Windows Home Server Learnings - Don't Install the HP Add-Ons

This is a general warning to Windows Home Server owners in general and HP Media Smart Server owners in particular. The "Power Pack 1" update to WHS comes with 2 add-ons:

  • McAfee’s Total Protection Service (anti-virus/anti-malware)
  • PacketVideo’s PVConnect Media Server (media sharing)
  • But unless you've gone through the hard work to actually upgrade the memory from 521MB to 2GB, don't install these add-ons because you may end up with a totally unusable home server. The hardware just isn't up to it! PVC alone requires 512 MB.

    I actually tried to installed PVConnect and the first thing I noticed was that the WHS Console was quite non-responsive and sluggish it it's behavior. Then I clicked the PVConnect "tab" and got this, in spanish!?!

    PVConnect

    After a while I got tired of it and went to install it, which wasn't easy because of the non-responsive console. Eventually I got rid of it, but not without blood shed:

    Crap

    Like the missing/transparent/black features? :) Anyway, I clicked the white (that I presume said "OK") button and the Console got reset. Now I was soon greated by the "Your WHS Network is at Risk" notification:

    What risk? I log on to the WHS and to see what's wrong:

    Network Health

    This health warning thingy in WHS is not making sense to me. What is there to warn about? Will this list be a mile long in a year? I need to clean this list up... does anyone know how to do it? BTW. The AV software on my mediacenter server IS NOT out of date...

    There's a good story about this on Rafael's Within Windows blog.

    2 Comments

    • I uninstalled the add-ins, received the message and ignored it. My network health returned to "good," and hasn't become an issue since.

      I have 512 MB; won't likely upgrade until I have the time, money -- and guts.

    • Just remove the add-ins from software/add-ins and they won't show up as ready to install "risks".

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