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    WHS Sucks - I just can't get it to work. After WHS 1.0 failing on me and lost years of backups I gave WHS 2011 a go.
    A couple of new 2 TB drives and 1x 500GB System drive. Server and Connector SW all installed nicely. 

    I kicked off a backup and it got stuck on 30% backup.

    Did a bunch of updates and restarted. I kick off a backup and immediately red crosses announce it failed (Backup Status = Unsuccessful; Alerts = Critical).
    (All though the backup of the backup seems to be working :-S)

    The Alerts just tell me that the back up failed and I should quickly run backup again. 2 TB of free space.

    I looked through all the logs and found nothing to help me.

    All I can do is repeat my past comment of "This is not a consumer product". 
    Next step is either to reinstall "WHS 1.0" and put up with the lack of support. Or go for something that works like FreeNas.

    I'm just fed up with having to deal with this crap.
    A new installed of WHS 2011 + Win7 Ultimate. Seems simple enough.

    Rob Chandler Help MVP http://Helpware.net/ http://mshcmigrate.helpmvp.com/

    Monday, March 19, 2012 12:43 PM

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    Restarted Win7 box and it spewed out pages of chkdisk errors. Where the hell did that come from? And where are the logs to tell me which disk and which files were touched by chkdsk? Used to be the ChkDsk files were available in the root of the drive.

    Where did chkdsk come from? Chkdsk may run if there's an unexpected shutdown (i.e. crash), because Windows uses it to clean up the file system. This doesn't always happen on the next reboot (though it's supposed to). As for where logs are found, check the application event log, source winlogon (I think; I'm away from my PC ATM).

    That backups failed due to disk issues is fairly normal. Client backup uses VSS for a "point in time" snapshot of the disk, and VSS doesn't generally work if there are disk errors.

    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)

    Monday, March 19, 2012 2:02 PM
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    On Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:54:37 +0000, Rob Chandler [Help MVP] wrote:

    Or report it on screen?


    At the very least the onscreen help needs to suggest something helpful instead of just "It failed. Try again.".
    Because after coding all day the last thing I want is to trouble shoot my home backup system.

    If you look at the properties of the failed backup you should the
    recommendation to run chkdsk on the disk that had the problem.

    Paul Adare
    MVP - Forefront Identity Manager
    http://www.identit.ca
    I must have slipped a disk; my pack hurts.

    Monday, March 19, 2012 10:42 PM

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    Restarted Win7 box and it spewed out pages of chkdisk errors. Where the hell did that come from? And where are the logs to tell me which disk and which files were touched by chkdsk? Used to be the ChkDsk files were available in the root of the drive.

    The good news is that backup is now running.. up to 25% and ripping a long well - I'm going to bed.

    If this doesn't work... Until tomorrow!

    Rob Chandler Help MVP http://Helpware.net/ http://mshcmigrate.helpmvp.com/

    Monday, March 19, 2012 1:18 PM
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    Restarted Win7 box and it spewed out pages of chkdisk errors. Where the hell did that come from? And where are the logs to tell me which disk and which files were touched by chkdsk? Used to be the ChkDsk files were available in the root of the drive.

    Where did chkdsk come from? Chkdsk may run if there's an unexpected shutdown (i.e. crash), because Windows uses it to clean up the file system. This doesn't always happen on the next reboot (though it's supposed to). As for where logs are found, check the application event log, source winlogon (I think; I'm away from my PC ATM).

    That backups failed due to disk issues is fairly normal. Client backup uses VSS for a "point in time" snapshot of the disk, and VSS doesn't generally work if there are disk errors.

    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)

    Monday, March 19, 2012 2:02 PM
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    Thanks Ken. 

    Happy to report...
    1. Had a good sleep and feel less stressed :-) 
    2. Backup succeeded in expected fast time -- about 200GB in < 1hr I think.
    If this continues I'd be happy to change my title from "Sucks" to "Kicks".

    But this problem of not coping with a corrupt client disk...
    Does WHS 2011 have the power to detect this and initiate a ChkDsk on a client?  Or report it on screen?

    At the very least the onscreen help needs to suggest something helpful instead of just "It failed. Try again.".
    Because after coding all day the last thing I want is to trouble shoot my home backup system.

    Rob Chandler Help MVP http://Helpware.net/ http://mshcmigrate.helpmvp.com/

    Monday, March 19, 2012 9:54 PM
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    On Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:54:37 +0000, Rob Chandler [Help MVP] wrote:

    Or report it on screen?


    At the very least the onscreen help needs to suggest something helpful instead of just "It failed. Try again.".
    Because after coding all day the last thing I want is to trouble shoot my home backup system.

    If you look at the properties of the failed backup you should the
    recommendation to run chkdsk on the disk that had the problem.

    Paul Adare
    MVP - Forefront Identity Manager
    http://www.identit.ca
    I must have slipped a disk; my pack hurts.

    Monday, March 19, 2012 10:42 PM
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    Hi Paul

    Look I check all the available info displayed, and even pressed F1 and read the help, but I don't remember reading anything helpful. Although... I was absolutely exhausted yesterday and it is possible I missed it. Next time it happens I'll check again and report back.

    Rob Chandler Help MVP http://Helpware.net/ http://mshcmigrate.helpmvp.com/

    Tuesday, March 20, 2012 5:03 AM
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    On Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:03:34 +0000, Rob Chandler [Help MVP] wrote:

    Look I check all the available info displayed, and even pressed F1 and read the help, but I don't remember reading anything helpful. Although... I was absolutely exhausted yesterday and it is possible I missed it. Next time it happens I'll check again and report back.

    If you haven't deleted the failed backups they should still be listed on
    the server. I'm not saying the information is in the most discoverable
    location possible, just that it is, or should be, available.

    Paul Adare
    MVP - Forefront Identity Manager
    http://www.identit.ca
    If a train station is where the train stops, what is a work station?

    Tuesday, March 20, 2012 6:55 AM
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    Yep. I deleted all the past attempts.

    Rob Chandler Help MVP http://Helpware.net/ http://mshcmigrate.helpmvp.com/

    Tuesday, March 20, 2012 8:06 AM
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    After WHS 1.0 failing on me and lost years of backups I gave WHS 2011 a go.

    Rob Chandler Help MVP http://Helpware.net/ http://mshcmigrate.helpmvp.com/

    How did you lose "years of backups"?  There are various ways that any system can fail, but there are good recovery scenarios for WHS 1.0.  Client backups can simply be recreated.  Server data can be protected (in advance) via folder duplcation and server backup.

    Friday, March 30, 2012 3:11 PM
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    How did you lose "years of backups"?

    Some people want to keep all backups forever (or nearly so). Windows Home Server makes this particularly attractive because of the extremely efficient backup storage mechanism, but there's a trap in that, because the backup database is also very fragile (again due to the extremely efficient storage mechanism), so damage to any component of the database could potentially destroy the entire database. I think this is what happened to Rob.

    In my opinion (and experience), "best practice" dictates that a backup is not intended to be kept forever, that it's useful lifetime ends when the next good backup of a stable OS occurs. This ignores considerations around file versioning. If you need to version your files I don't recommend "backups" in general as the appropriate tool for the job, but modern Windows operating systems already have an excellent file versioning tool (volume shadowcopy services, otherwise known as "Previous Versions").

    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)

    Friday, March 30, 2012 3:36 PM
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    I too purchased a server, installed the software (the first had to be replaced) and have yet to have a successful backup.  All the youtube tutorials tell me what I already know and guess what.  It simply does not work.  Drive full with 3 TB empty.  Geek speak and I met Bill before he was bill.  So tired of crap being promoted as something when useful when a semi-geek can't get a simple thing like take this and put it there.  Please, cut the crap and make a to b settings.  What a waste of bucks for crap.  Back to simply occassionally mirroring a hard drive. What a total waste of money on a nice idea.  I don't do tech for a living and would appreciate spending bucks for something that actually delivers.  This is why I am totally skeptical of anyone who promotes geek-speak crap with pretty pictures.  Reminds me of the demo thirty years ago, but didn't deliver for a major corp.  Ugh.  Thanks for more pretty bloatware.
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 1:05 AM
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    I too purchased a server, installed the software (the first had to be replaced) and have yet to have a successful backup.  All the youtube tutorials tell me what I already know and guess what.  It simply does not work.  Drive full with 3 TB empty.  Geek speak and I met Bill before he was bill.  So tired of crap being promoted as something when useful when a semi-geek can't get a simple thing like take this and put it there.  Please, cut the crap and make a to b settings.  What a waste of bucks for crap.  Back to simply occassionally mirroring a hard drive. What a total waste of money on a nice idea.  I don't do tech for a living and would appreciate spending bucks for something that actually delivers.  This is why I am totally skeptical of anyone who promotes geek-speak crap with pretty pictures.  Reminds me of the demo thirty years ago, but didn't deliver for a major corp.  Ugh.  Thanks for more pretty bloatware.

    $50? WHS2011 does not support 3TB disks.

    Phil P.S. If you find my comment helpful or if it answers your question, please mark it as such.

    Sunday, November 18, 2012 10:09 AM