Windows Home Server Hardware and Installation Forum

3 Questions about disk drive management

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:17:22 Z

I currently have 2 500GB drives and 2 1TB drives in my HP homeserver. I want to upgrade my total disk available, so I purchased a 1.5TB drive. As I installed the new drive, 3 questions came to mind.

1) My system drive is now the last 500GB drive. Is this drive too big? My understanding is that the system drive only holds the 20GB system and the "tombstones" for the file system. Is this a waste of space? I have a 250GB drive I could swap and use the 500GB as a external backup disk. I have seen some posts on this site that suggest 500GB is a good system drive size, I just don't want to waste space if its not needed.

2) My new drive is empty, I understood the system would move data around so all drives are balanced. Is there something I can run to force this process?

3) My new drive is a WD green drive (will power itself down when used for a period of time), and I heard both sides of the story: The drive will work fine, and WHS should not have a drive that will power down without WHS telling it to do so. Is this a safe drive to use in a WHS system? I looked to see if I could configure the drive not to save power without success.

Thanks in advance, Happy Thanksgiving to all

WHS Drive removal very very slow

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:31:05 Z

I've got a WHS which needs more diskspace. So I want to replace one of my 1TB drives. Ths drive has 10% free.

I selected a disk for removal in WHS console, completed the screens (sufficient room to keep duplication) after which WHS goes to work. At the moment it has completed roughly 25% of the progress bar in ... wait for it .... 36 hours !! I've confirmed the process is not hung but it's progress is really slowly...

any ideas in what's causing this? and what I can do to speed this up? What happens when I reboot?

remarks:
The "cancel"button is greyed out
Writeback cache on the drives are enabled
Cpu mostly at 50% (amd 4850e) i.e. 1 core constantly at 100% (strange?)
75% memory is free

ich10r SATA driver issues

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:32:06 Z

Recently built a new computer to use with WHS. I am using a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P motherboard and I am trying to use the intel ich10r SATA controller for the system drives. At this point I only have the system drives installed. During the install I provide the ich10r driver via floppy, WHS install seems to like it for a minute, but then responds with "The provided driver cannot be used to complete setup, the driver files were not found." I have tried the floppy drivers from both the motherboard manufactuer and intel directly with the same results. The install allows me to continue, but later at the F6 prompt it will bomb out.

Notice that I say system DRIVES. I am trying to take advantage of the ich10r's ability to do RAID 1 for the system drive. Please don't scold me. I have read a lot about this issue. My understanding is that the system drive or partition is the one area that is not duplicated. I would like to minimize future heartburn with reinstalls and the wife saying "you spent all that on this thing and it doesn't work!" when she wants to watch something. You guys know this pressure!

I will try ACHI with just one drive installed, and see how it goes. If it works I am not sure I want to keep it there though. I just thought that there might be someone here with more experience than me. Anybody wrestle with this before?

Router Died - Recommendations?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:42:35 Z

Good Morning All,

My Router has finally packed up after serving me well over the past few years. With no spare knocking around I need to pick up a new one pretty quick. I'm going to upgrade to ensure I have access to b/g/n but would also like to ensure there are no compatibility issues with WHS. Do any of you have any recommendations as to which router would be a good choice?

Many Thanks

Upgrade to WHS 2008

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:31:46 Z

I just picked up a copy of WHS 2008, now I'm wondering if I can simply upgrade from my working WHS 2003 Server or if I need to reinstall from a clean system?

Thanks in advance;

LJ

Can connect with ip address but not with server name

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:18:00 Z

Just set up my ex470 for the first time. I have a di-604 connected to a cable modem (suddenlink internet). The ex470 set-up fine and then as soon as the setup process got to the install connector software, it would not find the server. I am able to connect through RDC to the actual ip address on my network (192.168.0.104), but not the actual server name blac***-***. It won't find the server and the connector says it is not online. However, in the RDC console, the server is happily functioning, connected to the internet, updating and running happily. Any ideas how to get my computers on my network to see and work with the WHS?

MS-HomeServer do not detect the SATA drive but the BIOS does.

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:31:09 Z

I’m trying to add a second HD to my MS-HomeServer, and this is a SATA drive (Segate Baracuda 7200.11.1500GB).

My system is previously installed (and working) with an ATA drive as the boot device.

The motherboard is “ASRock P4VM890” equipped with the VIA® VT8237R Plus Southbridge SATA controller.

After configure the BIOS for “SATAOperationMode = non-RAID” my system recognise the drive at boot-up, but I’m not able to detect it within MSHS in any way (not even in CoputerManagement/DiskManagement).

My questions are.

1: Do I always need to load a specific SATA driver (believe I have reed somewhere that in some cases the BIOS can be configured to “emulate/be compatible with ATA drives”)??

2: Have not seen any driver for MSHS, may I use XP, Vista, Windows7 or Server2003/7 drivers?

Anyone who has the correct link to my driver?

With best regards

Jocke

WHS and Desktop Use

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:10:45 Z

I have a scenario where I am considering WHS, but the room in which I'd place it would require attaching a USB scanner device. The scanner is functioning as a copy machine with a USB printer.

The software for the scanner runs on the desktop and requires user interaction. I understand that this is not recommended on the WHS console.

Is this a problemmatic situation, or can I safely use the WHS desktop login to run the scanner software? (I'd rather not run from room to room to change copies and then scan using remote desktop login)

UK Sky Broadband Users trying Remote Access over Internet on WHS

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:47:38 Z

Hi,

Is there anyone from the UK here who uses Sky Broadband? I have a Netrear Sky provided router. I have accessed the routers web page and opened all the ports 80, 443 & 4125. I have even set the DMZ to the routers IP address but as yet I cannot access the WHS over the internet using the assigned HPhome.com name. I can access the web page if I type in the IP address on a networked computer but when I try the hphome.com address I get a black screen with red writting saying unauthorized access.

Has any one else come accross this problem? What have you been able to do to remedy it? DOes WHS remote access work on Sky Broadband?

WHS Installation and Usability problems

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:56:40 Z

I recently bought a Dell Poweredge T110 and put WHS on it, but I have to say I have been disappointed with the experience.

First of all, WHS blue screened with my initial install. I found out later that I needed to change the bios setup from ACHI to ATA. There was no way to add drivers in the text only setup as I do not have a floppy drive. This was very frustrating.

Upon reinstallation, there is no easy way to switch the mode. I would like to run ACHI but am running ATA now. Even when I click the install drivers icon in the first setup phase, and browse to the CD and load the drivers it still thinks the disks are ATA.

Once the server was installed in ATA mode, I got another weird error. Upon goggling I found out that the install CD needs to be inserted or it gives a cryptic error message. Why can’t it just say please insert CD?

Next, it started downloading the windows updates before the WHS was completely installed. When I finally got it to install, the installation was corrupted. Dr Watson kept loading every second or so as some process was crashing. I had to re do the entire installation for a third time, this time with ATA mode and the CD in the drive and the network cable unplugged and then it went smoothly.

Next, I realized that I it does not work properly with Volume shadow copy. I need this feature badly, so I decided to remove one of my disks from WHS and load it as an independent windows share, with VSS enabled.
When I try to stream media from the server to my windows 7 pc, the sound skips. My media player started putting 2 entries for each song in my library, one from the local drive and one from the network!!! I could not figure out how to make it remove the duplicates listed on the network!

I do not like the concept of drive extender. All those empty stubs make be wary. Why not use a dynamic disk and extend it via the core Windows servers features. I do like the fact that you cannot copy files directly into the D drive, you have to go through the network. I think WHS needs to be rewritten to use the core windows server features and not something slapped on top, honestly the likelihood of something breaking is too great and makes for a fragile system. I do not want a fragile system, I want something rock solid.

WHS should allow you to use the OS disk mirroring. Its build into windows server, why not allow it? I’ve finally decided I’m going to use WHS for PC backups only. All other shares will be standard windows shares, preferably mirrored (RAID) with VSS enabled. Anything else does not cut it for me.

For the record, I like Microsoft products, but WHS is still very much a work in progress :)

-Kevin

Settings Panel load error

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:00:56 Z

When I go to load try to launch the settings panel, my WHS settings panel partially loads then freezes and truns to a blue screen within then states the computer has lost connection to home server to check the network connection is pwered on and try connecting again. Click ok to clear message box. Can then reconnect throught he console, but cannot load the settings panel leading to the same error message.

problems streaming to my PS3

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:19:07 Z

I have a home built sever with an Atholon DCP 4600(2.8GHz) on a Gigabyte GA-MA74GMS2. The problem is hard to explain, when I stream ripped movies, whether it e BR or standard dvd's every so often it glitches, i guess the best way to describe it. My hdtv goes black for a few seconds and then it comes back on. When I use my ps3 to play games, I have wmc disabled. I do have WHS 2008 w/PP2. This brings me to my next thought: do I really want or need a home sever. I am going to build a new system, and don't really want to have 2 boxes. Can I just sell my WHS box and software? Any thoughts, insights would be greatly appreciated!

Activation keys not available - expired. Can I reinstall again?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:25:25 Z

Hello,

since running the evaluation version unactivated I have not been able to get a new key via Connect, and the old key I have via Connect is invalid. My 30 is about to expire. Can I do a server reinstall (NOT new install) to get another 30 days?

If not, please can we get an update on this issue soon, also now even the download link for the trial ISO does not work.

Thanks

Sam

I like the idea of WHS but hardware options seem fairly limited what preinstalled options are on the market from mainstream vendors

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:47:31 Z

I want an option that provides 4 bays that you can load a couple of 1Tb drives to begin with and then add some more later

Drive just stopped

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:48:51 Z

Hi all, right I have a strange one here. My WHS has been acting funny since sometime yesterday, I was getting a few Conflicts due to a I/O error, and I was sorting them out all day today when suddenly one of my HDDs stopped working, is still powers up but cant get it to show up in either WHS or Windows 7, and when I connect it to sata on my server my WHS locks up, its one of the first drives I had put in, so it may have a few things not backed up yet, is there anyway I can get the drive to work or is there nothing I can do?

Henry

HMG

Activation Issues

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:22:59 Z

I installed WHS and added power pack 2. I recently purchased the software through newegg.com and it is telling me that I do not have a proper activation code. Is this because the version of WHS that I got thru newegg is for power pack 1 and I am trying to activate a version with power pack 2? How can I get around this?

Connector software and Windows 7

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:48:17 Z

Hi.

I'm just about to upgrade two of my PC's to Windows 7 and was wondering which flavour of Connector software I should use- the one that came on the installation disc of that's on the server.

Many thanks

Philip

How to access the server desktop from another computer

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:37:16 Z

Hi I am new to windows home server and have just installed the evaluation copy successfully, but I am unsure as to how I access the desktop of the server from my main computer, is this because I have not configured the remote desktop? or am I just not typing the correct address to access it?
Many thanks.
Craig

what typ of external drives to add?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:22:27 Z

I have a home built server that is a SFF and only has one internal SATA HD and one low profile PCI slot. I need to add more drive space and have been looking at external enclosures. Anyone out there in my same boat and if so what type of external drive did you add? I could just go with USB, which is probably the easiest or buy a PCI esata card, although most cards i see seem to be PCI-e or PCI-x. Any major advantages to the Esata over the USB? Thanks

Mike

Activation key?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:37:17 Z

Any update on when (or if) activation keys will be available again? I'm getting close to the thirty day time limit and would really like to test WHS a while longer before I invest in a new server.

Replace Netgear DG834PN with Netgear DGN2000 WHS n0ot accessible from workstation

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:47:33 Z

Have my WHS up and running backing up 4 home PC's Excellent.
Decided to upgrade network to N so chose a DGN2000 router.
Set it up same as 834PN and network works perfectly but PC's can nol longer
connect to WHS.
Cannot figure out why.
Suggestions please.

bunnyandfoxy

Amazon Says WHS is discontinued by manufacturer - huh?

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:42:19 Z

If you look here, at Amazon's product page for WHS, you will see under "Product Details",

Product Details

Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
ASIN: B001E5Q8CO
Item model number: CCQ-00061
Date first available at Amazon.com: August 22, 2008
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)

30 Reviews

5 star: (12)

4 star: (14)

3 star: (1)

2 star: (1)

1 star: (2)

› See all 30 customer reviews...
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107 in Software (See Bestsellers in Software)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)

#1 in Software > Operating Systems > Microsoft Windows > Windows Vista
Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

The URL is here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E5Q8CO/ref=ox_ya_os_product

Can this be correct??

I have noticed that the "Request New Product Key" feature is not working, and has not for a while. MS has not yet fixed it.

Did I just spend $85 for SW that is on its way to obsolescence?

Aspire easyStore h340 server recovery - Failure??

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:20:17 Z

Due to multiple problems, mostly witht eh backup service continuing to fail and not being able to add a second hard drive without causing the server to lock up or drop off teh network, I decided to do a Server Recovery on my unit. It's 2 months old.

I moved my data off, so I' haven't lost anything and have nothing on it I need to save at this point.

I ran the recovery, which took a bit more than an hour.

I'm now trying to reinstall the connector software and stuff just like I did when I first purchased the unit (since I did a factory default restore, it should be like it's never been used, right?)

The connector software runs from either the CD or the server (port 55000). While the connector software is running, it attempts to locate the server and succeeds to find ASPIREHOME (which is the default name) and stat to download software (I'm assuming from the server).

It never gets past 0%. It ends up failing saying "The files were not downloaded from your home server."

I restarted it a few times, and tried again with both the CD and the copy from the server, still fails at that exact point.

The server is on the network obviously, but I can't remote desktop into the unit as the Admin password hasn't been set yet (remember, factory restore).

Also, oddly, all 4 of the hard drive indicator lights are on solid, yet I only have one drive in the unit... That one I can't figure out.

Do I need to go through this whole process again? Or is there something simpler I should be doing?

My server:
Acer Aspire easyStore h340

My workstation:
Windows XP x64
AMD Quad-core
4GB memory
More hard drive space than I'll ever need...

Installing WHS connector from W7 desktop to XP homeserver askes for password and then refuses it

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:39:15 Z

I have a running WHS under XP in my network.
My office pc was an Vista machine now newly installed with W7 (64 bit)
when i try to install the connector the machine finds the homeserver but askes at the end of the installation for the WHS password.
When i enter the correct password it is refused.
Any thoughts?
Greetings from the Netherlands

Can I clone WHS to another drive?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:06:42 Z

The disk that WHS is installed is a SATA 100gb disk. Can I clone that disk to a 1tb disk using Accronis clone? I have cloned other disks using Accronis and it worked perfectly even when it was the OS disk.

Thanks, Marion

HP Media Collector will only collect from 1 PC and not the other

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:31:25 Z

Just installed new HP MediaSmart Server EX485 running WHS version 2.5.10.27311. The server has two internal drives with lots of empty capacity. One drive is setup as "server storage" and second drive is setup for "server backup." Network includes two home PC's running Vista Business SP1 (32bit) and Vista Home Premium SP1 (64bit). Both PC's are running HP Control Center 2.5.10.27311 and both are enabled in the Media Collector window. Both PC's have been successfully backed up to the server, so the communications between the PC's and the server are working.

Have two problems:
1) Media Collector works as advertised on the PC with Vista Business; photos, music, video, etc. are automatically collected daily and are filed in the correct Shared Folders on the server. The second PC running Vista Home Premium shows in the HP Media Collector window as "Enabled, no status available" and no media is collected over more than 4 days. During this same time all media types have been collected from the PC with Vista Business. How do I get the Media Collector to function with the second PC?
2) Shared folders will not "duplicate". The check box for "duplication" will not access a check. It simply doesn't function. When I click on the checkbox, nothing happens. How can I correct this?

Your help is appreciated.

WHS Toolkit not available for 64 bit W7???

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:40:46 Z

see above

A computer with this name already exists on your network.

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:58:33 Z

I'm trying to install WHS and no matter what I type in for a name I get an error message that says "A computer with this name already exists on your network".

How can I resolve this?

Have sound playback inside the server?

Fri, 25 May 2007 06:13:04 Z

So, I am about a good 500GB hard drive away from removing Home Server and putting on a copy of Ubuntu, all because I cannot get audio to play through the soundcard of the server.

No, this doesnt mean playing the sound through my speakers on my laptop as I am logged in.

This is having sound play through a soundcard physically connected to the server itself.

Does anyone know how to do this?

How to check CPU usage on HP EX490?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:10:36 Z

I just purchased an HP EX490 Home Server which I have installed into the network and have running. It appears to be a bit sluggish, and I was hoping to check the CPU usage as I have read other threads indicating that this could be a potential problem with this server. Problem is, I can't figure out how to access this information! The Home Server Console doesn't appear to display this information in any place... I found CPU temps, and fan speed, but I can't get more than that.

Is it possible to access a Task Manager type of utility to see what the server is doing?

Thanks,

Kent

new pci-e sata controller

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:11:36 Z

I plan to buy a new fast pci-e sata controller since my other 3 ones (all of them pci) are rather slow.
I am currently running 13 hard drives (7 on mainboard and the rest 6 on the abovementioned controllers).
After physically installing the add-on card (controller) and probably if it isn't recognised adding the drivers, should I attach any hard drives beforehand?
Or should I keep my old ones on until I am able to attach them to the new controller properly?

NIC upgrade issues

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:14:53 Z

When I first installed WHS (PP2), my custom built server had a 3COM 10/100 NIC. Everything was fine until I decided to upgrade to a Netgear GA311 Gigabit NIC. The card was successfully recognized after I installed the XP drivers that came with it. No problem with network connections. The problem was that after the first reboot, windows was reporting disk errors and ran chkdsk. This happened every time I rebooted the machine. As if this wasn't enough, it started reporting that the backup service could not start and there were file conflicts also.
I finally decided to put back the 3COM NIC and... guess what. After starting up and letting chkdsk run (it actually fixed many "truncated attributes" or something like that), everything returned to normal again. A few reboots just to be sure prooved that everything was fine.

Does anyone have an explanation? Can I upgrade my NIC or not?

Not able to install WHS on PC

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:52:25 Z

I have purchased a HP P6011y desktop computer to install WHS on. When I boot into the install I get a “unable to initialize UI subsystem”. The system came with, and is running Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit just fine. It is a dual core Pentium with 6 gigs of RAM. I have WHS with Power pack 1 install media

Backing Up Windows Server 2003 & 2008

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:25:51 Z

Is is possible to backup Windows Server 2003 & 2008 with Windows Home Server? It seems to me that the basic file backup should work okay. If so, could WHS also backup SQL and Exchange Server without any technical issues?

WHS setup failed. The error code is 0x80070490 / work around

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:52:38 Z

I think I found a solution or work around to the problem with the Silicone Image 3114 driver. I have been reading about this issue all over the net with no real help to get WHS to finish the install. After about 30 installs I was about to give up. Tinkering around I could format the second partition of the first drive with no problems at all. This told me that the SIL3114 driver was working, plus the OS installed. By chance I just removed the second partition from the first drive and left it unformated. Then I right clicked on the gray tab of the first drive (far left) and clicked convert to Dynamic. I followed the steps and then it asked to reboot. Once it rebotted WHS finaly completed the setup. The funny part is that my 120 day eval installed fine with the same driver so one would think that the new OEM OS would install the same. Anyways I'm glad to have fixed it and back up and running again.

Installation guides or manuals for Windows Home Server

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:08:58 Z

I have just downloaded the windows home server from the MAPS it says it is about 6.GB but when i actually downloaded it is only 4.0GB i am supprised and also it is in 3 parts with different part numbers kind of struggling which one should i install first and the second and so on. Are there any installation Guides or manuals for doing this type of install.

Can't Backup - 0x8007045D Error

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:32:24 Z

I've been backing up Windows 7 Ultimate x64 for about a month now (I'm an MS Partner so I got it early), and yesterday for the first time I got the error below. I tried disabling and re-enabling system restore on drive C, but I still get the same error for both manual and automatic backups. Could anyone shed any light on this please?

[quote]Backup of volume C: to PEGASUS failed: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x8007045D): The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007045D)
   at System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHRInternal(Int32 errorCode, IntPtr errorInfo)
   at Microsoft.HomeServer.Common.Client.Win32.ThrowLastError()
   at Microsoft.HomeServer.Backup.NTFS.VolumeBuffer.EndRead()
   at Microsoft.HomeServer.Backup.NTFS.ClusterBitMapReader.Next()
   at Microsoft.HomeServer.Backup.BackupOp.BackupOperation.DoClusterPass1()
   at Microsoft.HomeServer.Backup.BackupOp.BackupOperation.RunWithoutCatch()
   at Microsoft.HomeServer.Backup.BackupOp.BackupOperation.Run()[/quote]

Can't connect to the server

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:01:19 Z

Hello my problem is that when i should connect to my server i click on the server icon on my Network display it starts Internet explorer (i have done this with my other computer there it works that was win7) but it never comes to the site there i can download the console it says "This page can not be showed" "server-1" is not a acessable hostname" (sorry for my english) what can the problem be??

Demo Installation to OEM Installation

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:58:30 Z

Hi,

I feel like i'm in deep doo doo's here! Hopefully someone can help.

I downloaded and installed WHS Demo and i ran fine. I then purchased an OEM copy from a reseller.
The Activation screen wouldn't take the product key so I decided to install from the DVD.
I booted from DVD with my IDE Controller cards (3 of them) drivers on a USB stick.
The installation screen asked what drives where there and I installed the drivers - OK so far.
The Installation continued and I went to watch the telly.
When I came back the screen said there was a file missing/corrupt (can't remember what one).

So, I then rebooted from the dvd and tried again but the option for REINSTALLATION has gone!
Only a New Install option remains.

What do I have to do to load the operating system without losing all my data from the other drives (about 2 TB)?

Kind regards

Paul

Changing motherboard on existing home server

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:17:40 Z

Hi Folks,

A few months ago I set up a Home Server on an older unused desktop PC. This one was put together with a Chaintech motherboard and AMD processor; the motherboard dates to the early days of SATA getting established - limited-speed interface, and so on. I put two new SATA terabyte drives in there (ditched to old drives) and installed WHS. Had some troubles getting the whole thing to boot with those two drives in there, in fact on those unhappy days when there is an automatic reboot due to an update, I sometimes have boot troubles.

But what a great system! Everybody backed-up, and all kinds of files stored on the server.

Now the PC seems to have crashed, can't get it to boot. Before I mess with it further, I am thinking of just popping the pair of drives into a new PC - or at least getting a modern motherboard and processor for this one.

What are the chances of getting my server up-and-running with all of my data intact if replace pretty much everything but the hard drives? Any advice? Hate to lose everything.

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

- DP