Active Directory Restore

howdy,

are you getting any errors and can you start in the safe mod.

im not able to start in the safe mode, i tried the option on Win2k Advanced optopns Menu


-> Directory Services Restore MOde

if you reboot and use the f8 key to boot to the safe mode, you say that you can't
do you get a bsod or an error or the reboots.
which?

Might need to do a seize of the roles.  You should probably purchase another server to be another DC in your environment to prevent this from happening again.

Sounds like you have a hardware error which is why it crashed in the first place. Possibly memory by the sounds of it. Try changing the memory and test again.

The server crashed, you reinstalled just fine, and it worked, then you restored the backup and it failed. Correct. If that is the case then you will need to install Windows 2000 again, make sure it works properly and restore a previous backup, sounds like the backup you are installing is reintroducing the problem. Does this sound appropriate?

If you look at the BSD the next time you get it, try to analyze what is on it so you can figure out why you are getting the blue screen.

http://www.ntbrad.com/bsod.htm

then once you get an idea, you can troubleshoot it.

If it is something like memory, then you could reload your NT as much as you want but until you fix the hardware error, it will still bluescreen.

As mentioned above, having just one DC is not such a great idea.  Even an old beatup PC could be a supplimental DC for your network.

Yours,
Scott

Ok ill start once more all from the beggining

I installed Norton Ghost 2003 on my DC where i wanted to make a ghost image, its installed fine restarted for creating the image and then server got frozen on the first screen when Norton Ghost starts.

i restarted and tried to start windows -(with the option - Start Windows without Ghost 9or something like this)) but the screen it got frozen again (i tried both of the options for many times

then i started computer using Erd Commander - and realised that my disk configuration has been changed by Norton Ghost so my original configuration was looking like


Disk 0
C:\         NTFS           40 gb-
D:\         NTFS           80 gb-

Disk 1
E:\         NTFS          120 gb-

both of the drives are SATA Segate

and the configuration now was like

Disk 0
C:\   GHOST Partition      Fat           15 mb

E:\         NTFS          120 gb-
F:\         NTFS           40 gb-
G:\         NTFS           80 gb-


I inserted Windows Server Cd and started it so i deleted this partition and it came back to the original view but i couldnt start Windows yet tried with Windows FAST Repair, Windows Recovery Console - FIXboot command none of them helped out.


Knowing i do have a daily INCREMENTAL Copy of System State i decided to reinstall Windows which i did, then i opened Windows Backup to Restore my Backup i have selected all the sets on that file (9.4 gb) which toked around 2 hours to restore, and asked for reboot

after rebooting i recieved the screen of death containing information about No Boot Sector or something like this,

Reinstalled once more selected the latest set from the backup file again the same thing

Reintalled once selected first set from the backup again the same thing,

i tried to start on Safe Mode i recieved the same blue screen

i tried to start with Directory Services Restore Mode which then asked for nt***.cat ( i cant remember the file name now)

and i left the office for today, so tomorrow ill go back to this..and i hope ill be able to return Ad and not go to enter this computers once more on the Domain

My computer config is

processor:  Intel  Pentium 4
Ram Memory 1024 MB DDR
Motherboard: Asus P4pe Hipertrading
HDD: 2x120 Gb Segate SATA
DVD ± RW
CD
2 x Network Cards


one thing i didnt do till now is
- configuring AD and Network Interfaces before i do the restore? it sounds a bit stupid but....
 

So you have your operating system on the 40GB disk, but when you boot the system, it cannot find it.  This is probably because Ghost shifted your disks around.  Here's how to create an NT boot disk that will help you get back to your OS:

Format a floppy diskette on a Windows NT system.
Copy the following hidden, system files from the boot partition of the Windows NT box to the boot disk:
NTLDR
controls the operating system boot selection process and hardware detection before the actual kernel is launched.
NTDETECT.COM
detects the major components of the computer before NTLDR selects a configuration and loads the kernel.
BOOT.INI
contains the contents of the boot menu
NTBOOTDD.SYS - present only if the computer has a SCSI hard drive.

From there, you will need to edit the arc path in the boot.ini file so that it points to the correct drive and partition.

It probably will look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

If your disks are IDE, then you need to edit the multi value to set it to the correct physical disk.  It will probably be (0) because that is the first disk in the set.  I'll assume the 120GB drive was for storage.

You then need to correct the partition value.  It was probably, and is probably still set to (1).  if you set it to 2, it would point to the 40gb drive.  If you set it to 3, then it points to the next partition, etc...

You should then be able to boot to your OS on the server by rebooting with the floppy in the drive.

Here's a link that tells you more than what I did, it's technical, but it will help you in the long run.
http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/Content/315/13/3.html

Good luck!

Scott

That is the next step, Scott your a good man. Let use know how it goes.

J

Thanks JD the above procedure is complicated if you've never done it before.  I'm surprised Ghost doesn't mention the possibilities of partition changes in their documentation.  Or maybe they do.  None the less, we are purchasing Ghost next year for imaging purposes.  Now I don't know if I would image my Domain Controllers or not.

Typically, I thought you shouldn't image DC's... it's just too sensitive you know?  It's better to have backups and RAID arrays would you agree?

I agree, Your network is too dependent on DC's to allow them to go down. I always suggest a minimum of two DC's, but 3 is the magic number where everyone should be. In addition the OS drive, should be a mirrored set of disks which are dedicated to the DC only. If the DC has to be used for other purposes, then a seperate mirror or Raid 5 array should be used for data and applications installs etc. In addition having 2 Global Catalogs is so important, if you lose the Global Catalog, Users cannot log into the Domain, only Administrators.

Personally, I only ghost a server, if I am making a massive change, such as upgrading a large application etc. and that is still in rare cases. As far as I am concerned Ghost is for desktops, and rolling out base OS installs for servers only in extremely large environments.

J

i had to install new AD, by the way added 2nd DC server where 1st one is clustered and the second has hardware raid1

The first being clustered? Is the clustered server required do perform additional roles, such as Exchange or Database etc? I use a lot of Clusters, but it is much better practice to install 3 domain controllers (that is the magic number for AD redundancy), than 2 DC's. It may be a waste to have that passive node in the cluster and you will have less redundancy, only having 2 active DC's. Let me know if you want more info or any advice.

J

So, did we answer the original question?  or is there something else that needs answering.  Let me know so I can give you more information.

-Yours,
Scott

Geeze, did any of my answer help at all???