1. Navigate to https://cloud.google.com/ , create an account, and start your free trial! (You get $300 in credits)
2. If you already have an account, log in and click on Console.
3. On the top left of the page, click the tab, scroll down to Compute Engine and select VM Instances.
4. Click Create
5. Name your server to whatever you want, and select your region (we suggest Northern Virginia). Next, change the series to N2 and change the Machine type to 8 CPU, 32 GB memory.
6. Next, for Boot disk, click Change. Switch the Operating System to Windows Server, change the Version to Windows Server 2016 Datacenter and change the Boot disk type to SSD Persistent disk.
7. After that, check the boxes for Allow full access to all Cloud APIs, Allow HTTP traffic, and Allow HTTPS traffic. Then click Create
If you get the error "Windows VM instances are not included with the free trial." click here
8. Once you have clicked create, allow 1-2 minutes for your server to be created. Once your server is created, click the arrow beside RDP and select Set Windows Password.
9. Give your server a username and click Set.
10. Once the password is created, copy it and save it somewhere safe.
11. Now, click back the arrow beside RDP and Download the RDP file.
12. Open the RDP file.
13. Select Use a different account and enter your username from step 9 and the password from step 10.
14. Finally, click Yes and your server will open.
Now that you have created a server, you may click here for information on how to set up your server.
Once you are finished, you may close out of your server and make sure to stop your instance so GCS won't charge you.
How to change your server password
1. Right-click the Windows icon on the bottom left of your server and select Control Panel.
2. Choose Change account type.
3. Click Change the password.
4. Enter your current password (password from step 10), your new desired password, a hint, and click change password.