Episode 65 of the Home Server Show podcast is out with the latest news and views. This weeks guest speaker is Timothy Daleo from usingwindowshomeserver.com on his Tech Tips on a Tuesday Morning and on a Friday Night series.

Catch it here.

Its nearly hear. Microsoft has officially announced that next Tuesday on the 24th of November Power Pack 3 will be available via Windows Update.

The release will be available in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish and users must have Windows Home Server with Power Pack 2 already installed on their home server to receive the update.

Power Pack 3 (PP3) improves the Windows Home Server experience with both Windows 7 and Windows Media Center by providing backup and restore of computers running Windows 7, Windows 7 Libraries integration, enhancements for Windows Media Center, and better support for netbook computers.

If you missed our previous post on what’s new in PP3, here’s a refresh for you:

• Windows 7 Libraries integration
  When you install the Windows Home Server Connector and log on a computer running Windows 7, you can access the Windows Home Server shared folders from the Windows 7 libraries.
• Windows 7 Action Center backup warning suppression
  After you install the Windows Home Server Connector to enable the home server backup for your computer running Windows 7, you can suppress the Action Center warning reminding you that Windows Backup has not been set up.
• Windows 7 power settings
  You can configure your computer running Windows 7 to wake up at a scheduled backup time and then go back to sleep after the backup finishes.
• Console support for Windows 7
  Windows 7 is properly displayed as the operating system shown in the Computers & Backup tab.
• Windows Search
  Windows Search 4 is included to improve query search times, indexing times, and reliability. Extended Remote Discovery increases the efficiency of searching across all your libraries running Windows Search 4.  Files encrypted with EFS are now supported.
• TV archive
  Windows Home Server can automatically archive recorded TV by moving your recordings from a Windows Media Center computer to your home server in the format of your choice.  This enables playback in the correct format for your home computers and/or portable devices.
• Console view
  You can view information about your home server’s storage space, hard drives, backup status, and more from Windows Media Center.

Can’t wait till Tuesday, can you?

The defragmenter for our Home Servers has been updated.

Diskeeper 2010 HomeServer edition has been updated to include IntelliWrite which prevents the majority of fragmentation before it even happens and for any fragmentation that does occur, Diskeeper 2010 utilizes a powerful defragmentation engine to rapidly handle any remaining fragmentation with zero impact on system resources.

Diskeeper 2010 dramatically improves system performance from faster file reads and writes. By curtailing the excessive I/Os associated with fragmentation, wear and tear on the drive is greatly reduced, resulting in extended hardware life. Behind the scenes, free space is consolidated, further reducing the chances of future fragmentation, and the location of the most commonly used files is optimized for faster access. All of this occurs with zero impact on system resources.

Other features include:

• NEW! IntelliWrite fragmentation prevention technology
• Terabyte Volume Engine (TVE)
• Breakthrough Technology! InvisiTasking
• Real-time defragmentation
• Uncompromising file and free space defragmentation
• "Defragmentation Intelligence" enhancements
• Automatic online directory consolidation
• Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Compatibility mode
• Boot-Time Mode
• Home Network support

Diskeeper 2010 HomeServer is available for $59.95 whilst owners of Diskeeper 2009 HomeServer  can upgrade for $35.97 saving $23.98.

More info plus a 30 day trial download is available from here.