How Windows Home Server Saved My Sanity

The recent installation of the Windows Media Center has been an ongoing major project. Apart from the physical install, there has been a a few ongoing issues:

1. High-Definition TV “green screen of death”.
   Thanks to the Vista and XP Media Centre forum, this is a known and fixed issue. The Microsoft Hotfix is available here.
2. Electronic Program Guide
   Attempted to install epgStream. Will install ICE.TV instead (giving a referrer to PMM!) as epgStream isn’t working the way I expected. Could be user expectation error.
3. Noise
   Once the processor gets going, fans go on. And never seem to turn off. This is probably a BIOS tweak fix, or turn down the processor a little. A PATA drive vs. SATA drive may also be an issue, too.
4. IPtv
   So, where is Australian IPtv? What about Australian video downloads? For that matter, what’s the story behind episode guides? This should just work.

During tweaking the server on Tuesday, I de-installed Windows Live Onecare Family Protection. Installing it in the first place might have been my error. From what I can discern, after de-installation, the remnants of a firewall was left around. 6 hours of troubleshooting later, I decided to restore a previous working version of the Media Center setup.

Thankfully, Windows Home Server had an image of an automatic backup from Monday. Process to fix:

1. Make a Restore CD from the supplied .ISO file
2. Reboot with Restore CD
3. Log into the Home Server
4. Select the image to restore
5. 18 minutes later, reboot
6. Back to Monday night’s Windows Media Center

Rather than stuff around for another 6 hours, restoring a known-good backup saved my sanity.