More Info on the WHS Corruption Bug
ComputerWorld writer Gregg Keizer has been speaking to the WHS team about the corruption bug. Todd Headrick, the product planning manager for WHS had this to say in the article:
In many cases, users might not realize that they are, in fact, “editing” a file, because an application may be appending metadata to a file’s contents. He cited the example of digital music files, such as those played by Windows Media Player 11, one of the programs on the reported-but-not-confirmed list. When you’re downloading album art, your actually changing the file, he said. If you rate a song, you’re actually editing the file.
Remember although it is a big issue this problem does not affect a lot of users and Microsoft are working on this full time and are expanding the scope of their testing.
Read the full article here.
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Unless the method for saving ratings information has changed drastically since the last time I checked, ratings information is NOT stored in the file itself, but rather as part of the user’s library files. That’s not to say that when you rate a song, you might not be changing other metadata associated with the file, but in terms of storing ratings data, I believe this is inaccurate.
I know it corrupted my Quicken 2007 file as soon as I accessed it. Luckily I had a backup. I tested it again with the backup version and it corrupted it as soon as I tried to save data. So I keep my quicken files open and only copy backups to the server.
This is a huge issue with WHS and makes me wish I hadn’t purchased it, because I’m worried this will start happening to other files. I’m afraid to update any of the thousands of media files stored on the server.
The following quote from the article really pi**ed me off. I have to believe that the majority of current WHS systems are with early adopters…and early adopters are going to use the fileshare capabilities. I can create the bug in less than 2-3 minutes with onenote. After 3 months of one of the embarrasing bugs in a while I cannot believe the team is still tap dancing about a fix. Right now I have a 2 TB backup server….that’s all I can trust it with.
He also downplayed the extent of the problem. “It’s not something that’s affecting a lot of users. There’s a lot of buzz about it because it is a big issue.”
I regret ever buying the HP MediaSmart server. Since I’ve installed this, I have lost so much data. And to add to it, I can’t use it with my Macs to backup with TimeMachine, although SuperDuper works, I’m afraid those backups might not be reliable should I ever need them.
Thank You Microsoft.
Wow.
An backup system that corrupts files. What a contradiction in terms. I am seriously considering shutting my server, until the problem is fixed. Will probably using other solutions in the meantime. Like Crashplan (I use it now for my server files) and Hummingbird for syncing. I don’t work for those companies. Just the products have helped, when my Home Server starts acting up. Specially Crashplan for my Shared Files.
Listen to Microsoft…
Windows Home Server product manager Steven Leonard claimed that the bug cropped up only when the server was under an “extreme load” as it copied large files.
The revised KB 946676 support document now omits any mention of “extreme load.”
“There are a wide variety of circumstances where we’ve seen [corruption] when the server is not under heavy load” said Todd Headrick, the product planning manager for WHS.
In December, WHS product managers said that the team was hard at work on a patch and wouldn’t rest until it had one ready to push to users via Windows Update.
Seeing whereas Linux has chosen to candidly and unpretentious advertise uprighted and unadulterated legitimate truths about Microsoft Corporation, it’s subsidiaries, partners, employees (direct, indirect, consultants and supporting subsidiaries) in a fashion congruent and harmonizing with known and accepted standard practices of said advertising: I Steven Anthony Ballmer, duly authorized CEO of Microsoft Corporation do authorize all afore-mentioned entities to *retaliate against said law-abiding, straightforward and honorable open source code developers, providers, retailers, bloggers and customers getting in the way of our shareholders profits!
Such retaliation to include (but not limited to) economic pressures, false advertising, fear, uncertainty, and doubt…
Why shouldn’t Microsoft take responsibility for selling us a worthless WHS product being how nobody wants in their right mind to experience data corruption with their data?
This is just yet another example of the lack of leadership and management coming out of the Microsoft framework in regards to their own software products.
Things are bad! June for a fix!
Read the following.
http://forums.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver/showpost.aspx?postid=2892146&siteid=50&sb=0&d=1&at=7&ft=11&tf=0&pageid=1
I was a big supporter of Windows Home Server, but now it is such a disappointment. A sad day indeed.
How convenient must it be for a bunch of multi-million dollar companies that depend solely on Microsoft flaky proprietary code full of bugs, leaks, holes, exploitables, mistakes, oversights and problems in Windows.
Microsoft has created a whole specialized market (niche) just for maintaining buggy code. Yeap, a whole industry has sprung up here which only demonstrates their success to reflected badly on Microsoft.
And yet, none of this will change, as “business as usual” will prevail as profit margins are the only driving force behind stockholders of the corporation.
It’s NOT only just Windows Home Server that’s broken.
Vista DRM isn’t any better too! Vista SP1 doesn’t resolve the many issues here as well too! Endless Reboot! 🙁
Microsoft claims, they understand the frustration we all are going through. And yet, we paid in good faith for a proven working product solution, but ended up with a broken, crippled and flawed software product problem!
Unless you assume WHS is sold only as a toy, then perhaps nobody ought to be concerned about data corruption, lost productivity, and all the harm caused for promising a product solution that’s anything but deceptive, and misleading…
Windows Home Server was not and is NOT ready for the public! Nobody wants data corruption and be told to live with it…
This serious flaw should have never been overlooked, passed off, put off and or released upon the public. I cannot help but wonder, a better name for Microsoft would in fact be “Virosoft”! How is it any different than corruption of your data?
Only in that, the crappy insecure operating system wouldn’t protect you, nor the bloody Microsoft Dot Net Framework, Active-x technologies, even Sun’s Java and of course java script here… One computer language written over another…
Which allows viruses to be written that spread out in the open to infect your PC. But, by buying Viroware, you get immediate corruption of your data without even hooking up to the Internet…
Just edit your own files from your PC on Viroware’s Home Server…. Instant gratification if you’re a supporter of anarchism.
I found the posted blog article above interesting, specifically for the part when psychopuppy said, “MS is lucky because they can introduce a patch or service pack, in my business we call it a re-call”.
So when will KB 946676 offer a fix? 2008? 🙁
When will WHS PP1 be RTM released? June 2008? 🙁
HP boxes are being returned for refunds right now!
HP’s Warning via email to HP customers…
“You should not directly open and/or edit files that are stored on the MediaSmart Server while doing any other activity such as large data transfers or media streaming. If you are doing a large data transfer or streaming and need to edit a file on the server, you should first copy the file over to a PC and then open it for editing.
There are a few key applications that Microsoft has identified that can cause this issue when files are opened and edited directly from the server. However to be safe, HP recommends that you not open/edit files directly from the server until this fix is delivered.”
How does something like this serious data corruption flaw get through to RTM public release?
Remember when…
“Thank you for your response. All of the Microsoft haters out there are just criticizing us about this little glitch. I don’t see the big deal here.
Or…
I’m sorry to inform you that your Windows Genuine Home server might be down for few months/years. We have escalated the issue to our Genuine Home Server team, kindly try to reboot your WHS v4 again on Tuesday 04 Aug 2019. hopefully, by then the issue will be resolved.
Thank you for contacting the Genuine Microsoft Technical Support Team.”
So when customers complain about the lack of fulfillment and expectations meet, our criticism is interpreted as hateful bashing Microsoft?
——————-Don’t Work with WHS List———————-
1) Microsoft Windows Vista Photo Gallery
2) Microsoft Windows Live Photo Gallery
3) Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
4) Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
5) Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
6) Microsoft Money 2007
7) Microsoft Office Excel
8) Microsoft Windows Media Player 11
9) Microsoft Zune Software
10) Microsoft Virtual PC 2008
11) Microsoft Digital Image Library
12) Microsoft Project 2000
Microsoft didn’t even know there own software will NOT work on Windows Home Server. Who can believe that, especially after some 100,000 beta testers, about a year ago!
But, by all means, us customers shouldn’t be concerned about this obvious attempt at concealment on behalf of Microsoft’s delay and downplay about this serious flaw.
Let me put it in another way, why should paying customers be made vulnerable at risk with buggy flawed DE proprietary code from Microsoft?
Obviously, Microsoft cannot be trusted with testing their own software products. Is it any wonder why enterprises delay and wait to avoid becoming early adapters of first time buggy software product releases?
And if Microsoft thinks, it can dupe us with yet another lame buggy Windows Server 2008 SP1 promised product, prepare for a major boycott ahead by the majority of enterprises!
Microsoft’s days are numbered. Everyone will praise the replacement and end of the Microsoft Corporation. In fact, history will look back on Microsoft as an anti-competitive software bundling evil monopoly only concerned about it’s profit revenues for shareholders of their stock.
Serves me right for actually buying the product & software(HP MSS) instead of just downloading the torrent of WHS and building my own dang server.
Shitty bugs dont bother me so much when I got the product at no cost.
When they get the bugs and software fixed then I will buy it. Until then I will return this server and make due with other methods.
I’m having 5 WHS running Slimserver as well. most of the files are Flac. 1 server is completely corrupted after 3 moths of perfect health. The other are working alright. No difference in usage. No extra uploads after day one. No editing of files etc.
Hardware is tested and fully working.