The defragmenter for our Home Servers has been updated.

Diskeeper 2010 HomeServer edition has been updated to include IntelliWrite which prevents the majority of fragmentation before it even happens and for any fragmentation that does occur, Diskeeper 2010 utilizes a powerful defragmentation engine to rapidly handle any remaining fragmentation with zero impact on system resources.

Diskeeper 2010 dramatically improves system performance from faster file reads and writes. By curtailing the excessive I/Os associated with fragmentation, wear and tear on the drive is greatly reduced, resulting in extended hardware life. Behind the scenes, free space is consolidated, further reducing the chances of future fragmentation, and the location of the most commonly used files is optimized for faster access. All of this occurs with zero impact on system resources.

Other features include:

• NEW! IntelliWrite fragmentation prevention technology
• Terabyte Volume Engine (TVE)
• Breakthrough Technology! InvisiTasking
• Real-time defragmentation
• Uncompromising file and free space defragmentation
• "Defragmentation Intelligence" enhancements
• Automatic online directory consolidation
• Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Compatibility mode
• Boot-Time Mode
• Home Network support

Diskeeper 2010 HomeServer is available for $59.95 whilst owners of Diskeeper 2009 HomeServer  can upgrade for $35.97 saving $23.98.

More info plus a 30 day trial download is available from here.

Website Spackle have an article on how to install Windows Live Mesh on Windows Home Server. The guide details how to set Live Mesh up and what to do if the setup fails. Once complete Live Mesh should start synchronizing your WHS folders.

All the details are available here.

Jesseweb.com has a great article on how to add a Windows Home Server shortcut to My Computer which also includes the following right-click options

• Browse the home server shares
• Access the home server console
• Remotely computer manage the home server
• Remote desktop to the home server

And despite the official name of the app being called the “AspireHome My Computer Link Application” it will work on non Aspire systems by installing the supplied manual package – Great stuff.

All the details are here.

I have been hearing a lot of good things about Microsoft’s new security suite for a while now and have been waiting to get my hands on it for some time.

First thoughts were that I would have to keep an open mind and not let Windows One Care cloud my judgment; I can honestly say that I have.

Installing was quick and easy 6 simple next boxes and it was done, there was no way of getting lost or installing it in advanced mode, there isn’t an advanced mode just a simple install.

I have installed it on Windows 7, Vista and XP and all went through without a hitch. I used the Vista installer for Windows 7 it doesn’t say that it supports Windows 7 but I haven’t found a problem with it as yet, but will let you know if I do.

The installation is below:

Just an information screen really, the only thing you can do is click next.

Standard software agreements nothing to report about, click accept if you want to install.

I thought the days of validating your copy of windows was long gone but sadly I was wrong, and this on an installation of Windows 7.

The last warning before you start the install, warning you to remove any other security packages on your machine as they can cause issues, my advice is follow this warning.

The installation doesn’t take long before it is finished and you are presented with the finish button.

Like I have said before it is a very quick install, once you are displayed with the main console you can see that it is no suite for the advanced user, but I think that is a good thing as this security suite is not aimed at the advanced user if for the average domestic user who wants few problems to deal with and this package dully delivers.

My first thoughts was to find out how this package is recognized within Windows Home Server, upon opening the console there was no reported problems with the machine. Success Microsoft have definitely got it right for once.

The software will then do a quick scan on your machine which takes around 5 minutes and then that’s it.

The settings tab is limited at best, but as said before this is great for the average user the way I see it the less settings there are the less there is to go wrong, you can make some changes, things like when a Full Computer Scan can take place and excluding certain file types and processes but this section is limited.

Conclusion

Overall I think Microsoft have got this one right it is a free package aimed at those that don’t already have any protection at all, even for those that have may want to make the change to a simpler easier package to administer if that is what you are looking for then this is definitely it.

The one thing I would like to see from this security suite is a Windows Home Server release giving people the chance to have a free alternative package for their home server whether this happens only time will tell.

The first thing to notice when on ESET’s website is that there is no mention that this version is available to be installed on WHS, it is only when going through the knowledge base does this become apparent, this I am sure will be rectified shortly, you can find the knowledge base article here.

Following the instructions in the above knowledge base article was easy and concise the only thing to mention is when it talks of opening a Remote Desktop Connection the list isn’t always populated like it implies so you may have to just type in your servers name by default this is server.

The installation is easy and you can find installation instructions on ESET’s website here.

I would strongly advise you head the warning to uninstall other Anti-Virus programs before installing NOD32 or any other for that matter. During the install it asks about “Detection of potentially unwanted programs” I opted to disable this feature as I felt it could possibly stop some future add-in working, while it would be prompting you for a decision about a particular program/add-in when many don’t even have a monitor attached to their WHS, although I would strongly recommend enabling this feature for use on a Desktop/Laptop.

Once you click finish there is nothing else to do other than sit back and relax.

The one thing I do find increasingly frustrating is the lack of integration NOD32 have with the Windows Home Server Console in my mind the NOD32 panel should be displayed in side the WHS console and I am sure NOD32 are addressing this as it would make things easier to administer.

Conclusion:
Overall a good easy to use program, simple and easy to install, probably the best on the market for WHS at the moment as some still try and make you use there expensive business editions not to mention any names. The one thing that does make this program well worth buying is the little resources it needs and uses allowing your server to get on with the things you want it to, but the lack of integration with Windows Home Server Console for me just doesn’t go far enough to be easily administered by the average home user.

By installing the PlayOn Media Server onto your Windows Home Server (Service Pack 1 or later) you are then able to watch Netflix, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, CNN, ESPN and Revision3 amongst others on your PS3, Xbox 360, HP MediaSmart TV, Popcorn Hour or other UPnP/DLNA compliant device.

This is all done via the PlayOn software pulling RSS feeds from the content providers and then presenting them to your DLNA-compliant networked media devices. So how do we use it?

1. You first have to install Windows Media Player 11 onto WHS and then disable Internet Explorers enhanced security configuration.
2. Once complete you can then install the PlayOn Media Server onto WHS by using Remote Desktop.
3. The PlayOn interface will then appear on your UPnP/DLNA device – Simple!

The software is free and fully functional for 14 days although after this, a one-time $39.99 licensing fee is required.

Please note that channels like Hulu and CBS, geographically restrict their viewers to within the United States.

NOD32 Antivirus from makers ESET is one of 2 antivirus products which I recommend to clients on a day-to-day basis, as it both has one of the best detection rates and has a small footprint to it too.

And what has this got to do with Windows Home Server?

Well the good news is that version 4 of NOD32 Antivirus Home Edition can be installed on our Home Servers but it has to be done by using the client computers Remote Desktop Connection and thankfully ESET have put up a Knowledgebase article explaining how to do so.

Read it here.

If you are using JungleDisk Windows Home Server Edition to backup your shared folders to Amazon’s S3 service, you would have heard of buckets which is a folder where your backup files reside.

The following list of S3 utilities enable you to delete buckets and to search through S3 buckets for files. You can view them here.

WHS Doctor is a  utility which gathers and displays selected information about your Windows Home Server. Giving at a glance information on your Network configuration, WHS console log entries and installed WHS add-ins among many other items to help with troubleshooting or support purposes.

WHS Doctor is not an add-in put a standalone utility that requires no installation or makes any system changes. Future additions will also have the ability to fix common problems.

More information is available from here.

Thanks to Ron Demedash for the details.

IT Manager Jim Collison of the website "PC Stuff for the Average Guy! (or Gal!)" has just posted a review of Avast! 4.8 for Windows Home Server.

Jim looks at the various purchase options for this antivirus solution for the Windows Home Server, and takes us through the installation and the features of the software finishing of with the pros and cons of this 4.8 version.

You can read it here.

The AV Science Forums have a post for Windows Home Server users about a new tool that helps with drive balancing.

The utility balances all the data on your drive pool equally, the main purpose being that when a person adds a drive to the pool, it doesn’t necessarily start getting used for a while. While Microsoft has made changes to the usage of the Landing Zone (as in it doesn’t exist anymore), some people’s systems might still be in a non "evened out" state and wish to correct this. On the authors own system, he routinely gets within 2% of perfect balancing on all pooled drives.

NOTE: Usage instructions are available in the following forum post. Make sure you download the latest version, which at the time of publishing is version 1.01 and remember it can take a few hours to balance some systems.

Raxco Software today announced the release of PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server. The disk defragmentation software has a significantly improved interface, faster defrag engine and new features:

Improved performance:
Saving you time and resources, PerfectDisk’s engine now runs up to 30% faster.

Exclusive to PerfectDisk – Smart automatic StealthPatrol:
Working in background of your system, StealthPatrol now intelligently self-adjusts to conserve valuable Windows Home Server resources.

Exclusive to PerfectDisk – Complete space management reports:
PerfectDisk for Windows Home Server offers a host of new reports that enable you to quickly analyze space distribution of file and folders.

Enhanced User Interface:
Easier to use than ever before, PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server’s user-friendly interface includes tabbed navigation, setup wizards and graphics of your Windows Home Server’s fragmented files.

PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server is priced at $49.99 for a single license ($24.99 upgrade available) and $99.99 for a up to 10 site license ($49.99 for upgrade).

More information including a trial copy for download is available from here.

SCALEO Power Management Viewer is a new German language tool for those of you that own a Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo Home Server. The tool enables you to see the Power Management details in a simple list.

More details are available in German or translated via Google translation into English.

The Addin Cleanup Tool is a small handy utility that will remove add-in entries from the list of installed add-ins, that can’t be removed anymore due to a problem with uninstalling the add-in.

Normally the procedure would be to edit the registry and deleting a key, but now this tool from ASoft does the job for you and also creates a backup of what was deleted as well.

More information is available from here.

F-Secure’s 2009 consumer lineup was officially launched on the 3rd September (2008) and included Home Server Security 2009. Especially designed for Windows Home Server it protects your server in real time from virus’s, spyware and other forms of malware. Accessible from within the Console it updates automatically keeping Home Server Security 2009 fully protected against new, fast-spreading viruses.

F-Secure state that great emphasis has been placed on keeping the impact that the included automatic scanning has on the performance of your data and processor to a minimum.

One Home Server licence with protection for up to 3 PCs is available for the yearly price of $49.45 is the US, £39.95 in the UK and for €65.90 Euros. If  during the purchase process you close "Your Shopping Cart" web page, a popup will appear offering 10% off the regular price with a link to access it. 

F-Secure Online Wellbeing campaign and Home Server Security 2009 support page.

More information is available from here, here  and here. Note: This 3rd link offers a link to download a trial version which is currently NOT available.

Two new tools have been released which are not add-in’s but utilities which are designed to help you get more from the Windows Home Server database.

The first is called WhsDbDump which dumps your Windows Home Server backup database data files to human readable .txt and .xml files for examination. This tool is more of an informational learning tool than an actual utility as it was created to help the developer better understand how the database works.

The second utility is WhsDbCheck, which performs comprehensive checks on the Windows Home Server backup database looking for consistency problems.

Both tools run under the command prompt direct from the Home Server machine. More information is available from the developer’s site Windows Home Server – SafeBackup.

Information courtesy of We Got Served.

Beta 3 of BitDefender Total Security 2009 has just become available, the security package add-in for Windows Home Server.

New in Beta 3:

• Online backup for Windows x64 systems
• Vulnerability scanning
• Wizard to create new antimalware scan tasks from basic view
• History events for several modules
• IM Antiphishing not implemented

Known issues:

• Pppoe connections and ICS are not filtered by the BitDefender Firewall
• Yahoo! Messenger crashes on login when script control and game mode are enabled
• BitDefender button is not displayed in the Windows Live Messenger windows on x64b systems
• Rarely Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger may crash on exit.
• BitDefender Security Center may crash during a product update.
• On Windows Vista SP1 (x86 & x64), the local computer appears offline in the Network Map tree.
• Sometimes the registration wizard freezes during a product update (workaround click „cancel” in the registration wizard).
• Time Limiter does block the internet traffic in the specified time interval

You may sign up to the beta program from here. Existing beta testers can also find the download and additional information from the same link.

More details of the features included in BitDefender Total Security 2009 are available from here.

Beta 2 of BitDefender Total Security 2009 has just been released  and includes an enhanced feature set:

• Online Backup: BitDefender 2009 offers users the ability to backup sensitive data online to ensure it is secure if something goes wrong – like your computer is stolen or a hard drive failure. Unlike competitive offerings, BitDefender Online Backup offers incremental, versioned and differentiated backup modes to better meet customer’s specific needs.
• Increased Privacy Protection through Instant Messaging Encryption: Supporting Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger, BitDefender 2009 ensures that no one can eavesdrop on instant messaging traffic between two PCs with BitDefender installed
• Increased Storage Protection with File Vault: With BitDefender 2009 File Vault, a secured storage space for personal information or sensitive files kept locally in your computer, encrypted data is stored that is invulnerable to theft or to a security breach.
• Improved Integrated Online Security: BitDefender Total Security 2009 provides users a full range of proactive protection technologies for secure everyday online activities such as banking, shopping, browsing or socializing. Web, email and Instant messaging traffic are now scanned in real-time for viruses, spyware, phishing and identity theft attempts.
• More control via Home Network Management: For home users, BitDefender 2009 provides the ability to manage the security of a home network from a single location. BitDefender software from other computers in the network can be remotely configured, while tasks such as scans, tune-ups and updates can be scheduled and run.
• Other Improvements include: an improved Gamer mode, a Laptop mode, increased performance with lower resources consumption, enhanced usability, and firewall (IDS and IPv6 support) support.

Make sure you work through the test cases, but hurry as you only have 9 days left to beta test! and thanks to The Home Server Show for the heads up.

To download beta 2 or to sign up for the beta program, do so here.

Beta 2 of F-Secure Home Server Security is now available for download which includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

Enhancements:

• Sidegrade – conflicting products are automatically detected and the user is prompted to uninstall a conflicting product before proceeding with installation.
• Configurable notifications – it is now possible to configure when the product sends notifications to the user via Windows Home Server Connector.

Bug fixes

• Subscription cannot be activated if the keycode has not been validated within 7 days [59588]
• Infected files are deleted on a removable drive even if the action is set to “Quarantine automatically” [59678]
• Error 1392 is shown when trying to open the quarantine [59748]
• Incorrect notification is sent when the product malfunctions [59808]
• Excluded file types are not removed as they should [59824]
• The Apply button does not work in F-Secure settings dialog [59826]
• “Not enough memory” error is reported to the event log while scanning a file [59958]
• F-Secure settings get reset when other WHS settings are changed [59964]
• FSHSS causes Remote Desktop connection to terminate [59965]
• Some typos in the Settings dialog [59993]
• Real-time scanning and automatic updates turn off without user actions [60001]
• Quick check in the Scan wizard always shows 0 viruses found [59725]
• The product may get malfunction after Scheduled scanning is enabled [59742]
• Pressing “Check now” link doesn’t show any results [59686]
• Scan archives setting is not available on the manual tab page in F-Secure settings [59986]

Existing testers will receive an email with download locations whilst new users wishing to apply for the beta program can do so here.

Another Windows Vista Sidebar gadget for Windows Home Server users. This two in one gadget enables quick access to the shared files by clicking on one of the six icons which will open Windows Explorer to the share in question.

The other feature is the ability to to drag and drop files onto the gadget’s various icons and thus into the appropriate share automatically.

All the details are here.

Donavon West from Home Server Hacks has written a headline ticket sidebar gadget for Windows Vista. Called Home Server Blogs it scrolls scrolls news headlines on your desktop just like on the bottom of your television screen from mswhs.com, the Windows Home Server Team Blog, We Got Served and Home Server Hacks.

If you left click on mthe gadgets “orb” and you have the WHS Connector software installed, a popup menu will appear that contains a menu of shortcuts to common WHS tasks like: opening the Windows Home Server Console,  Backup Now and opening common shared folders.

Other features are included which can be seen here along with the download.

PerfectDisk 2008 Service Pack 2 (Build 52) is now available for download. As well as bug fixes, boot time defragmentation performance has been significantly improved.

You can “Check For Updates” under the Product Resources tab in PerfectDisk, or wait for for the Autoupdate.

New Feature

• Improved boot time defragmentation performance — up to 5 times faster. Results will vary based on number of files, file sizes and drive size.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed boot time defrag issue on very large drives.
• Occasionally boot time defragmentation passes cannot move a file. Changes were made to minimize this condition.
• A change was made to the boot time defragmentation code to work around changes in Vista SP1. Previously, user may have received a driver conflict message and the boot-time defragmentation pass was skipped.
• When querying files with more than 1000 names, PD91Engine may sometimes crash. This has been fixed.
• During a boot time defragmentation pass on Vista, the computer sometimes failed to reboot after the defragmentation pass completed. This has been fixed.
• Fixed defragmentation schedules that would run “in series” while scheduled “in parallel”.
• Added to the Excluded Files tab all files excluded from defragmentation by default.
• Formatted the display of file and drive sizes as xxx.xx.
• Put a higher resolution PerfectDisk icon that is displayed when switching applications via Alt-Tab.
• The file $Secure:$SDS is no longer excluded from online defragmentation.
• Fixed inconsistencies and omissions in PerfectDisk’s Support Info.
• Fixed negative value of Number of Clusters on the Drive Properties dialog.
• Fixed not working “?” (Help) icons.
• Fixed statistics errors saved to a file in File Organization Summary section.
• Fixed network port configuration via Config.ini file.
• Fixed find files selection on the drive map for small (~300Mb) drives.

A beta of a security suite specifically for Windows Home Server users is available from F-Secure. Home Server Security beta protects Windows Home Server against all kinds of malicious content, such as viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware and riskware.

Installation, configuration and management is performed through the Windows Home Server Console and notifications are sent through the WHS Connector. As a benefit F-Secure would like to offer the following to beta participants:

• An early preview of upcoming features and the ability to provide feedback on how to improve the features.
• A free twelve-month F-Secure Home Server Security subscription for users who send us invaluable feedback.
• Power of influence: you can be part of making the best-of-breed security solutions.

F-Secure Home Server Security provides real-time scanning, whenever files are accessed on Windows Home Server, they are automatically scanned for viruses and spyware and with manual and scheduled scanning also being supported, the whole system or selected folder(s) can be checked by user request or on a defined schedule.

Infected files, spyware and other potentially unsafe files can be placed in quarantine where they can be reviewed, restored from and deleted and virus and spyware definition databases as well as software updates are received and applied automatically via automatic updates.

Easy to install and easy to use, quick setup and minimum configuration enables a simple deployment.

Release notes in RTF format are available for download from here and those interested in signing up for the beta program can do so from here. For instructions on how to install F-Secure Home Server Security, see the Quick Installation Guide and the F-Secure Home Server Security forum.

File Alert Monitor is a Windows application, which will display a pop-up Window or optionally play an audio alert whenever your home server files are created or updated by monitoring specified directories on your server.

Within the options of this freeware application the user can specify which events (creation, update and / or deletion) are to be monitored. Additionally, users may specify which file types are to be monitored, by specification of the appropriate file suffix(s).

http://www.phoneinbuddy.com/FAM_main.htm

The defragmentation tool PerfectDisk 2008 has been updated to build 43. The following features and fixes are for all versions of PerfectDisk 2008. eg Professional, Server,  WHS etc:

UPDATE: Build 43/Service Pack 1 of PerfectDisk 2008 has been temporarily pulled. You will not see this if you try to update now. A new build and service pack will be coming shortly.

The blog “Bite my bytes” has details on their particular Windows Home Server setup and lists third party software that they use including Hamachi, FolderShare and TrueCrypt. They also use mRemote to remote access their WHS, instead of using the default option.

The blog entry.

If one of your client computers is an XP machine then there is a newer version of the Remote Desktop Client which is used if you want to remote desktop into the Home Server machine. It has been available as an Optional Software Update at the Windows Update site but for those of you that want the link it is available from Microsoft.

When moving files to your Home Server Shared Folders you may find that Windows Explorer can be a little slow when copying or moving files or folders. That’s why in the past we have recommended a third party tool that speeds up the process over Windows.

Another program is freeware TeraCopy which does the same thing and integrates into the right-click Explorer menu. You just right click on the file you wish to copy/move and click on the TeraCopy menu item which opens up the TeraCopy interface with the file in a queue waiting for you to click on either Copy To or Move To.

As well as doing the job really fast TeraCopy lets you pause a large transfer if you need your CPU for a more intensive task and if you have a problem with one of your files, TeraCopy will try several times and in the worse case will skip the file and not terminate the entire transfer. TeraCopy will then show you the failed file transfers and let you fix the problem and recopy only the problem files.

TeraCopy

Well done to those of you that entered our competition to win 1 of 5 copy’s of Diskeeper 2008 HomeServer Edition, the defrag tool for WHS. We had many entries to the question:

What is the maximum supported volume size supported in Diskeeper2008 HomeServer Edition. Is it:

A) 768GB
B) Unlimited
C) 2TB

For those of you that didn’t know, the answer was B) Unlimited. I’m glad to say everyone who entered got the answer right, so the decision was based on the best phrase in 15 words or less, following on from:

I Love this MS Windows Home Server Website because…

Many good phrases were submitted, including:

• it keeps users up-to-date like no other WHS site does.
• it’s always first for WHS news and tells me everything I need to know!
• of the great stories and tips I can’t find elsewhere!
• it shows me all the cool things I can do with my new Home Server!
• it keeps you up to date with the latest happenings in Home Server!
• with it, I discovered and adopted WHS.

But the winning phrases came from, in no particular order:

Robert Stinnett, USA – I Love this MS Windows Home Server Website because…just like WHS storage, this site has a virtually unlimited amount of knowledge and information.

Matthew Dougan, Brighton, UK – I Love this MS Windows HomeServer Website because…it’s my one stop shop for all information and news on Microsoft’s best OS yet!

Peter Klein, Netherlands – I Love this MS Windows Home Server Website because…it saves my day, just as Home Server itself.

Josh Pearl, USA -  I Love this MS Windows Home Server website because…it has every insight possible into the world of Windows Home Server.

Roland Weigelt, Bonn, Germany – I Love this MS Windows Home Server Website because…a great product deserves a great website.

Well done to all 5 of you. Your details have been passed onto Diskeeper, who will be contacting you shortly with the download link for the full version of the software. For those of you that did not win you can get hold of a copy for only $69.95. More information on Diskeeper 2008 HomeServer Edition is available from their site.

avast! WHS Edition, the antivirus solution for Windows Home Server has been updated to RC (Release Candidate), which means that the next version should be the final retail version.

The change log for this version 4.7.26 includes:

• fixed further communication issues with the WHS console
• improved the file system filter driver (removed certain stability issues)
• minor fixes in the WHS console
• updates in the AV engine
• added help files
• added language packs (~30 languages)
• This version should be feature complete

This version is available for testing from this page and support in available from the avast forums.

We brought you information the other day about Telligent Graffiti CMS Windows Home Server that will allow users to create simple web sites. Whether it’s a personal blog, publishing a family calendar, sharing photos or easily creating content and using themes.

The easy to use content management and blog solution includes revision support, tools for highlighting changes between versions of content, workflow, easy to use themes and built-in reporting.

If this is something you are interested in then the beta will be starting in 2 weeks and will include support for Windows Home server. Head on over to the sign up page to be informed when the beta starts.

In the meantime more information on Graffiti CMS in available in their FAQ (which is actually running Grafitti, as are these sites here and here), or if video content is more your thing, then here are a few for your entertainment:

• Teaser Video: http://telligent.com/blog/archive/sneaking-a-glimpse-of-graffiti.aspx –
• Graffiti CMS – Overview: http://blip.tv/file/442255
• Graffiti CMS – People: http://blip.tv/file/443734
• Graffiti CMS – Posts: http://blip.tv/file/443914
• Graffiti CMS – Themes: http://blip.tv/file/443977
• Graffiti CMS – Navigation: http://blip.tv/file/444066
• Graffiti CMS – Windows Live Writer: http://blip.tv/file/446045
• Graffiti CMS – Widgets: http://blip.tv/file/459396

Digital video surveillance software company WiLife, has announced that their PC-based security software package, Command Center Software Version 2.1 is compatible with Windows Home Server.

Their Video Security System was created by industry veterans to provide a fully integrated, easy to use and easy to set up security system for homes and small businesses. Windows Home Server offers an additional layer of security to the WiLife system by providing a central storage hub and automatic daily backups of security video archives.

The Command Center Software enables you to fully leverage and manage your video security with built-in features like motion based recording, free remote viewing from any Internet connection and real-time text and email alerts with video attachments. It also also fully integrates with the Windows Mobile platform for remote viewing of up to six simultaneous video streams from any Windows Mobile device.

It enables you to see what’s going on in and around your home or small business from anywhere at anytime, and more importantly you are able to review recorded video of what happened while you were or are away.

WiLife also offers a variety of high resolution digital video cameras that include indoor cameras, outdoor cameras and spy cameras. Simply select a starter system which includes one camera, the Command Center software, and HomePlug receiver, and then expand the system by purchasing additional cameras, all of which have mix-and-match interoperability.

The award-winning PC-based WiLife Video Security System is the world’s first affordable, professional-grade video security system that is easy to install. WiLife’s advanced security technology delivers high-end features such as free remote viewing from any Windows cell phone or Internet browser, motion based recording, quick search and playback of recorded video, customizable alerts and mix-and-match smart IP cameras.

Download WiLife Command Center 2.1

Telligent have announced that Graffiti CMS, a robust and simple content management platform, is compatible with Microsoft’s Windows Home Server. This will enable customers of Windows Home Server to quickly create Web sites or blogs.

With Telligent Graffiti CMS Windows Home Server, you will now be able to easily create simple Web pages for their family, friends, or yourselves. Whether it’s a personal blog, publishing a family calendar, sharing photos or easily creating content and using themes.

Graffiti is an easy to use content management and blog solution appropriate for individuals and small businesses and with Graffiti CMS running on Windows Home Server you can expect to see even more people join the online publishing revolution.

In addition to its blogging capabilities Telligent Graffiti CMS is a complete content management platform that includes revision support, tools for highlighting changes between versions of content, workflow, easy to use themes and built-in reporting.

Proxure, has officially announced KeepVault for Windows Home Server. The KeepVault family of products let users automatically backup all of their media files online for storing, managing and anywhere access as we discussed here.

Using the easy to use KeepVault for Windows Home Server application, files on Windows Home Server are backed up online, for access via the KeepVault interface or for fast one-click restore.

For a limited time only, Proxure is offering unlimited online storage for just $78 per year (only $6.50 per month). By coupling the power of Windows Home Server and the flexibility of unlimited online storage, users can now have total peace of mind knowing that all their valuable documents and digital memories are protected.

It is available on their site right now and this is a great deal for unlimited storage.

The leader in Internet video communications, SightSpeed is to support Windows Home Server.

Their video chat service is a new way for you to chat with friends and family over the Internet in real time, face-to-face. The service which is easy to setup and use, allows video calling and multi-party video conferencing using patented video technology that ensures you get the best possible video and sound quality every time. A full-motion 30 frames per second video with clear audio and no annoying delay. Users can easily record and send video mails and publish videos to blogs and Web sites as well as making voice only calls to other PCs or to any landline or mobile phone anywhere in the world.

Keep an eye on www.sightspeed.com for more information.

The SageTV Media Server is an excellent example of how Windows Home Server can serve as a ‘digital hub’ for home entertainment. You have the ability to stream anything, including live TV (with optional tuner), from the Windows Home Server to any PC or Mac screen at home or anywhere over the Internet with SageTV Placeshifter. The SageTV Media Extender adds the ability to bring digital content from the Windows Home Server to the TV screen.

Digital Media Libraries and DVR for Every TV and PC Screen

SageTV Media Server software with optional TV tuner provides a complete DVR, Online Video, Music and Photo experience for any Windows-based, Mac or Linux screen at home or away from home and the SageTV Media Extender provides a low cost set-top solution that brings the full SageTV DVR, Online Video, Music and Photo experience to the TV screen at the press of a remote.

Always On, Anywhere

An always on Windows Home Server with SageTV Media Server allows any Windows-based, Mac or Linux computer with SageTV Placeshifter media player to access the Windows Home Server digital media library anytime, anywhere over a broadband or home network connection. The new SageTV Placeshifter version adds support for an animated digital entertainment experience.

Exchange with Portables

SageTV Media Server software has built in digital media converters that make it easy to exchange digital media with portable devices including Zune, iPod™, iPhone, Motorola RAZR™, Sony PSP2 and other popular portables. With it’s season recording capabilities and optional tuner it’s easy to keep your portables updated with the latest episodes of your favorite TV shows automatically.

SageTV Media Server software for Windows Home Server is also designed to support the AMD LIVE!™ Home Media Server solution. The AMD LIVE! Home Media Server solution is designed to help consumers easily access, share and enjoy their PC files, photos, movies and music throughout the home network and on the go..

The SageTV Media Server software for Windows Home Server will be available for free 21 day trial download as an easy to install add-in at http://www.sagetv.com/whs. SageTV Media Server will be available for purchase at $79.95 and is also available for bundling with OEM systems including free trial. SageTV Media Extender is available starting at $109.95.

Diskeeper now have a version of their defrag software specifically for Windows Home Server.

Families with multiple PCs linked to a server are constantly saving and deleting their favorite music, photos, movies, video and Office files. This causes the files to become scattered or “fragmented” into thousands of pieces across the disk. The more fragmented these files are in, the longer it takes the computer to read them. It also results in painfully long anti-virus scans (as there are thousands of files to be scanned due to increasing fragmentation levels). 

Windows Home Server users need to get rid of this fragmentation to get the most performance and reliability out of their machines. Diskeeper Defragmenter for HomeServer will enable these files to load faster and markedly speeds up anti-virus scan times as well. It does this “on the fly” or as it occurs, automatically, in the background, with no intervention required by the users. Once deployed, your Windows Home Server will run faster with more stability.

Key Features Include:

• NEW! Snaps directly into the Windows Home Server console for ease of use.
• NEW! Defrags even the fullest drives with 1% free space to ensure optimum performance and reliability.
• NEW! Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Compatibility mode leverages the data protection of Windows Home Server’s VSS with all the performance benefits found from defragmenting.
• Real-time Defragmentation automatically handles performance-robbing fragmentation as it occurs, keeping system speed and reliability at a constant maximum. 
• Advanced background processing technology ensures no performance hit by tapping into otherwise idle system resources to perform all of Diskeeper’s speed enhancing operations.

Diskeeper 2008 HomeServer will be available to any Microsoft Windows Home Server customer as an electronic download through the Windows Marketplace, from Diskeeper Corporation at $69.95.

German security solutions company Avira have announced that they will be offering an award-winning malware detection and removal technology to protect information stored on Windows Home Server. The software which will integrate into the console will offer complete protection against malware attacks on files stored on the server through its on-demand and on-access real time scanning features.

Keep an eye open at the Avira site for more upcoming information.

For those of you that don’t know Windows SharePoint Services allows teams to create Web sites for information sharing and document collaboration. And it can be installed with some difficulty for free on Windows Home Server. Luckily Tom from Ramblings of a Home Server User has posted a comprehensive 12 page PDF how to guide to make life easier when installing it on Home Server.

Download How-to Install SharePoint Services 3.0 on Windows Home Server

Rick Drasch has just posted Beta 2 of “Recorded TV Manager Add-in for Windows Home Server”. For those of you that don’t know, the add-in uses a Windows service application on the Home Server to monitor Media Center recorded TV folders and automatically move or copy content throughout your home server network.

Overall, the software is much improved over Beta 1:

• Improved stability in the AutoCopy Service Application.
• Better synchronization of series info between the client application and the AutoCopy Service.
• Repaired numerous UI and operational errors in both the Add-in and the client application.

http://www.fjdrasch.com/WHS/Beta.htm