Microsoft Admits to Home Server Data Corruption Problem

Microsoft admitted on a technical blog on March 10 that Windows Home Server can corrupt data when used with a wide variety of common applications.

According to the blog posting, Microsoft has been aware of the “data corruption issue” since “late December 2007.” Specifically, Microsoft states in its KnowledgeBase listing that on servers with more than one hard drive running Windows Home Server users can experience data corruption with Windows Vista Photo Gallery; Windows Live Photo Gallery; Microsoft Office OneNote 2007; Microsoft Office OneNote 2003; Microsoft Office Outlook 2007; Microsoft Money 2007; SyncToy 2.0 Beta; Intuit QuickBooks; and uTorrent, the popular BitTorrent client.

When any of these programs are used to edit, copy, or move files, the files may become corrupted. In the blog posting, Microsoft claims that, “We are aware of only a very small percentage of users with confirmed instances of this issue, and we believe that most people are unlikely to be affected.”

That said, one of Microsoft’s own, technology evangelist, Volker Will, lost 180GBs of data from a Microsoft Home Server error. In his MSDN blog, Will wrote, “I might wait until version 2.0, if I ever decide to install it again. The current piece will be permanently banned from our home by the weekend. Sorry folks, I think it is a GREAT idea, this implementation is just not ready for prime time.”

Businesses love using the low-cost WHS on Small Business Server networks, but is it fit for business consumption in light of the news around a data-corruption bug? Click here for the story.

Microsoft claimed that “Fixing this issue is the Windows Home Server team’s top priority and the team is making good progress on the fix. We understand the issue really well at this point-it is at an extremely low level of the operating system and it requires thorough testing to ensure that the fix addresses the issue.”

Even so, even the programmers admit that “Our current plan is to release beta test versions of a fix over the next few months, with a final version currently estimated for June 2008, although that date could change as testing progresses. Thorough testing of the fix is critical and will take time.”

Windows Home Server is not connected with Microsoft’s business server line.