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Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Repair OS

I have a backup server which has a RAID 5 volume on it. I have removed some files from WINSxS folder in C:\Windows as it had 9.5g worth of updates stored in there. My disk space was running low.

I read online that this was ok to do, I should have known that removing files from C:\Windows was a bad idea.

So here I am... I cannot log into windows at all. I receive the BSOD which states that some hardware or software has malfunctioned.

I have loaded Mini Windows XP to get into the file system and I was going to restore the files but I cannot see the Volume as it is a RAID volume and I do not have the RAID drivers to hand.

Windows Repair fails as it says it isn't compatible with this version of windows. It suggests using a windows repair disk. Which I do not have.

I'm currently trying to find a Server 2008 R2 ISO as my MS Portal isn't showing it as available to download even though I am licensed for it.

Any guidance is much appreciated. I have tried all the F8 options and non will let me in including last know good
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Thanks Tom, i have sent you a PM

Regards

James
Don't you take regular backups of your system? And why do you use WinXP media? 2012R2 can view RAIDs better.
Hi noxcho,

The server OS is server 2008 R2 I used Mini XP to hopefully gain access to the file system so i can restore the files i moved to the Recycle bin which broke the OS.

I use 2012 on all my other servers but I haven't gotten round to upgrading my backup server. Also this is not backed up as it is the backup server itself
Ok, then you can boot this server from Windows 2008R2 media and perform repair install. But before you'd better copy out important data from it.
Btw, the deleted files - did you delete them from a specific folder only?
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Please note that RAID-5 is no longer recommended for use at all.
This is due to the RISK of a second disk failing while the first failure is rebuilding. Use RAID-6 or RAID10 instead
Thank you Gerald, I will look into this and make sure were using RAID-10 if not it might be a good time to make the changes
Today I managed to install server 2008 R2 along side my broken installation. This is installed on a separate hard drive and I can see all of my broken Windows directory.

I have copied the WinSxS contents from the good installation to the WinSxS folder on the bad installation. I they put the permissions back to TrustedInstaller for the WinSXS folder.

I tried to boot again and still have no luck. I've tried some of the boot options and these haven't worked.

Losing the will to live right now. Really want to repair this installation rather than rebuild it.

Currently installing the latest Service Pack then will try move the WinSxS contents over again to see if this works
I've tried to repair the offline disk using sfc offline windows repair but this fails stating that the resource protection service cannot start. I've tried to fix this with no luck neither.
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Currently i get a black screen and a cursor which moves around when i move the mouse i.e. it isn't frozen. This is an improvement as before i received the BSOD in all modes

Im going to try Safe mode with command prompt and run SFC if i can get in
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Non responsive to Ctrl + Alt + Del and Command prompt does not appear

I may need to transfer WinSxS from another Server and give it a go
I now have the same version of OS on my temp Hard Drive. Server 2008 R2 SP1. Could i create a system repair disk on this and then boot to the other Hard Drive with the repair disk?  As soon as i get Command line on my broken OS hard drive I'm sure i will be able to repair the OS
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I cannot create a Recovery Disk by the looks of it without backup up the server. Im trying a few more things but running out of steam.

I could reinstall everything tomorrow if i have no luck today. I wanted to keep everything if i could have helped it but its not looking like its going to repair
Currently got the black screen with the cursor in Normal Windows Mode. The cursor keeps looking like its loading something so I'm going to leave it over night and see how it is in the morning. I have a CCNA exam tonight so i have to go swat up for that before taking it at 7pm
I have recovered the C:\Windows folder and the C:\Boot folder and tried to reboot but it says that the Operating System needs to be repaired. I click repair and again it says that Windows Repair is not compatible with this version of Windows.

How do i make a compatible windows Repair CD?

I cannot get far enough into the boot process to see the F8 options
Thank you Tom,

I ended up re-installing Windows from scratch as i had no choice. All my critical data was stored on separate drives so all went ok

Thank you for all your help

James