Redmond (WA) – Windows Home Server is Microsoft’s new operating system, but that doesn’t spare it from serious problems.  Several users have reported file corruption issues when using certain programs and now Microsoft is warning people to not save files to the computer until the problem is resolved.

Windows Home Server is an operating system meant to hold files in a central repository in the home, but some of those files are being chaotically altered by both Microsoft and third-party programs like Vista photo gallery, Microsoft One Note and even Quicken.  Microsoft says these programs don’t fully support shared folders on the server and corrupt information when the files are edited and saved.   Users are even reporting problems with certain torrent programs.

Microsoft says it is working on a fix and has released Knowledgebase article 946676 that warns users to make a backup copy of the files, “before you store these files on a system that is running Windows Home Server” – something which completely defeats the purpose of Windows Home Server in the first place.

Microsoft is also warning people to not use the affected programs, something that could be interpreted as placing blame on the programs’ developers.  
“Until an update for Windows Home Server is available, we recommend that do not use the programs that are listed in this article to save or to edit program-specific files that are stored on a Windows Home Server-based system,” says Microsoft.

An anonymous Microsoft employee has also written a Technet blog about the problem.

The Windows Home Server operating system is Microsoft’s attempt at helping consumers manage the tremendous amount of available content.  The operating system has been commercially sold for several months now on inexpensive home file servers that can store documents, pictures, music and video.

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