Bit-Shift.Net

A short while ago I was debating on whether to purchase a HP MediaSmart Server running Windows Home Server or build a new workstation for doing development at home. I chose to build a new workstation and I'm glad I did. Microsoft announced recently that they have reproduced a defect in Windows Home Server where using certain programs to access media stored on your server may result in unrecoverable file corruption.

From the KB article:

When certain programs are used to edit or transfer files that are stored on a Windows Home Server-based computer that has more than one hard drive, the files may become corrupted. Microsoft is aware of only a very small percentage of users who have confirmed instances of this issue and believes that most users are unlikely to be affected. Microsoft has established that this issue may occur when one of the following programs is used to edit, transfer, and save files to the home server:

•	Windows Vista Photo Gallery
•	Windows Live Photo Gallery
•	Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
•	Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
•	Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
•	Microsoft Money 2007
•	SyncToy 2.0 Beta
•	Intuit QuickBooks
•	uTorrent

Apparently this flaw only affects people who have more than one drive in their media server, which includes any self-respecting geek. The problem lies in the way that Windows Home Server handles transfering and balancing files across multiple drives. Microsoft reports that a fix is in development and will is planned for release in July 2008. Until then, all you media server guys just sit tight and use Windows Explorer or XCopy to move files to and fro.