Add-In: easyRadius v0.0.0.1 Beta

easyRadius is an add-in that allows you to simply manage and install a Radius server, an additional layer of protection for your Windows Home Server.

easyRadius

Features:

  • Install (or uninstall) Internet Authentication Services
  • Configure IAS for Radius use (on install)
  • Create the Radius User Group
  • Manage Radius Users
  • Add/Remove Radius Users
  • Change Radius User passwords

Known Issues:

  1. May not configure properly if you’ve previously configured IAS without deleting the IAS entrees and user group
  2. Usernames can’t have spaces or symbols. (NT issue)

We Got Served has also published the following tip which helped me out, and hopefully you too:

“To add a WHS user to the user group, just add the user putting in a fake password. If the user name already exists, it won’t create the account but it will add the user to the radius user group.”

More info.

Home Server Blogs Gadget

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.

Sidebar Gadget  

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

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

Add-In: Firefly WHS 0.0.2

If you are running the Firefly Media Server on Windows Home Server then the Firefly WHS Add-In is for you.

Firefly Server  

Version 0.0.2 fixes a problem with the plug-in saying that the service needed restarting even when no settings had been changed.

Available from Nic’s Blog.

US System Builders FREE WHS Evaluations with FREE Shipping

System Builders in the US can now order at once, 3 copies of the Windows Home Server Evaluation Edition for free with free shipping too

Navigate to the following page and click on stage 3.

NOTE: Offer is only available to registered system builders. Thanks to Bob Crook for the info.

Resources for Finding Cheap Computer Parts

The Frugal PC Builder’s Toolbox: 100 Tools and Resources for Finding Cheap Parts is a good read for those of you who are building or upgrading your Windows Home Server’s. From Processors and Motherboards to Cases and Memory, the guide gives you the cheapest sites (in the US) for those components. Including links to guides, how-to’s and other deal finders.

Add-In: DupeCleaner v0.0.0.1 Beta

Thanks to the We Got Served community anfield_forever and Brent bring you a new add-in DupeCleaner Beta. DupeCleaner scans your Windows Home Server shares for duplicates and display them, allowing you to clean them.

Features:

  • Scans for duplicate files in your shares and then displays them
  • Clean selected duplicates
  • Filter by name (so that it checks the file name and not just the hash)
  • Folder exclusions

DupeCleaner

Download DupeCleaner v0.0.0.1 Beta from here.

PerfectDisk 2008 SP2 is Available

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.

Add-In: LightsOut 0.7.5

The add-In which is used to put a Windows Home Server into suspended mode or hibernation and resume on user defined events has been updated. LightsOut is now at version 0.7.5 and includes:

New:

  • Calendar entries are sorted by start time
  • Check for duplicate client entries
  • Check for process sbscrexe

Changed:

  • Calendar control replaced by self-developed control
  • Restart of services now happens on PowerStatusChange event
  • Client service uses less entries in eventlog
  • Client service is increasing the time between WoL pakets/pings when server is unavailable.
  • Client service depends on TcpIp
  • Service restart is done on PowerStatusChange instead of ResumeAutomatic
  • Information for client monitoring is no longer based on WHSInfoClass()
  • History range can now be set to any number of days between 2-14

Fixed:

  • CodeSigning problems
  • Crash after creating two identical tasks in calendar
  • Day change in calendar (today tag not moved)
  • Calendar creates 100% CPU load
  • Action erroneously started on midnight
  • Wrong backup time displayed after change
  • Wrong index in English online help

More information, the download and a PDF are available from here.

Building a Green Windows Home Server

Home Server Hacks has a great 5 part series on Building a Green Windows Home Server for just over $400. As writer Donavon West writes:

Over 5 parts, this article will show you how to use the Shuttle KPC as a platform to build a full featured, low cost, environmentally friendly (i.e. green) Microsoft Windows Home Server (WHS). This is for those of you who either love to tinker and/or are looking to save a little cash.

After Part 1: Getting started , everything is put together in Part 2: Assembling the Barebones System . Part 3: Creating a bootable Windows Home Server USB Flash Drive and Part 4: Installing Windows Home Server from the USB Flash Drive take us through putting WHS onto a flash drive and installing Windows Home Server from it. Finally in Part 5: Make it Your Own , it’s time to kustomize” your home server via the removable MyKover front panel that works just like a photo frame.

PerfectDisk 2008 for Windows Home Server available in German and English

German and French versions of the defrag tool, PerfectDisk 2008 for Windows Home Server are now available. Click on FR (French) or DE (Germany) in the upper-right hand corner of the Raxco Software website to obtain information and the products in the respective languages.

More info in German, French and English.