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Windows Server Backup 2008 Bare Metal Recovery blank screen blinking cursor RRS feed

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    I used Windows Server Backup in 2008 to take a full backup of a Win 2008 server which is a VM (on Hyper-V). This full backup contains the Full C: drive, System state and Bare Metal backup. I stored this backup in a network location so that I could get to it whilst BMR restoring.

    I then followed this article to the letter to perform a bare-metal restore onto another VM (on same Hyper-V box): http://www.wbadmin.info/articles/howto-bare-metal-restores-windows-server-2008-backup.html

    I got to the part where it successfully finished the bare-metal restore and says that my restore is complete (step #11 from link above) and then it reboots. But the problem is that after the reboot, Windows either boots from the installer CD again asking you to install Windows OR (after I take the installer CD out) it reboots and gives me a blank screen with a blinking cursor i.e. Windows does not load.

    Why can't I see my restored image on this new VM? Any ideas?

    FYI: The harddrive (VHD) this image was restored to has been specified as an IDE Controller 0 (and not SCSI Controller) from within Hyper-V. I tried attaching the restored VHD as a SCSI controller and tried to boot from it, but the VM throws a Boot failure message at startup, so went back to IDE.

    Tuesday, March 8, 2011 9:43 PM
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    Here is the DPM specific blog that talks about the restore (although mostly the same).  http://blogs.technet.com/b/dpm/archive/2010/05/12/performing-a-bare-metal-restore-with-dpm-2010.aspx

    From the sounds of things, the image is being put back on the target drive (VHD) but something during the boot process is not getting to the new files in the VHD.  Since it is just blinking, I almost lean towards the drive not being marked as active.

    To look closer, you can boot back to the CD on the VM with the VHD attached to it and instad of choosing the "Windows Complete PC Restore" (step 4 form the blog you mentioned), choose to go to a command prompt.  From there, look at the contents of the C drive to verify they have been copied over and the directory structure should be easily recognizable and match your backed up system.

    If they do match, then try to use diskpart to see if the disk is active or the boot disk.  Also look in Hyper-V settings for this VM to see what the boot preference or order is and move IDE disks to the top.

    Thanks, Chris Butcher - MSFT This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
    • Marked as answer by humilicious Thursday, March 17, 2011 6:28 PM
    Tuesday, March 15, 2011 6:21 PM
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