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I noticed that when I do a client restore from WHS, the new target drive must not be smaller than the original. RRS feed

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    I had a PC with a 250g hdd as a single drive xp machine and needed to replace the hard drive. I had a new 160g drive for replacement but WHS restore saw the new drive as too small even thought the entire contents on the 250g drive totalled around 10-20g. I guess i might have been able to repartition the drive to get a c: OS partition drive down to smaller than 160g. and then make a new backup of the smaller partition only. Anyone else encountered this drive size limitation on retore?
    Friday, September 11, 2009 2:39 PM

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    This is a known limitation of the Windows Home Server bare metal restore process. It's a result of the way Windows Home Server backup & restore work, combined with the way NTFS works.

    There really is no good workaround. You can sometimes get a backup to restore to a slightly smaller drive, though you will typically not get it to restore to a drive that's 1/2 the size. My recommendation would be to replace the failing drive with one that's the same size or larger.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Friday, September 11, 2009 3:30 PM
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    Yes, and not the only limitation, known or otherwise.  Also make sure you have a supported NIC along with a proper hdd.  I have to keep an intel PCI NIC on hand because the ancient restore cd is limited in its NIC driver capabilities.  WHS restore function (isn't this a core function?) can be much more complicated than advertised.  Buy an off-the-shelf server or be prepared for another Microsoft science project.  WHS apologists feel free to jump in now.....
    Monday, September 14, 2009 12:52 AM