Ramblings of a Home Server User

Hey everybody,

Sorry for the long time in posting. I have been extremely busy with school. That’s the problem with being student and the end of the year approaching. There is not enough time to fit it all in. I’m going to try to dedicate 30-60 minutes a day to prepare a blog post, and get it out there. A few quick updates..

• I’m working on preparing some level 100 how-tos (all visual) – look for those in the next 2-4 weeks
• Still trying to find a time for a few certain people to sit down and record a podcast pilot.
• I should have some more details to share as to what I’ll be doing as an intern at Microsoft this summer on the Windows Home Server team.
• One thing I am wondering, is what do you, the community, want to see? Is there anything specific you would like to see covered?
• The new SharePoint guide, still in the works. I’ve been doing extensive testing to ensure that this works across different configurations, and network configurations. Feedback from reviewers has been positive. Thanks to all who have reviewed the guide. I should be within the next 2-4 weeks sending out another extensive edit to those interested. Please note, this will require that you begin with a server that SharePoint has not been installed, as I have, thanks to MVP Ken Warren, tweaked some of how SharePoint and SQL are installed.

Hey everyone,

Wanted to let you know of some really cool things that are going to be happening on the blog shortly.

- Launching a Podcast Pilot hopefully within the next two weeks

- Beginner level visual walkthroughs of Windows Home Server functionality and how to setup / configure / maintain Windows Home Server

- My Life as a Summer Intern v2.0 (with more action, drama, and adventure) In all seriousness, I have been asked by the Windows Home Server team to join them again this summer as their intern. I’m really looking forward to this, and to be re-joining a team and a product that I am very passionate about.

Happy serving!

-Tom

Should Microsoft release Power Pack 1 now, without the data corruption bug fix included? Microsoft is interested in hearing your feedback on this question, so if you want your voice to be heard head on over to the forums and join the discussion.

From Todd Headrick (Product Planner – Windows Home Server):

We have always planned on holding the release of Power Pack 1 until we had the data corruption issue resolved.   The Power Pack 1 code was “put on the shelf” in early January, as the team switched focus to working on the data corruption issue.  There is some new functionality in Power Pack 1 like the ability to backup your Shared Folders to an external hard drive attached to your home server that some home server users have asked us to ship.  There also is some new remote access functionality (photo thumbnails, multi-file uploads), and a collection of fixes.

Knowing that the home server team has a current estimate of June, 2008 for the fix for the data corruption issue, do people believe that the team should “dust off” the Power Pack 1 code and release prior to a fix for the data corruption issue? 

Discuss @ Windows Home Server Forum

Hey everyone,

Microsoft has updated KB946676, with more information about the data corruption bug that some users are experiencing. In the update to the article, Microsoft states that they are targeting a June release of a fix, however that date is not set in stone. Before you start complaining about how the fix needs to come out now, everybody needs to understand that this is a very complex issue, and when it comes to data security the Home Server team makes it their number one priority to ensure that your data is safe. The team is working heads down on the fix, and they are hoping to shortly release beta test versions of the fix to select groups of testers before releasing the fix to the public. The article also gives some great technical detail as to what exactly is happening  to cause this bug. If you have any questions about the bug, you can either send them my way, or head on over to the Windows Home Server forums, located at http://forums.homeserver.com.

Check out the article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946676/en-us

-Tom

Hey Everybody,

I know that the blog has gotten a little stale lately. I’m back now, and I’ll be working to keep the content up to date. If there is anything that you want to see or have me find out about just shout out on the Contact page.

To answer any questions about the SharePoint guide, I’m still working on it. After doing some extensive testing on multiple platforms, and getting response from community members who have tested the guide, I’ll be working on some major revisions to the guide, and doing some UX work (updated screenshots, better look and feel to the guide).

Stay tuned for a major announcement!

-Tom

Hey everybody,

I’ve been heads down for the last couple weeks. I’ve been working on a new version of the Sharepoint how-to guide. I think I have gotten a lot of the kinks worked out, I’ve incorporated community feedback, and also tried to provide some more details on the process.

 I’m looking for some brave souls who would be willing to test this new guide, and to provide feedback.

 If you would like to help, please send an e-mail to tom at homeserverblogger dot com with the subject SharePoint Guide Reviewer.

 Thanks!

Earlier this week, Raxco Software released a new version of their defragmentation software, PerfectDisk. PerfectDisk 2008 is now available from Raxco. Look for a detailed review soon!

Pricing:

$39.99 for a single license

$99.99 for a home site license

Some new features and improvements are:

• A brand new user interface to enhance usability and improve the user experience, including ribbons, new wizards, new graphs and more.
• Enhancements to the popular Single Defrag option, including a new Selected Files Defrag capability to defragment selected files rather than the entire drive.
• New unattended background defragmentation used when scheduling is not convenient. PerfectDisk provides the most flexible and comprehensive defragmentation options available today.
• New free space management capabilities including a Space Explorer™ graphical drive view and, with the Professional edition, a duplicate file remover.
• New Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) compatibility mode provides enhanced defragmentation of VSS environments.
• Reduced memory footprint for improved performance – up to 50% faster.

Screenshots:

Download Trial | Buy Now

Hey All,

I am getting ready to begin work on a Windows Home Server podcast pilot, and I want to know what you want to hear on the show. Do you want news, discussion of some of the top issues that have risen in forum discussion? You tell me what you want, and I’ll try to make it happen.

Send your suggestions to podcast at homeserverblogger dot com

Hey all,

After receiving many emails about the Sharepoint guide that I published, I wanted to let everybody know that I am working on a v2.0 of the guide that will include updates to the Sharepoint package used to install (the one that includes SP1), SQL Database creation for Sharepoint in a different location, as well as new visuals. I am currently working on writing the guide, and after I finish, I will be sending to some select people for review and comments, after review, and final edit, I’ll be posting it here (hopefully in the next few weeks.)

-Tom

Are you having issues with installing Diskeeper WHS edition, and getting the error that tells you it is not being installed on the proper OS? I sent mail to the Diskeeper folks and they did some investigating, and they determined that a lot of users are attempting to install Diskeeper WHS on a client machine, which will not work. Here’s some steps for how to properly install Diskeeper WHS.

1) Use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to the Windows Home Server and access the shared folder to where you will copy the Diskeeper Home Server Installation files. (Setup.exe and License.dal)

2) Install the software by double-clicking on Setup.exe and follow the installation menus.

3) After the installation is complete you can then add in Diskeeper to the Windows Home Server Console.

Hope this helps!