Home Server Status for Windows Home Server 2011 Version 1.04 Released

Do you miss some of the information you used to see in WHS V1? Well Jerry Wade has written an app that brings that information to WHS 2011 and it’s just been updated to version 1.04.

This is how Jerry describes this app:

It wasn’t long ago I told my friend, John, about my wonderful WHSv1. He decided to create his own box and use WHS 2011. However, he noticed that the icon did not give him the same information as mine such as, connectivity and backup in progress (eg: blue icon). After pondering over this, I decided to put my limited programming skills to work and develop a home server status application. So, without further hesitation, world, humbly meet: Home Server Status v1.0.

REQUIREMENTS:

• .NET Framework 4
• WHS 2011 Connector
• Windows 7 32/64-bit machine. (Why only Windows 7? Well, it offered the features I wanted to see such as, the overlay icons and taskbar pinning.)

There is one minor issue when pinning Home Server Status to the taskbar: When you pin the icon to your taskbar, you will notice that the icon changes to the default. Just go back into settings and reselect the icon again or simply press close/update. This is not a problem with HSS, but with the way Microsoft creates their pinned icons and how I chose to handle them.

This is what is included in version 1.04:

Change log –

1. Rewrote the entire connectivity and backup checkers. I am now using an even better multi-threading routine than before. This makes the application very responsive and just plain faster.

2. Icons added, by user request, to the context menu when using WHSv1 classic tray icons.

3. Once again, I have changed the settings interface. I was looking for something and just hadn’t found the right spot yet.

4. The installer is a little better, detects previous version, will uninstall previous for you, and allow you to start application at end.

5. I replaced in-app settings with registry settings. I got tired of being told this is my first time running the application. However, you will get this message when running v1.04 for the first time, and not after that.

Now it is time to start focusing on new features. I will be adding:

Backup Progress – Something that is actually a little more difficult since Microsoft chose to remove the facility all-together. I must say, I really miss my WHSv1!!

Looking at adding the ability to add your own Jumplist / Context menu items, for those who wish to add a little more to there menu.