i've been playing around with this back up and restore feature of Windows 2003 Server. I am able to succesfully back-up the whole C drive and system state. But whenever I try to do a restore, it always fails. I can't get my server to boot. It always gives me an error. What I do when i try to restore is, reinstall the OS, then restore the entire C and system state. i let it override any existing files. when it is done restoring all the files, it ask to reboot. that's when i am faced with thi s issue. once it reboots, i don't exactly remember the error code but it won't load the OS with the restored files. why is that and can someone guide me on this. thanks.

 

Most likely will need the error code - Are you reinstalling the same version of 2003 (SP1?).

 

Get Ghost, your life will be easier.

 

Yes I am installing the same version of 2003 SP1. This is the process I follow:

- Reinstall a clean copy of Win 2003 Server on an exact machine (hardware wise...all same parts and hardware configuration)

- when done, i run restore using the Windows 2003 server utility
- when running restore, i select the following: restore "C" and "system state"; i select "restore files to original location" and also select "replace existing files".

I let the restore feature run. Once done, i check the log and it says restore completed and successful. I reboot which it asks for. After rebooting this is the error I get:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM.
Select "r" at the first screen to start the repair."

 

Are you restoring the whole machine or just the system state. Is it an Active Directory Controller?

 

the whole C drive (which is the whole machine) and system state. No, it is not a DC. it is my application server.

 

I think you are backing up the OS too and that is what is giving you your error. Try backing up only what you need BU'd. I think that will work. If you have files all over the place then try to consolidate them to a few folders before backing them up.

 

I don't know if this will help but it might be worth reading.

read this

 

page cannot be displayed

 

Try reinstalling the OS manually and then laying over the system state.

 

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm

 

found out what i was doing wrong. i wasn't using the ASR feature...basically a system restore floppy disk for my specific server. did a back up and created an ASR disk and now am able to restore no problems at all. thanks

 

Double and triple ceck the ASR stuff. Maybe I'm nuts, but I could swear I recall reading somewhere that the ASR disks are tied to the backup sets. Whenever you make a backup you want to be able to recover the OS from, you also have to make a new ASR disk with it. Or something like that.

 

thanks for the heads up. i will test this soon. i don't usually change the system settings...just the database. gracias gringo.