The Web's Largest Dedicated Windows Home Server Resource by Microsoft MVP Philip Churchill.
Microsoft Windows Home Server - WHS will automatically backup and restore your PCs and allow you to share and access files from any machine in the house as well as giving you remote access to those files and PC’s as well. This site will guide you on your journey of discovery with WHS.
One of Tranquil PCs customers received an error message when he tried to open a file within a folder in a backup set. As it turns out he had converted his drive to NTFS using Partition Magic 8, which did not convert it properly. So make sure that all drives are converted correctly (if necessary) before connecting them to Windows Home Server.
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December 29, 2007 at 5:47 pm
One of Traquil PCs customer (me) had a problem. I deleted the existing partitions using the Delete option in Partition Magic 8. I then used PM8 again to create a new partition and chose NTFS from the drop-down list. So obviously PM8 works OK with a new format but seems not to do it correctly when as to do a conversion from FAT32 to NTFS.
December 29, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Yeah but, WHS doesn’t play fair, as your only allowed to backup your PC to WHS when it is only NTFS! So NO to Linux, NO to Mac, no to everyone else.
So how FRIENDLY is WHS when this home server is meant only for “WINDOWS” which doesn’t even include Windows 95, Windows 98…
Anyone using WHS must NOT use any other computer that doesn’t come from Microsoft, that is if you want WHS NOT to corrupt your data!
Doesn’t this sound like a Microsoft’s strategy for entering product categories involving widely used standards, extending those standards with proprietary capabilities, and then using those differences to disadvantage its competitors?
The problem with NTFS is in that it is all Microsoft is ALL proprietary source code (draconian software). So when the next version of Windows or WHS comes out later, it’s yet another time to ditch what you got, throw away your investment to be replaced with an all new “Wow” experience again…
A home server shouldn’t be locked into just NTFS only, which nobody else is allowed to build upon, because it’s proprietary source code, protected by patents that denies everyone else this right.
December 29, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Let’s see, how many WHS customers are going to know which software vendor works on WHS?
Does anyone think Microsoft will supply a list of software applications that actually functions without risk of data corruption before purchasing?
Then again, why shouldn’t Microsoft just fix this horrible data corruption issue so home users don’t have to wonder and guess what is going to happen when using WHS?
Someone else reported, “the issue with WHS data corruption is most likely because of WHS Drive Extender technology, which is unique to WHS and is what allows it to present all data files as a single shared folder even when they are located on different physical disks”.
Anyone care to explain?
December 29, 2007 at 8:10 pm
[...] WHS Hard Drives must be formatted to NTFS the correct way [...]
December 30, 2007 at 1:52 am
Partion Magic, [orignally made by PowerQuest] has never fully supported NTFS 5.x as was pointed out in its documentation. After being bought by Symantic the only real changes made to it [AFAIK] were to the Branding and the documentation. Theres certainally been no major development done on the product.
@MS NTFS Only,
While your points are fairly valid for ‘Technical Users’ they are not the target audience for WHS.
December 30, 2007 at 9:02 am
Thanks for your comments guys.
December 30, 2007 at 9:25 pm
So how do you properly convert a FAT32 volume to NTFS with a reasonable chance of all data being preserved and WHS liking the result? Or do you have to reformat the volume and reinstall the operating system, your progams, your settings and anything else?
December 31, 2007 at 7:15 am
Hi Miles,
WHS doesn’t support any operating system’s that use FAT32 as default. So this should only apply to storage drives.
And, Yes. The correct way to format a drive is either from within the operating system, or with the installation CD.
December 31, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Thanks DS Systems.
January 1, 2008 at 1:36 am
WHS doesn’t support any OTHER operating system’s file format period. WHS only works with NTFS, so how friendly is that?
And FAT (Windows 95), FAT32 (Windows 98) were used by Microsoft. This only goes to show everyone how Microsoft makes your data obsolete given time, and if you do use NTFS, there exist the matter of DATA CORRUPTION which presently has no remedy and was reported during the release of the Beta WHS version.
How can WHS be ready, unless just like Vista, let’s just get it out on the shelves to be sold, and we will deal with it later.
It seems WHS needs a Service Pack 1 like Vista SP1, and word has it SP1 for Vista isn’t enough, making many consider waiting for the next Windows OS after Vista!
January 3, 2008 at 11:30 am
Hi 2Cents,
NTFS is the way forward for data backup and updates have been quick coming for issues, which any new product will have.
January 3, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Why does Philip think NTFS is the way forward for data backup? Just curious because, If 259 characters plus a null seems like an unusually restrictive path limit for a modern filesystem like NTFS, you’re right. Anything longer results in a “destination path too long” error.
See: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000729.html
By the way whatever happen to WinFS (relational database), which was long-awaited with a new and promised file system? Maybe WinFS couldn’t resolve NTFS issues, and therefore could not proceed forward unlike Apple who announced their advanced file system features in its new OS, Tiger?
WinFS is created when a relational database is layered over the NTFS file system. The database stores additional info about files allowing relationships to be created among files beyond just the directory struxture of the underlying physical file system (NTFS).
At least PC users have their current file system, which is much better than the one we Mac users have had to use since the original Macintosh (MFS – the Macintosh File System).
What’s better about NTFS compared to HFS+?
1) The slower performance?
2) The lack of actual support for journaling?
3) The lack of on the fly defrag support?
Care to elaborate?
January 7, 2008 at 11:37 am
Hi Ryan,
I must admit I’m not all that gemmed up on HFS+ and on reading more I am impressed!
February 29, 2008 at 4:50 am
How do you convert a drive to NTFS so WHS will like it?
Here’s what did NOT work:
1 — Micorsoft’s convert.exe. WHS would back up drives converted this way, but the backups were totally corrupted.
2 — Converting the drives to NTFS with Partition Magic and then restoring them with True Image. True Image somehow copies the changes caused by CONVERT.EXE and then places them back on the drive during restore. You’re back where you started.
Here’s what DID work for me:
1 — for a data drive that was previously converted with CONVERT.EXE and therefore produced garbage backups in WHS, I manually copied every single file to another drive. I then reformatted the drive with XP’s Disk Management console and then copied every single file back to the data drive. WHS likes that drive just fine now, and the backups are not corrupt.
2 — for a C: drive that was previously done with CONVERT.EXE and therefore produced garbage backups in WHS, I ran XP’s Automatic System Restore. That copies every file and the registry to a BKF file on another drive. I then reformatted the C: drive in DOS with Partition Magic 8.05. I then ran the ASR routine, and XP Setup reformatted the drive AGAIN, based on the data on its ASR floppy. WHS likes this drive just fine, now. The backups are no longer corrupted.
QUESTION: Why in the world couldn’t MS just put this information in their Backup white paper???
February 29, 2008 at 10:16 am
Hi Ron Miller,
Thanks for your input.