Server 2003 hardware crash - reinstall help

Discussion in 'Windows Server' started by dtndvm, Jan 15, 2010.

  1. dtndvm

    dtndvm MDL Novice

    Jan 15, 2010
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    I have been a lurker here for quite some time and have gotten a lot of help with my XP systems but now need some newbie advice for my Server 2003 system.

    The system board died on my old Dell running Server 2003 standard. I knew the machine was starting to have problems and was able to find a new Dell machine at a great price but it came with no OS. I have an image of the drive running the OS on the old machine, but obviously the hardware is too different to just copy it to the new machine and boot it up. I have an OEM reinstall disk for the old machine (no help there).

    The installed system has 8 users, some thin and some thick workstations, and a ton of installed software, printers, etc. I am really not looking forward to rebuilding the system from scratch.

    My question is this: Is it possible to copy the drive image to the new box and then do a repair install over it and keep all my settings, etc. If so which install disk do I create for the purpose (retail, OEM, etc.) and are there any special procedures I need to do to make it work?

    Thanks in advance for any help...I'm very comfortable with XP but a newbie to the Server stuff.
     
  2. Animeniac

    Animeniac MDL Novice

    Dec 19, 2008
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    #2 Animeniac, Jan 15, 2010
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2010
    I'm running an OEM version of 2008R2 and I recently upgraded my computer's motherboard, CPU, and memory. I also didn't want to have to redo my server, too much of a pain, haha. I left the OS as is from the previous hardware and it hasn't had a problem, yet. I would make a backup of your current HD just in case things go awry. It did prompt me to reboot about 2 or 3 time to install the new hardware the first time.
    A short list of major changes/similarities from old to new hardware, for comparison sake.
    AMD64 X2 --> AMD Phenom2 X4
    Gigabyte MB --> Gigabyte MB
    nVidia chipset --> ATI chipset
    DDR --> DDR3
     
  3. sebus

    sebus MDL Guru

    Jul 23, 2008
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    As far as installation is concerned XP & 2003 are pretty much the same. Just make an image of your existing old drive & copy this image onto new HD in the new server
    See what happens, if it does not start then you have to add by hand offline bits to registry for your HD controller on the new mobo

    Takes 15 min all in all if you know what you are doing...

    sebus
     
  4. dtndvm

    dtndvm MDL Novice

    Jan 15, 2010
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    #4 dtndvm, Jan 17, 2010
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2010
    (OP)
    sebus,
    Thanks for the response. Did as you suggested. As expected, the hardware is way to different to allow OS to boot. BSOD with stop codes that indicate driver/hardware issues. Unfortunately, I don't know which registry keys to modify and with what to correct the issue.
    Straightforward answer would seem to be a repair install. Downloaded 2 different ISO's of 2003 R2 (retail and also trial direct from MS) but neither of them give you an option for a repair install.
    Any info on either what to modify in the registry (original machine Dell PE1800, new machine Dell Power Edge T610 with 2 E5520 quad cores, 4GB DDR3, raid config with 2 160 GB SATA drives) or how to get to the option to do a repair install?

    On a positive note, was able to get the old machine booted by repeatedly cycling the boot process but don't know how long it will stay running.
     
  5. sebus

    sebus MDL Guru

    Jul 23, 2008
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    Which HD controller do you have in T610?

    Real retail will definitely allow repair install (just like XP)
    A disk that has winnt.sif (OEM) will not give you the repair option

    sebus
     
  6. dtndvm

    dtndvm MDL Novice

    Jan 15, 2010
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    #6 dtndvm, Jan 18, 2010
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2010
    (OP)
    I didn't see a winnt.sif file but I may not have a full retail disk. I get an option for recovery console and to delete the existing install but not for a repair install. I also assume the key I have is a VL key from my vendor as they configured the machine to start. When I installed the eval version from MS, it would not accept my key. Any links for an iso of a full retail disk? Also the install I have is 2003 Standard not R2, if that makes a difference.

    The HD controller is "RAID 1 for PERC 6/i or SAS 6/iR-I Controller, no SLD"

    Thanks
     
  7. sebus

    sebus MDL Guru

    Jul 23, 2008
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    #7 sebus, Jan 18, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2017

    Attached Files:

  8. dtndvm

    dtndvm MDL Novice

    Jan 15, 2010
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    Sebus,
    Thanks so much. Definitely closer. I booted my W2k3 eval copy and used Device Manager to better ID the controller and it's driver (prior info came directly from Dell's spec sheet that shipped with the machine).

    Dell SAS 6/iR Integrated Controller
    Matching Device ID: pci\ven_1000&dev_0058&subsys_1f101028
    Device Instance ID: PCI\VEN_1000&DEV_0058&SUBSYS_1F101028&REV_08\4&1CB3378&0&0050
    Driver: lsi_sas.sys

    Found the keys you said to change and imported versions of them from my working eval install in order to reflect the controller and driver I found.

    Imported these entries:

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase\pci#ven_1000&dev_0058&subsys_1f101028]
    "Service"="LSI_SAS"
    "ClassGUID"="{4D36E97B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}"

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\lsi_sas]
    "Type"=dword:00000001
    "Start"=dword:00000000
    "Group"="SCSI miniport"
    "ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
    "ImagePath"="system32\\drivers\\lsi_sas.sys"
    "Tag"=dword:00000021

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\lsi_sas\Parameters]
    "BusType"=dword:0000000a

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\lsi_sas\Parameters\Device]
    "DriverParameter"="PlaceHolder=0;"
    "MaximumSGList"=dword:000000ff
    "NumberOfRequests"=dword:000000ff

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\lsi_sas\Parameters\PnpInterface]
    "5"=dword:00000001

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\lsi_sas\Enum]
    "0"="PCI\\VEN_1000&DEV_0058&SUBSYS_1F101028&REV_08\\4&1cb3378&0&0050"
    "Count"=dword:00000001
    "NextInstance"=dword:00000001


    Dropped a copy of lsi.sys into System 32\Drivers.

    Got MUCH further into the boot before BSOD and same stop code:
    0X0000007B (0XF78A2A94, 0XC0000034, 0X00000000, 0X00000000)

    Questions:
    1. Do I need to delete previously existing controller reg entries after import?
    2. What am I missing?

    Thanks again
     
  9. sebus

    sebus MDL Guru

    Jul 23, 2008
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    Just use the automated DriverInjector solution!
    Works wonders (and makes me wonder why I bothered to do it all by hand for so long...)

    Wonderfull things are usually freeware

    sebus
     
  10. dtndvm

    dtndvm MDL Novice

    Jan 15, 2010
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    Injector worked like a charm! Still won't boot all the way but the controller driver is loading. Hangs at drvmain.sdb which appears to be an issue with the MBR. Ran fixboot and fixmbr from recovery console with no results. Very frustrating! Looks like a repair install would be a good bet but I can't find an ISO that gives me that option.

    Thanks for all your help with this. Any other thoughts?
     
  11. sebus

    sebus MDL Guru

    Jul 23, 2008
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