Sign in
Microsoft.com
 
Microsoft
 
 
 

locked
How to recover D: after disk ghosting RRS feed

 > 

  • Question

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Here's the situation:

    My system drive (C: and D: partitions) was very flaky so I bought a new drive and ran Norton Ghost to make a copy of it. The old drive was 400GB and the new drive is 1TB so I allocated the extra space to D:. The copy went well and I installed the new drive in place of the old drive.

    I rebooted the system and it launched fine. I can connect to it and all the shares are accessible.

    The bad:

    - The backup service is not starting
    - The storage page shows one drive missing and a new drive not added.

    The problem:

    The new D: partition has been been recognized as the old partition so it's showing missing in the storage but I can't remove it because it was the system partition (i.e. the missing drive has the window logo on it). I can see the new D: in the not added list but i'm not sure what to do. I could add it as a storage drive but the system will try to format it I think and I'm not sure what that will do to the other drives relyng on D:. Or I could add it as a normal drive for back ....

    Either way, it's not helping to make the 'missing' drive go away. Strictly speaking, all the partitions are there and all teh files are there. The system is just not recognizing the content of the new D: partition as the old D: partition.

    What should I do?

    Thanks
    Tuesday, January 12, 2010 12:52 PM

Answers

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    This (restoring ghost image) is not a supported scenario in WHS. Correct procedure would have been to replace the system disk, then do a server reinstall. This procedure will preserve all data in shares for which duplication has been enabled. Data in shares that are not duplicated may be at risk, depending on their actual storage location. Especially if you started using your server with a single disk data from not duplicated shares are likely to be stored on D partition. You may want to read the Technical brief on drive extender from the Windows Home Server Website before proceeding.  This thread may also be of interest to you

    To recover from this situation your best shot would probably be server reinstall. In your case I expect this will even recover data from non duplicated shared on the D partition and possibly even your backup database. You will however need to create users again (it will recognise existing user folders) , connect clients again (reinstall connector software) and reinstall Add-ins and redo any other post install modification. Please note server reinstall may be a lengthy process, especially if you have a lot of data. Also please make sure your server is up to date before you start adding users, clients and so on.

    An alternative would be to edit the registry, however this is a very risky operation with no guarantee for succes. I can give you some basic guidance on this, however don't expect step by step procedure.
    Tuesday, January 12, 2010 3:05 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Unfortunately there is no updated installation medium available for WHS besides those, you can purchase nowadays.
    The alternative option to access your data (in case a server reinstallation is not offered or fails) is described in the FAQ How to recover data after server failure.
    Best greetings from Germany
    Olaf
    Monday, January 18, 2010 9:28 AM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    With self built servers the reinstall option is always a bit of gambling and depends from luck. Not only, that the system disk must be found as first volume, also all other volumes need to be detected and the information on the data volumes should be intact.
    If possible, you should set the SATA controller mode to IDE compatibility, otherwise you would have to supply the drivers two times, one time via floppy drive.
    Best greetings from Germany
    Olaf
    Sunday, January 24, 2010 9:03 PM
    Moderator

All replies

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    This (restoring ghost image) is not a supported scenario in WHS. Correct procedure would have been to replace the system disk, then do a server reinstall. This procedure will preserve all data in shares for which duplication has been enabled. Data in shares that are not duplicated may be at risk, depending on their actual storage location. Especially if you started using your server with a single disk data from not duplicated shares are likely to be stored on D partition. You may want to read the Technical brief on drive extender from the Windows Home Server Website before proceeding.  This thread may also be of interest to you

    To recover from this situation your best shot would probably be server reinstall. In your case I expect this will even recover data from non duplicated shared on the D partition and possibly even your backup database. You will however need to create users again (it will recognise existing user folders) , connect clients again (reinstall connector software) and reinstall Add-ins and redo any other post install modification. Please note server reinstall may be a lengthy process, especially if you have a lot of data. Also please make sure your server is up to date before you start adding users, clients and so on.

    An alternative would be to edit the registry, however this is a very risky operation with no guarantee for succes. I can give you some basic guidance on this, however don't expect step by step procedure.
    Tuesday, January 12, 2010 3:05 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    First, thanks for the detailed answer.

    Ultimately, I can afford to loose the backups but not the data on the drives. I believe all the data I don't want to loose is duplicated so even loosing the D: would be ok. I just need the most secure procedure. 
    My install disk for WHS is very old. Is there a more recent install package that would avoid downloading and installing the whole history of updates and service packs?

    Thanks
    Monday, January 18, 2010 7:59 AM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Unfortunately there is no updated installation medium available for WHS besides those, you can purchase nowadays.
    The alternative option to access your data (in case a server reinstallation is not offered or fails) is described in the FAQ How to recover data after server failure.
    Best greetings from Germany
    Olaf
    Monday, January 18, 2010 9:28 AM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    I've tried to boot for two versions of WHS instalation disks. One is the old RC disk I used a long time ago to instal the system (I think, it's been a while), and the other is the latest SP1 instalation I was able to borrow from a friend. Both setup did not give me the option to reinstall. The combo box for the installation type only offers "New Instalation". So I canceled on both. Is it because my C: drive already contains a valid instalation of WHS following the ghosting? 

    Any advice on how to be able to run a "re-installation" that will not destroy the data on my drives. 
    Thanks
    Saturday, January 23, 2010 11:56 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    With self built servers the reinstall option is always a bit of gambling and depends from luck. Not only, that the system disk must be found as first volume, also all other volumes need to be detected and the information on the data volumes should be intact.
    If possible, you should set the SATA controller mode to IDE compatibility, otherwise you would have to supply the drivers two times, one time via floppy drive.
    Best greetings from Germany
    Olaf
    Sunday, January 24, 2010 9:03 PM
    Moderator