Head over to the Microsoft Connect website to download and read the Beta release documentation for yourself. All of the following information is in that document, plus a bit more.

Server Storage and Shared Folder Enhancements

• The data corruption bug has been “addressed.”  At this point we aren’t going to say fixed.  That is one of the main focuses of this beta, as the only way to really verify this is to test it on a wide variation of systems.
• Long file paths are now supported on the Windows Home Server shared folders
• The Drive Extender functionality has been tweaked.  It will no longer constantly report that the system is balancing, and has been optimized for performance and runs when the following conditions occur:
  1. Every hour.
  2. When the Drive Extender Migrator service starts up - namely when you computer is first turned on.
  3. When a shared folder is added or removed using the Windows Home Server Console’s Shared Folders tab.
  4. When duplication on a shared folder is turned on or off.
  5. When a hard drive is added to Server Storage using the Windows Home Server Console.

  Furthermore, the console will only report the last time the serer was balanced, rather than when it is balancing.

• Overall performance improvements:
  1. The Drive Extender Migrator will use non-cached memory when moving files across secondary drives. This should improve the performance of migration passes, and speed up hard drive removal.
  2. File copy performance to and from the Windows Home Server shared folders has been improved.
• Home Server proactively checks the health of all files stored in the shared folders during a migration pass.  If any issues are discovered, a yellow health notification will be sent containing a detailed conflict reason for each file. Files that remain open for more than 24 hours are reported with a conflict of “File is open” as the Migrator needs the files to be closed to allow duplication to occur.  Any other file conflicts other than “File is open” should be reported as a bug on Connect.
• Hard drive removal has been enhanced to list the files which Home Server was not able to move off the hard drive being removed.  The reason for the failure is also noted in a details page which appears ath the end of the hard drive removal wizard.
• With Power Pack 1, Windows Home Server proactively searches for orphan shadows on the Home Server hard drive and places them in “D:\folders\{1618D36B-F4E7-4360-B070-A32070519DC9}\”
• A new and improved storage size algorithm has been implemented for listing Server Storage.

There is a known issue of Home Server blue screening with a specific “THIRD_PARTY_FILE_SYSTEM_FAILURE (108)” error code.  This is a known issue and is encouraged to be reported.  Check out the documentation for more details about this, and what to do if it does crash.

Windows Home Server Connector Enhancements

• The Windows Home Server Connector can now e installed on home computers using Windows Vista x64 operating systems.
• Better guidance is provided when the home computer clock and the Home Server clock differ significantly during Connector installation.
• Functionality is added to detect that the version of the Windows Home Server software.  If there is a mismatch, users will be prompted to manually update the Windows Home Server Connector software on their home computers.  This release enables automatic updating of the Windows Home Server Connector software in the future.
• The Windows Home Server Connector tray icon should no longer cause a flickering issue when auto-hide task bar is enabled.
• If the Windows Home Server Connector software is installed using the new Power Pack 1 Connector CD, then the home computer will automatically have the latest version of the Windows Home Server Connector software.

Home Server Data Backup (New Feature)

• While adding a hard drive to the Windows Home Server, the user is now presented with an option to use the hard drive for backing up the server.  Once this option is selected, the Home Server will appear in the Computers & Backup - where a user can decide what information they want to store on this external hard drive.
• Functionality is provided to allow restoring shared folders from an external hard drive that was used for Windows Home Server Data Backup

Remote Access Enhancements

• When adding/editing a user in the Home Server Console, in addition to enabling remote access for that user, there is now a drop down list box that allows the Home Server administrator to specify whether the user will have ascces to the computers tab, the shared folders tab, or both in remote access.
• The Routers and Domain name configuration details dialogs in the Remote Access Settings Page have been reworked to include more descriptive status, and contextual help links for failed tests.
• A new “Views” drop-down list is added for the Shared Folders tab in remote access which allows the files in a shared folder to be displayed as either a list of files (”Details” view) or as thumbnails (”Icons” view). In “Icons” view, the majority of the picture files will be presented as thumbnails, and the rest of the non-picture files and folders will be displayed as large icons.
• File upload functionality has been improved for users of Internet Explorer 6 and 7:
  • Users can drag and drop multiple files directly into an upload area or select multiple files in the open file dialog for upload.
  • Upload progress reporting has been improved, with the addition of a progress bar and individual file upload status.
  • Ability to cancel the multiple upload has been added as well.
• Ability for large file uploads to complete before the remote session times out has been implemented.
• When you download multiple files, the users are now give the option to package the files in a self extracting executable (.exe) file in addition to being able to store them in a ZIP file.  Self extracting executable files should be used for downloading files with filenames that use non-ASCII characters (e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, et cetera).

Home Computer Backup Enhancements

• If the backup database on the home server has an inconsistency error, the user can now use the backup database repair wizard to correct this error.  The repair wizard can be launched either through the Backup page in Settings, or by clicking on the backup database inconsistency error notification.
• A new option has been added to the Windows Home Server Connector tray icon that allows the user to enable or disable the home computer from waking up for backup if it is in sleep or hibernation mode.
• Users can now run Backup Cleanup while the single file restore dialog is open.
• Changed the name of the excluded folder from “Media Center temporary files” to “Recorded TV”.
• Windows Vista SP1 was incorrectly reported as “Windows Server Longhorn” in the Computers & Backup tab.
• Home computers running any versions of Windows XP Media Center Edition (2004, 2005), will be displayed as “Windows XP Media Center Edition” in the Computer & Backup tab.
• The Home Computer Restore CD automatically downloads and runs the latest version of the computer restore software from the Home Server when a user chooses to restore a home computer.
• The previous two versions of the Home Computer Restore CD have been replaced by a new version (Dual Boot) to support a wider range of home computers.  The Power Pack 1 Home Computer Restore CD (what a mouthful) gives the user two options - one is recommended for use on home computers with less than 512MB of memory and the other option is recommended for use on home computers with 512MB or more of memory.

Media Sharing Enhancements

• Windows Media Player Playlists pointing to media files stored on a home server should now play correctly via Windows Media Connect when these playlists are copied over to a home server and shared out via media sharing.

Miscellaneous Enhancements

• Processor power management is enabled by default in Windows Home Server using the “Server Balanced Process Power and Performance” power scheme as the default setting.
• The Windows Home Server setup process will no longer report an issue with Windows Desktop Search service during the initial installation of a Home Server from the Windows Home Server Installation DVD.
• The Windows Home Server logo should now be correctly displayed during the initial setup of a new home server.

Installation and Updates

Just as a warning, make sure you completely update everything before installing Power Pack 1.  Also, if you have a pre-release of PP1, you will need to uninstall that manually before installing the public beta.  You will likely have to uninstall this beta before upgrading to the official release when the beta is over.

Summary

Well, that was a lot of info.  Now to boil this down to the important parts.  The corruption bug is nearing a complete fix and due to some of the work, many aspects of the Drive Extender have been optimized.  Not to mention, all that complaining about certain features have been address.  Microsoft has been listening to us.  They have tweaked pretty much every part of Windows Home Server to work better, run faster and do more of what we want in a Home Server.  They haven’t been twiddling their thumbs.  If anything, I’m sure their hands are raw, bloody messes because of all the hours they’ve logged working on Power Pack 1, the corruption bug and making it more user friendly, and easier for average people to figure out.

Also, I have intentionally skipped over and didn’t included any of the testing scenarios or how to back up your system.  I’m not going to cover that at this time, due to the complexity and the length of information. Stay tuned for a number of ways to prepare for testing PP1 Beta and what you should do to test it out!

• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 In Depth: External Backup
• A Guide to Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 Beta - Part 3
• Windows Home Server September Update - Yours Today
• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 In Depth: WHS Connector Installation Walkthrough
• Windows Home Server Video Training from Scott Lowe and Train Signal

Windows Power Pack 1 is stuffed full of cool features and enhancements heavily influenced by community requests and feedback.

Power Pack 1 also fixes the ‘corruption bug’ in Windows Home Server which affected a small set of Windows Home Server users saving to Windows Home Servers with multiple drive configurations.

This public Release Candidate (RC4)  follows the Windows Home Server team’s die hard approach to taking customer feedback very seriously and the team looks forward to any and all feedback from the community regarding this release candidate.

Amongst the features included in the release are:

• The ability to run Home Server Connector on x64 Vista.
• Backup of the home server Shared Folders.
• Remote Access improvements.
• Improved Power Consumption.
• Support for Chinese and Japanese Languages.

I personally have been running PP1 for a while now and I can honestly say I love it. I have had basically no issues at all. I’ve never experienced the corruption bug with PP1 and I run 12 drives on my WHS and save from many applications directly onto the shares. Performance has also never been better. I saw a nice CPU drop on my WHS with PP1 and haven’t seen any errors in my event log for a long time

I think the WHS Team should be very proud of this release. It very much follows the quality of the original product. I think we’ve got some amazing things still to come from this team, and if the quality of PP1 is anything to go by, I think we’re all going to be very happy.

To access the build, visit http://connect.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver (if you haven’t already!)

Check out our preview of Windows Home Server Power Pack 1for a run through of all the features, with screenshots.

Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 – Coming Your Way!
Power Pack 1 In Depth - Remote Access
Power Pack 1 In Depth - External Backup
Power Pack 1 In Depth - WHS Connector Walkthrough

• Should Microsoft Release Windows Home Server PP1 Now?
• Windows Home Server Team Announce Power Pack 1 Public Beta With Data Corruption Bug Fix
• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 – Coming Your Way!
• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 In Depth: WHS Connector Installation Walkthrough
• Is Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 Ready for Release?

HP MediaSmart Server Software Update Status

As you may have seen, the HP MediaSmart Server software update was live for a few hours yesterday. This update provides customers with enhanced media streaming via Packet Video, server-side anti-virus from McAfee, prepares MediaSmart Servers for 64-bit support (requires the upcoming PowerPack 1 release from Microsoft) and contains a few other minor updates. The customer response in terms of downloading the update was exceptional.

Unfortunately, we started seeing install process inconsistencies in certain customer environments that had not arisen in our testing.

As a result, we have temporarily removed availability of the update in order to quickly assess and fix these issues. We expect to have a new installer in a short period of time and the upgrade should be back up and available in the very near future. Thanks to everyone for their continued patience – we know there is high customer interest in this update.

We will continue to update this site when new information is available.

More as we get it….

• Add-in: WHS Disk Management PP1 RC4 Open Beta
• HP Respond to Criticism on MediaSmart Server Performance Issues
• Windows Home Server September Update - Yours Today
• HP MediaSmart Server Update - What’s Changed?
• Amazon.co.uk Delay Fulfillment of HP MediaSmart Server Orders Until After Xmas

Following the update, attempting to access those home computers via Windows Home Server’s Remote Access features brings up a dialog asking the user to add their homeserver.com domain to the Trusted Sites list in Internet Explorer. However, after doing so, users are still not able to access those PCs.

The issue arises due to security changes in XP SP3 - namely, that the Terminal Services ActiveX control in Internet Explorer is disabled by default.

If you are experiencing this issue, Microsoft Forums user ColinWH has published a workaround:

Click on Tools -> Manage Add-Ons -> Enable or Disable Add-Ons in IE to enable the Terminal Services ActiveX control. If you are unable to see/enable the Terminal Services ActiveX control in IE7 on XPSP3 as a workaround can you try deleting the following registry keys:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Settings\{7390f3d8-0439-4c05-91e3-cf5cb290c3d0}

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Settings\{4eb89ff4-7f78-4a0f-8b8d-2bf02e94e4b2) Once you delete these keys, the activeX control should be enabled in IE7.

Note, of course, that Microsoft have disabled the Terminal Services ActiveX control in Internet Explorer for security reasons, so run these changes with care.

Other users appear to have installed Service Pack 3 without incident - how about you? Let us know your experience with XP SP3 in the comments box below.

More Info: Microsoft Forums

• Windows Home Server Release Candidate Removed from Microsoft Connect
• Windows Home Server November Update Coming Tuesday November 27th
• Microsoft, Chenbro, Gigabyte, Streaming 21, WNC, Sampo Establish the Digital Home Alliance
• How-To: Listen to Internet Radio with Windows Home Server and SHOUTcast
• Security Certification Solution on the Way?

Users have been eagerly awaiting new Home Server Backup capabilities in the forthcoming update, which as previously featured here at WGS, include the ability to perform a full backup of your home server, including your shared folders and your backup database.

Unfortunately, due to interplay issues with the Windows Home Server Connector install, and to prevent the risk of users encountering a corrupted backup database, the ability to create a backup of your backup database has now been removed from the latest builds. The good news is that shared folder backup is unaffected.

Windows Home Server Product Planner, Todd Headrick, admitted “A feature isn’t a feature until it ships.  And sometimes marketing gets things wrong … by pre-announcing stuff at CES that ends up getting cut before it ships.” The plan is to look at re-introducing this feature in a future release of Windows Home Server.

Whilst the news is disappointing (I’ve been aware of this for some time, but as you know, I’m under a Microsoft NDA), if there’s a risk of backup databases being corrupted, the right decision is to pull the feature now before release.

You can follow the discussion over at the Windows Home Server forums.

• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 RC Publically Available
• Add-In: WHS Backup Database-Backup (BDBB) 1.0.0.4 Beta
• Microsoft KB 955690: Outlook Personal Folder Files & Database Files Unsupported via Network on Windows Home Server
• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 – Coming Your Way!
• Time to Get Ready for Windows Home Server Power Pack 1

On a home computer, you can compress some files by using NTFS compression through advanced attributes settings. In some cases, these files may not be backed up correctly by Windows Home Server. If you try to restore a compressed file from a Windows Home Server backup, the file may be corrupted.

In short, you’ll probably know if you’re using NTFS compression. By default, a compressed file or folder is displayed in Windows Explorer with a blue font in place of the standard black font. If you are, it’s likely that those file backups you have will be damaged and will not restore correctly. The good news is, a fix is available today.

The fix will be made available via Windows Update in the future, but for now, if you’re using NTFS compression, or if you just want to play safe, first visit the Microsoft Knowledge Base article regarding the issue, and then head over to the Microsoft Download Center to get the update.

The update is for the Windows Home Server Connector, and will need to be installed on each of your home computers. Given that your previous backups may be damaged by this bug, it’s worth running an immediate Manual Backup as soon as the fix is installed on each of your home computers.

More Infomation: WHS Team Blog | Microsoft Knowledge Base | Microsoft Download Center

• WHS Data Corruption Issue: KB 946676 Updated
• Microsoft KB 955690: Outlook Personal Folder Files & Database Files Unsupported via Network on Windows Home Server
• Windows Home Server Public Beta - Home Computer Restore CD (Dual Boot)
• Software: KeepVault for Windows Home Server
• Windows Home Server November Update Coming Tuesday November 27th

The team report that “great progress is being made” on the bug fix, and a limited release will be made to hardware and software partners, Microsoft MVPs, Windows Home Server Insiders (other MVPs), and Microsoft Employees in April. Should all go well, a public beta will commence in May before release, which has previously been targeted for June.

Should you wish to be part of the public beta in May, visit http://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer to register your interest. Let me know, do you want to be a part of this beta? Are you happy testing out the data corruption fix? Will you be signing up? In case you missed our CES Special on Power Pack 1, or as a reminder, here’s a detailed look at what you’ll get with Power Pack 1.

Power Pack 1: Coming Your Way

Power Pack 1 In Depth - Remote Access

Power Pack 1 In Depth - External Backup

Power Pack 1 In Depth - WHS Connector Walkthrough

More Info: WHS Team Blog

• Should Microsoft Release Windows Home Server PP1 Now?
• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 – Coming Your Way!
• Time to Get Ready for Windows Home Server Power Pack 1
• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 RC Publically Available
• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 Released to Manufacturing

Understandably, when Microsoft released the Knowledge Base article outlining the issue, HP did receive an increase in calls from customers confused about the problem, and I’m sure a little bit scared of the issue, but the number of cases of people who have experienced data corruption is very low - this is good news.

Going forward, HP have offered Microsoft additional resources to help test the bug fix as soon as it’s available for testing - it’s important to really kick the wheels of the fix to ensure it doesn’t break anything else within WHS, and does truly fix the bug once and for all. Understandably, they’re eager for the fix to be released as soon as possible, but not before everyone’s sure it works. Here’s a statement HP are releasing today about the issue: 

HP has been in close communication with Microsoft on the Windows Home Server data corruption issue. There are two points to remember: we are only aware of a small percentage of customers with confirmed instances of the issue, and it occurs only when utilizing certain programs on Home Server systems with more than one hard drive. We understand disappointment with the estimated June delivery of a fix. But we also understand the challenges MS faces in reproducing bugs that occur so infrequently, the complexity of finding the right solution, and the need to complete extensive testing to ensure the bug fix is done correctly. HP is working with MS and is providing engineering and test resources to expedite this fix. With all the complexities of various operating systems, numerous applications, the variety of networking components, and the layers of software on top of Drive Extender, the testing will, in our experience, take some time to complete. Until that time, HP recommends that all HP MediaSmart Server owners follow Microsoft’s recommendations to ensure their data remains safe. More information can be found on Microsoft’s web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946676

In other news, the HP “February” update is still in plan to be released some time in April, and will bring McAfee Anti-Virus protection, media serving from PacketVideo as well as x64 compatibility for all of the HP add-ins provided by the HP MediaSmart Server - yes, this means that certain add-ins will support x64 before the WHS Connector does, but that will be rectified with the release of PP1 later in the year.

Allen’s also part of the team who will be fielding your Q&A’s next week, so they’re looking forward to hearing your questions - keep an eye out for the interview in the next two weeks.

• Time to Get Ready for Windows Home Server Power Pack 1
• Data Corruption Bug - HP Guidance for MediaSmart Server Customers
• WHS Data Corruption Issue: KB 946676 Updated
• Windows Home Server Data Corruption Bug Fix Slated for June 2008
• Data Corruption Bug - List of Potential Applications Affected Grows

Those of you with OEM systems (for example, the HP MediaSmart Server) may have noticed the bug already - you receive a random notification that Windows Home Server has expired, with a prompt to activate the software. This hotfix will ensure that you will no longer receive this message.

That is…. as long as you have Windows Update set to receive and install automatic updates.

More Info: Microsoft Knowledge Base

• Known Issue: Windows Home Server 120 Day Evaluation Version Expires Without Warning
• F-Secure Home Server Security 2009 Release Candidate Available
• Windows Home Server September Update - Yours Today
• How To… Integrate Windows Update Services v3 (WSUS) into Windows Home Server
• Data Corruption Bug - Microsoft Will Communicate On Monday

Iomega claim that the hardware logo requirements set by Microsoft are too high to allow Iomega to price their planned product low enough for their customers.

More Info: Personal Computer World

• Medion Delay Windows Home Server Release Due to Data Corruption Bug
• Iomega Announce HomeCenter Server, Available in 2008
• The World’s Discovering Windows Home Server
• Microsoft Announce General Availability of Windows Home Server - New Hardware, Software Partners
• Is It Now Official, TV Pack for OEMs Only?