Power Pack 1 RC for Public! (Home Server)

by Christopher Kusek (PKGuild) Baltimization, Informational, Microsoft

Looks like it is upgrade time for Windows Home Server enthusiasts! (With appropriate backup ofcourse!)

The Windows Home Server team is proud to announce the availability of a Power Pack 1 Release Candidate for public beta testing. The update package can now be downloaded from https://connect.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver in the downloads section.

Please be sure to review the release documentation contained within the download package for Power Pack 1.
Please also be sure to check out the Windows Home Server forums for important support information, an up to date list of known issues and some great test ideas. They can be found at the link below.
http://forums.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver/default.aspx?siteid=50

Below is a set of instructions to prepare a home server for testing the beta of Power Pack 1:

  • Ensure you have a complete backup of all of your files. While internal testing so far indicates that we have fixed the data corruption bug in the beta release, the whole point of a beta test is to validate internal testing. This means there is a risk that our internal tests have not detected all issues. As a beta tester it is your responsibility to ensure that your data is backed up and protected before you install the beta.
  • If you are setting up a new home server to run the beta, download and install the “Windows Home Server RTM Evaluation Edition” from Microsoft Connect.
  • Ensure that Windows Updates are enabled for your home server. Your home server must have all the latest updates from Windows Update installed before you install the beta Power Pack 1 update package.
  • To turn on automatic updates:
  • Go to the Windows Home Server Console > Settings > General page.
  • Click On (recommended) in the Windows Update section.
  • Click Update Now to get the latest updates immediately

    • Please turn on the Customer Experience Improvement for your home server. The information provided to the team through this program is invaluable in helping us understand how we are doing against our testing goals.

  • To turn on Customer Experience Improvement:
  • Go to the Windows Home Server Console > Settings > General page.
  • If you agree to opt-in to this program, ensure the Help make Windows Home Server better in the Customer Experience Improvement section is enabled.

    • Please ensure that you have a backup of all of your files and data. If your data set is large (the larger the better for testing purposes) this will take a while, so you might want to get started now!
    The Windows Home Server team

    E-mail: whsbeta@microsoft.com