Today, November 24th, 2009, Microsoft has released Windows Home Server Power Pack 3. This is a monumental update for Windows 7 users who have wanted to optimize the use of their Home Server with Windows 7. How does this directly affect me you ask? Well, let me explain what this will do for you.
1. Windows 7 Libraries IntegrationA big thing that was lacking was the ability to browse through all of your Windows 7 Libraries where your data and media are housed. With the Windows 7 focus on centralizing all of your files, this provides you with a seamless integration of all of your files while maintaining a safe and secure location for them to be stored. No more having to map drives or access your files through the shared folders, which at times was a pain. This also provides the user with the enhanced support for Windows Media Center. With this you can enjoy all of your media seamlessly on your TV, PC, or any portable device. 2. TV ArchivingIf you are recording your television shows on a Windows Media Center you now have the ability to automatically archive all of your recorded shows onto your Home Server. It also allows for you to select the type of format that you want the data to be in. A perfect example would be that you love taking your shows on the go with your mobile devices and now you can set the archives to save in a portable format that’s small enough for your devices.3. Power Settings and Image BackupsWith Power Pack 3, you can now wake up your Windows 7 machines at any designated time for you to make backup images. After the backup is done it will allow your computer to go back to sleep. The backups will allow for a complete computer recovery in case of a hard drive failure. You can also restore a single file or folder in case you accidently delete it or lose it.4. Console ViewUse your Media Center a lot? Like, a lot a lot? Well now through the Home Server Media Center Extender you can view all of the information regarding your Home Server. Such information includes storage, drives, backups, folders, health, media counters, and Home Server system information.5. Improved Search FunctionalityA great improvement that they have made is the search functionality for your libraries. They improved the query search times, indexing times, and the reliability of the searches. If you are like me and have a monster amount of music, then this is invaluable.These features have been long awaited and they really change the game for Windows 7 users. This has come at the perfect time for the Windows 7 release and now we finally have a true centralized, secure, and redundant storage solution while being provided with an easy way to integrate it into our libraries. Well done Microsoft, well done
A few people (myself included) are reporting the error " no connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:9247 Windows Home Server"
If you do get it, make sure you click Update as many times as needed until no updates appear.
Do the same on your desktop machine, as it seems new updates appear also.
It's working for me now.
Good luck.
I have been really looking forward to this update. I woke up this morning all happy knowing that it would only be a matter of hours but looking at the screenshot 10.10 MB of 1.50 MB makes me wonder if I should be worried?
10.10 MB of 1.50 MB - that is only possible with Microsoft. Make's more from nothing ;-)
I do not see PP3 for download? I'm check the MS update and I don't see it? AM I missing something?
Thanks.
@caaarz make sure you are not running any pre-release versions of power pack. You need to install any pre-release versions first and then check for updates again.