Windows Server is missing half of its GUI

Question

I have this server for which I chose Windows Server 2012 R2 specifically because it can lose and get back the GUI at will. This functionality stopped working a while back. I removed all of the GUI components and tried reinstalling them back several times but the GUI doesn't come back despite showing it's installed in the output of Get-WindowsFeature. It has software that requires a GUI for things like upgrades and big changes so it's kind of important to have a GUI available.

Well, not having GUI is not entirely correct, programs with a GUI in fact run and you can launch explorer.exe windows but there's no taskbar or other UI elements. Attempting to fix it I upgraded it to a system that doesn't support an optional GUI; Windows Server 2019 but the problem stayed behind.

How do I get the GUI back?

Answer 1

This functionality never worked well and was removed in Server 2016. If you got it to work once you were probably lucky.

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Answer 2

Hi,
It's no longer possible to switch from Server Core to the full GUI or vice versa in Server 2016/2019 - either through Server Manager, PowerShell, or DISM. You must make the choice initially at install time.
https://superwidgets.wordpress.com/2016/10/29/windows-server-2016-gui-options/
Hope this helps and please help to accept as Answer if the response is useful.
Best Regards,
Carl

Answer 3

Any progress or updates?

--please don't forget to Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--