 8, 2022 7:22 pm
    Hey Mike, your background is insane! (Electrician)
    • Mike replied:
      on December 9, 2022 6:52 am
      Hey Electrician! I now have your thingamajig in-hand... Stop by the lot anytime you see me there and I'll hand it over to you.
  • Someone asked:
    on October 29, 2022 10:08 am
    I have a client with 10 users on Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials 6 users working remotely using the essentials portal and they are on a budget and need new server hardware and would like to ask about your WSEE package. How much does your product cost to install and how long will you be supporting on Windows Server 2022 standard?
    • Mike replied:
      on November 7, 2022 10:11 am
      Everything you need to know about installing WSEE on Windows Server 2019 / 2022 / 2025 can be found here. As far as pricing goes... We do not charge for the WSEE Installer. It is simply made available, at no additional charge, to our WSE RemoteApp 2016 and/or WSE WorkFolders 2016 customers. Pricing for those products can be found here. Lastly, we do not officially support WSEE, but our WSE RemoteApp 2016 and WSE WorkFolders 2016 products are fully supported until 1/12/2027 (i.e. until Microsoft's end-of-life date for Windows Server 2016 Essentials; which is where the WSEE bits are derived from).
  • Someone asked:
    on October 11, 2022 4:00 am
    Hi Mike Would like to download your WSEE Installer for server 2019 STD, not sure what product I need to purchase to access the download and get a password ? can you point me in the right direction please.
  • Someone asked:
    on August 22, 2022 1:24 pm
    I requested the password for the WSE installer. I purchased the WorkFolders. I gave the user name etc but I have not gotten a reply.
    • Mike replied:
      on August 22, 2022 2:35 pm
      I've tried emailing you three different times now, but the messages always get bounced back (seeing as your domain is rejecting my emails as spam). Therefore, you'll need to contact us from a completely different email address. Otherwise, just let me know here and I'll go ahead and process your full refund for WSE WorkFolders.
  • Someone asked:
    on June 12, 2022 8:10 am
    Hello. I wanted to download the WSEE installer, I don't know where to find the passwords
  • Someone asked:
    on May 22, 2022 8:17 am
    Hi Mike, I'm running a WSE 2016 install on an old machine. I need to upgrade to a new machine. I've installed an evaluation of version of WSE 2019 on the new machine. Only now do I see the WSEE issue. How can I get the WSEE on the new machine? Happy to consider a purchase from you. Thanks in advance.
    • Mike replied:
      on May 22, 2022 2:24 pm
      Everything you need to know about running WSEE on Windows Server 2019/2022 is explained in detail over here.
  • Someone asked:
    on April 8, 2022 4:51 am
    Hi... I would like to switch over to Server 2022 from my 2012 R2 with Essentials Role. You offer the WSEE Installer for free if I am a customer of any of your products. Since it is "Single server use only" but I want to test it (just checking if everything works as I want / need to) before using it productive for me, is there a possibility to do that? I don't want to use it on several PCs or anything, just don't want to buy several licenses of "WSE Workfolders" just to have the chance for a 3-14 day Testing WSEE on Server 2022 before putting it to live... 😉
    • Mike replied:
      on April 8, 2022 7:21 am
      In that particular case, you can use the WSEE Installer to install WSEE onto a test server. Once you're finished with all of your testing, and want to move to your production server, you can simply contact us and request that your WSEE Installer license be reset. After that, you'll be able to perform another run of the WSEE Installer on your production server. Just be aware that once the license has been reset, the WSEE installation over on your test server will no longer function (since it's a "single server only" license).
  • Someone asked:
    on March 7, 2022 2:43 pm
    Hi Mike, I am looking to purchase one of your products to get access to the WSEE Installer feature. Will I be required to purchase a yearly license renewal to get ongoing updates to the WSEE Installer product? Thanks
    • Mike replied:
      on March 7, 2022 2:49 pm
      No you are not. Each of our products come with one year of "Updates and Support". If you want more than that, then you can purchase a license renewal for your existing license as desired. However, the "Updates and Support" option does not apply to the WSEE Installer since it is not actually a supported product. Like the WSEE Installer itself, all WSEE updates are provided at no additional charge to our existing customers (via the WSEE Updater).
  • Someone asked:
    on February 21, 2022 2:15 pm
    I want to get the Dashboard install solution Server Essentials 2019 for my client. What do I have to purchase to be able to get your solution?
    • Mike replied:
      on February 22, 2022 8:05 am
      We don't sell the WSEE Installer. It is only made available to existing customers (at no additional charge). Any (full) product that's available on our Pricing page qualifies (e.g. WSE RemoteApp 2016 or WSE WorkFolders 2016). Simply contact us with the User Name from the license of your newly purchased product, and request access to the WSEE Installer.
  • Someone asked:
    on January 21, 2022 11:35 am
    Hello, I would like to replace my 2011 small business/home server as it currently will not backup or maintain my new Windows11 machines. I'm in my 70's and have been medically retired from the PC support field for 22 years. I can still build servers, but I can't write software. It needs to backup three computers, maintain updates, and file storage. Nothing more. Do you have any suggestions?
  • Someone asked:
    on January 18, 2022 6:06 am
    Hi Mike looking to purchase WSEE for a client they have 2012r2 and are looking to upgrade to o365 with 2022 this year we are looking to instlal your WSEE on 2022 trial and use that. do you have a trial option? good to see a fellow MTBer, im based in Hull UK but have travelled and cycled in your area many moons ago.
    • Mike replied:
      on January 19, 2022 8:40 am
      Due to the way that WSEE deeply integrates with Windows Server, it's not really possible for us to offer an evaluation version of the WSEE Installer. You'd need to either perform a manual installation for that, or your client would need to purchase one of our software products and request access to the WSEE Installer (which could then be used to install WSEE in a test environment). We do however offer a 30-day no-questions-asked refund policy on all of our products, and so your client could always request a refund (within the 30-day window) if it ends up not working out for them for whatever reason. And yes indeed, it is good to hear from a fellow MTBer. 😉 Lots of great places to ride over here in the SoCal area. As you can tell from my name, I'm British, but have unfortunately never had a chance to do any MTBing over in the UK other than living vicariously through the Atherton's and Danny MacAskill. 😀
  • Someone asked:
    on January 9, 2022 8:52 am
    Thanks for your reply Mike. Please note that my question about if WSEE will work on an evaluation version of the OS referred to Microsoft's 180 day evaluation - I wasn't asking to evaluate your software. Please can I just qualify your advice that I will be better off using WSE2016? I was inspired by your 6/26/2019 blog that WS2019 is so much better than WS2016 - bug fixes, performance etc. This plus the extra 2 years security support from Microsoft seemed a good idea. As noted I have been using WHS2011 for just a few clients over a local network, and primarily just as a file server with client backup.
    • Mike replied:
      on January 9, 2022 2:11 pm
      Yes, the WSEE Installer works just fine with Microsoft's 180-day evaluation of Windows Server 2019/2022. In fact, you can reset the evaluation period up to six times and get up to three years of use out of the evaluations (I mention this within the Suggestions, Limitations, and Known Issues section of the main WSEE Installer article here). While Windows Server 2019/2022 will certainly out perform 2016, and offer some beneficial security enhancements, etc., for your described use (and price concerns that are forcing you to want to stay with the Essentials SKU), I'd definitely stick to Windows Server 2016 Essentials if I were you. Since the "Essentials" bits are coming straight from 2016, you won't see any real world differences in how you're wanting to use the server (i.e. as a file server and as a client backup repository).
  • Someone asked:
    on January 8, 2022 9:36 am
    Hi Mike, I'll join the others in lauding your efforts - thanks. I had been planning to upgrade my old WHS2011 server to WSE2016, discounting WSE2019 because of the missing features. Having read your information I am now considering using WSE2019 and would be keen to use your WSEE installer by buying one of your products. However I noticed that you do not recommend installing WSEE on WSE2019 although you do support it. In a comment on your WSEE installer page you stated that with WSE2019 I would lose anywhere access / remote web access. Whilst actually this would not bother me, doesn't this mean that your RemoteApp wouldn't operate? Would WorkFolders operate on WSE2019? Can you also confirm that I could use the WSEE installer on an evaluation version of the server OS so that I can confirm it works OK before I buy a license? Please note that due to license pricing only the essentials version of Server 2019 is an option for me.
    • Mike replied:
      on January 9, 2022 7:45 am
      You're far better off using Windows Server 2019 Standard (or even better yet, Windows Server 2022 Standard) over the lousy Windows Server 2019 Essentials SKU. You'll gain nothing (other than a somewhat reduced price) by using the Essentials SKU (the "mythical" 25 user CALs are complete joke IMHO), but you will end up missing out on having the Remote Desktop Gateway available for making secure remote connections to your server with. That being said... If you don't have any need for connecting remotely to your server (via the Anywhere Access/Remote Web Access features of Essentials), then yes, you can indeed use the Essentials SKU. The WSE WorkFolders 2016 add-in works wonderfully on the Essentials SKU (since it functions over HTTPS and does not require the RD Gateway). However, the WSE RemoteApp 2016 add-in will be limited to only being able to make connections to the Essentials server over your local network under the Essentials SKU (seeing as the RD Gateway is required for all of its remote connection functions), which severely limits the usefulness of the add-in IMHO. Unfortunately, there is no way to evaluate the WSEE Installer without you already owning one of our products. We do however offer a 30-day no-questions-asked refund policy on all of our products, and so you can always request a refund (within the 30-day window) if it ends up not working out for you for whatever reason. Just note that once a refund has been provided, the WSEE Installer license will be deactivated, and WSEE will need to be uninstalled from your server (as it will cease working). Personally, if you're wanting to stick with the Essentials SKU (for pricing reasons), then you're better off just using the Windows Server 2016 Essentials SKU instead. You won't gain much by going with 2019, and 2016 includes the RD Gateway, and is fully supported by Microsoft until 2027.
  • Someone asked:
    on November 4, 2021 12:09 pm
    Hi Mike, I have Windows Server 2019 Std, with 5 cals, I would like to get the Windows Essentials Functionality back. Sorry for being a bit stupid, but what do I need to buy to get the WEEE installer from you.
    • Mike replied:
      on November 4, 2021 12:39 pm
      Everything you need to know about the WSEE Installer (and about installing WSEE from Windows Server 2016 onto Windows Server 2019 / 2022 / 2025) is explained over here. Basically, you just need to purchase any (full) product listed here, and then contact us with the User Name from the license of your newly purchased product and request access to the WSEE Installer. We then send you back all of the details that you need.
  • Someone asked:
    on November 3, 2021 7:46 am
    Hi Mike, I was wondering can I download Server 2022 iso only
    • Mike replied:
      on November 3, 2021 7:51 am
      You can download Windows Server 2022 (Standard or Datacenter), in ISO format, from the Microsoft Evaluation Center here.
  • Someone asked:
    on September 15, 2021 12:56 am
    Hi Mike - I have tried sending a support request and get no acknowledgement and tried to register for the forum and haven't received an email. I have just bought the Student remote apps and need WSEE but have no password to download it. Is it possible to get this please as your product is no use to me without it. Thanks
    • Mike replied:
      on September 15, 2021 5:58 am
      Have you checked your spam/junk email folder? I have emailed you back three times now. Nothing more I can do. You can try emailing us from a completely different email address, or post back here requesting a refund and I'll go ahead and process that for you.