Windows Home Server data corruption fix on the way

Guess what, loyal Windows Home Server users? A fix for that completely obnoxious data corruption bug is on the way. According to an email beamed out by the WHS team, the final release of Power Pack 1 is still aways out, but the public beta is all set to be loosed on those who willingly accept the associated risk(s). Said download is slated to launch in "early June," but those who want to get in on the pre-release fun are being encouraged to sign up now. Needless to say, those who toss their name in the ring better be sure their data is backed way up -- after all, the whole point of this test is to find any remaining holes that could render your files unusable. Keep an eye on that inbox for an invite, and if you're content with just getting the end product, the wait is growing ever shorter.

[Thanks, Drew]

[LJKelley @ May 23rd 2008 2:12AM]

Can't wait. Got the email this morning. Will be some new features as well in PP1 as well.

[Joe H @ May 23rd 2008 2:30AM]

This is definitely a very obnoxious bug that's pretty much destroyed my (lossless WMA) music library. It all plays fine on my PC still, but as soon as I try to sync it over to a portable device (during which WMP converts on the fly to save space) I notice how messed up it is. I own all of the music in there, but my CDs have been in storage in my parents attic for 7 years now so it'd be a little inconvenient to travel 6 hours to get them, not to mention the huge pain of ripping 300 or so CDs all over again. Also, I've had absolutely no issues like this until WHS (which I'm a big supporter of otherwise.) 900 files converted properly, 150 were too corrupted to:
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/5629/corruption1kl8.th.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/1187/corruption2ws0.th.jpg
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/557/corruption3qe8.th.jpg

Not to mention: my recorded TV shows are missing sections where it'll just jump ahead, missing up to 15 seconds of the show at times.

VERY frustrating.

[Adrian Williams @ May 23rd 2008 3:03AM]

Joe those images are too small

[zomg0t @ May 23rd 2008 3:05AM]

remove the .th or th. from the URLs

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/5629/corruption1kl8.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/1187/corruption2ws0.jpg
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/557/corruption3qe8.jpg

[ethana2 @ May 23rd 2008 3:06AM]

It's funny but it's sad, kinda-- 'cause it's microsoft wares, but the people who still use their stuff are /real people/, you know? If someone was running a smart house on Microsoft Doors 2010 and it burned itself down, it'd be hilarious-- except it's their /house/. You can't just throw your head back and laugh, because the people actually got screwed over.

It is a puzzlement.

[ethana2 @ May 23rd 2008 3:19AM]

On second thought, because windows is the name of the kernel /and/ the DE, they'd be very, very unlikely to change the name for the dedicated smart house management version.

It'd probably just be Windows Server 2010 with Microsoft Home Management Center or something like that.

[Joe H @ May 23rd 2008 3:24AM]

Sorry about accidentally posting the thumbnails instead of the full pictures but the person above obviously figured it out. Its really a shame because its a great product, but when a server product, whose main purpose is the successful storage of files (maybe a tie with the other main purpose of backups) corrupts data... its absolutely ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I'm very understanding of how programming can have bugs in it (nobody's perfect, after all) but something as big as this.. its really frustrating... and I wouldn't be surprised if the next version has a different name than Windows Home Server.. just to distance it from the embarrassment this has caused.

[mike @ May 23rd 2008 3:38AM]

So you bought a ... piece of hardware.. to handle all the music you own in .....WMA format? ... Windows Media? Damn... That alone is just mindblowing. I KNOW you already know about shaing music wirelessly, but you've gone and found a MORE COMPLEX solution... wow.. brilliant..

Can someone out there convince me that this is not some corny attempt by MS to take milllions of dollars of CORPORATE R&D and foist it upon the masses, feebly attempting to shoehorn it into a Consumer Product? Since about 10 of these have sold, I'm preaching to the choir hrm..

Its a Server. Most American homes now have a couple computers at best. Why the F do we want a server ... especially one that definitely won't work (MS)... in our HOMES?!

Well.. MS doesn't really ask questions like that.. they leave those pesky details up to the Marketing guys (the ones who thought 'the social' would catch on).........

Marketing is not just about ADVERTISING.. its about LISTENING to the customers...........

When was the last time MS did that? Oh right.. when they pretended they'd let us use XP a little while longer.. and then decided to put.. what? Ads on the Zune?

God.. they're trying to become an Advertising company.....

[Joe H @ May 23rd 2008 3:51AM]

No, I bought a piece of OEM software, for a PC I already had... to allow me to set up a server to with 6 terabytes of storage for my ripped dvds, music, and recorded tv so it can be distributed to many PCs across the home network seamlessly. Not to mention a dedicated machine to backup every other house PC to (and its method of backups is very clever... if 4 PCs have the same file, it'll only store one copy) and a machine to run two instances of SQL server which are the backend for My Movies and MyTV, two very impressive Vista Media Center plugins.

[tcc3 @ May 23rd 2008 8:36AM]

Home data management is becoming more complicated, especially for multimedia. I like the idea of Home Server, but the implementation stinks.


It'd be nice to have a backup / file server, but this really needs Media Center support. Who ever didn't think to put that in needs to be kicked then sacked.

[Neal @ May 23rd 2008 10:40AM]

You didn't even mention free external web redirect to your DHCP internet address, and the ability to remote desktop into your server or any other connected PC in your household (one of my fav features). It's nice to be able to setup a share with friends and family who live on the other side of the country (or world) and let them drop files on my server for me, or see my latest pictures.

I'm highly considering getting one for my mom so when she calls for tech support, I can just RDP to her PC and fix it myself.

[Almighty- @ May 23rd 2008 3:55AM]

errrrr never heard of Linux servers? I don't like servers with a BSOD.

[Page @ May 23rd 2008 3:24PM]

Because Linux has never crashed

[Nathan B @ May 23rd 2008 4:06AM]

Or maybe you can take the time and setup a more reliable, totally free Linux server box that is much more reliable....

[tcc3 @ May 23rd 2008 8:38AM]

Any who wants one and is capable of setting up and managing a home Linux server already has.


This is for folks who have several computers, data management needs, and isnt an IT pro with the skills to do it all themselves. An easy to use, easy to setup server is a good idea. Its the implementation thats crappy.

[Joe H @ May 23rd 2008 4:51AM]

When you can run Webguide, MyMovies, uTorrent, and the great backup utilities that WHS has on Linux, along with the very simple home connector software on the client PC for controlling and monitoring every facet of the server, as well as some of the other addins for example syncing photos to flickr, controlling home automation, etc, and can do this without major configuration, then let me know. I've used linux before, as well as unRAID's free version. I want something that just works, without taking the time. (I realize that the corruption bug makes it not so much just work anymore, but when I was deciding on software was before this became known.)

[stephen @ May 23rd 2008 12:21PM]

Joe H:

Webguide < MythTV

MyMovies < XMBC

uTorrent < rtorrent, Transmission


and yes, < means less than in the mathematical sense :)

[Joe H @ May 23rd 2008 4:52AM]

Basically, to add to my previous post, if I wanted a simple NAS server, I'd have gone with Linux or unRAID, but using WHS, I can do much more with barely any extra work.

[Fraggle.Rock @ May 23rd 2008 7:46AM]

THIS PISSES ME OFF TO NO END! Sorry to shout, but I'm dumbfounded as to why it has taken so long for Microsoft's WHS team to; one, create a fix for the data corruption issue, and two, release a Power Pack update that actually works with their current home/business operating systems (x64 versions). I JUST DON'T GET IT.

It's like they have a team of five underpaid temps working on these two issues. For a company that could buy and sell most small countries could they not put more resources toward these problems!?

Don't get me wrong, I really like WHS... but the whole thing (GUI, data issues, connectivity issues, etc) smacks of a poorly implemented rush job.

[tiuk @ May 23rd 2008 11:07AM]

The whole thing just baffles me, really. All a home server has to do is make your data available and NOT CORRUPT IT. It's just amazing that, not only does this bug exist, but it went unfixed for so long. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

[Mike @ May 23rd 2008 8:32AM]

And it only took five months to get it fixed...

There was a time I was interested in WHS, but there's no way can I justify using a product that has had such a major bug go unfixed for such a long period of time.

[Unknown @ May 23rd 2008 8:58AM]

It's easy to fix a bug that appears on every installation. But this one happens only on a few servers, with special conditions. 5 months is a long time, but maybe this sort of bug needs a lot of time fo find and fix.

[Neeko @ May 23rd 2008 9:13AM]

I was considering buying a WHS but instead i decided to purchase the HP Media Vault 500gb raid1.. Best decision i made.

[Evan @ May 23rd 2008 9:26AM]

You shouldn't have to backup your backup server!

I'll stick with my Buffalo NAS... it's half the cost and uses a quarter the electricity of the HP MediaSmart Server, and it DOESN'T CORRUPT MY DATA!

[Eddy Alvarez @ May 23rd 2008 10:02AM]

dear engadget,

hey, could you guys make sure to put a blog up when that fix is released? i'm itching to build one of these home server things but i'm waiting for the fix. thanks.

your truly,
a guy somewhere

[Todd Radel @ May 23rd 2008 11:12AM]

I'm surprised WHS has any users left. SIX MONTHS for a critical data corruption bugfix? If it were me, I would've junked the WHS and bought a Buffalo or something ages ago. Luckily I hadn't committed to WHS yet and just went straight to the alternatives.

[roger_huston @ May 23rd 2008 12:26PM]

If you ever doubted that MS releases substandard product to the public to have them test it for them, then this WHS bug should convince you otherwise.

Imagine making a product who's purpose it is to backup and safeguard your data and instead it corrupts it completely. This is not some fringe case scenario, and it can easily be replicated with MS Office.

At this point you wonder if MS even HAS a QA department. How in GODS name can you release a product that CORRUPTS user data?

Drive Extender is a failed technology because it relies of a failed methodology.

[John @ May 23rd 2008 6:54PM]

Wow! Too little and -Way- too late. I thought this was great until I saw the corruption bug issues. I've since gone to a dual-boot XP/Ubuntu to all Macs and time machine and will continue to use linux in a virtual machine.

[Guido @ May 26th 2008 12:27AM]

I beta tested WHS last year, when you booted the beta, the splash screen said "Windows Small Business Server 2003", the WHS is just a derivative of a pretty mature MS server product.

Even with that leg up from WSBS2003, MS is still falling on it's face.

One wonders if they will ever be able to pull out of this downward spin.

[Madman007 @ May 26th 2008 3:54PM]

So much MS hate, what a shocker. WHS is a pretty slick product intended for the cast majority who have little to no IT skills and would never set up a linux server, or for those who do have some skills and want something they don't have to mes around with to get running.

The data corruption issue was a huge problem but it only showed up in certain specific situations when drive extender was being used to duplicate files across multiple hard drives AND the data was written to the server drives directly from client PCs. It's what is known as a race conflict (I'm no programmer so I only vaguely understand what that means) between writing the files and drive extender balancing the data across multiple physical drives. It did not occur by simply reading or writing files. So the 'trick' if you will was simply not to directly manipulate files on the server itself and use it as a read-only file archive not an active server. once the fix is in it can be used as an active server.

It is too bad this issue has somewhat tarnished Home Server, on top of that it's from MS which everyone loves to hate, because it's really a decent piece of software otherwise.

[Trevor @ May 29th 2008 10:46AM]

MythTV doesn't even compare to MCE2005 or VMC.

Linux might be stable but the interface sucks.