Troubleshooting Problems with Restoring Data

The majority of the problems associated with backing up and restoring data are attributed to incorrect, insufficient, or lack of proper permissions and rights. Review the "Configuring Security for Backup and Restore Operations" section earlier in this chapter for details about permissions and rights.

You can use Backup only locally. You cannot back up a remote computer using Backup. You can back up and restore System State data only on a local computer. You cannot back up and restore System State data on a remote computer even if you are an administrator on the remote computer.

Restore problems include the following two major troubleshooting issues using ASR and System State restore:

• After you restore the System State, your computer does not start or your computer enters a continuous restart loop ” This issue can occur when you create the System State backup from the C:\Winnt folder on a Windows 2000 Server and then perform an upgrade to Windows Server 2003, which uses the C:\Windows folder to store its system files. The workaround is to install Windows Server 2003 a second time. Windows 2003 will discover the existing installation in the C:\Windows folder and you'll be prompted to specify a different location. Type C:\Winnt and then complete the installation. When you finish, make sure to delete the old C:\Windows directory.

• When you replace a defective hard drive with one of identical size, ASR cannot restore ” You'll get an error stating that your hard disk capacity is insufficient and cannot be used to recover the partition on the original system drive. Even though the hard disks' sizes appear the same size, the hard drives do not have exactly the same number of sectors. The solution is to purchase a hard disk drive of identical size and geometry. In other worlds , buy the same identical size, make, and model number from the same manufacturer and you can't go wrong.