Windows – Get Start Button Back in Win Server 2012

The SMPT server is probably set to start manualy to change it to automatic follow the steps below.

1. Click Start
2. In the Search box type Services then press enter
3. Find IIS Admin Service in the list of services
4. Double click IIS Admin Service, and set "Startup Type" to Automatic
5. Find Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) in the list of services
6. Double click IIS Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and set "Startup Type" to Automatic
7. Done! It should now start when automaticaly when your computer turns on

Have you tried pressing Alt+Home?

As a general solution, you should consider changing your Remote Desktop settings to send Windows-key events to the remote server. From Microsoft:

1. If the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box is not already open, open it by typing mstsc on the Start screen, and then pressing Enter.

2. On the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, click Show Options to display connection setting tabs.

3. In the Keyboard area of the Local Resources tab, select one of the following from the Apply Windows key combinations drop-down list.

   • To apply keyboard shortcuts to a full-screen Remote Desktop session, select Only when using the full screen.

   • To apply keyboard shortcuts to a Remote Desktop session that is contained within a window, select On the remote computer.

4. When you are finished configuring other settings for your Remote Desktop session, click Connect to connect to the session and start working, or click Save on the General tab to save your connection settings as an RDP file that you can use for future connections.