ADSM-L

Re: NT 4.0 Bare Metal estore

1998-06-19 10:31:17
Subject: Re: NT 4.0 Bare Metal estore
From: "Prather, Wanda" <PrathW1 AT CENTRAL.SSD.JHUAPL DOT EDU>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 10:31:17 -0400
The fact that your system will even boot after the full restore means you
got it almost working!
We have done exactly what you describe many times, and it works.  But there
are a few subtle things that can go wrong...

You don't say which version of the client you are using.  Under V2, the NT
client always backed up the registry first when doing a GUI backup.  (The
ADSM registry backup creates a LOGICAL copy of the data that is stored in
the adsm.sys subdirectory before being sent to the ADSM server.)  Under V3,
it doesn't necessarily do that.  If you don't have a complete registry
backup, I think it could cause problems similar to what you describe, as
parts of the user profile could be missing.  After your step 2, try using
the UTILITY function to force a REGISTRY backup of all the keys.

Also, from your description, I assume you are restoring your C: drive on top
of your C: drive.  This case is a little tricker than using the procedure in
the bare metal restore book, because (as you probably noticed during the
restore), your restore cannot overwrite the .dll executable files that are
in use while you are running.

You get some Microsoft .dll files installed with Windows NT that can get
updated ANYTIME you install other software.  What many manufacturers of
software do, is provide updated copies of the Microsoft dlls with their
installation code.  If their copy is newer than the one already on your
machine, it is loaded when you install their software (even ADSM does
this!).

What that means, is that when you reinstall Windows NT from the install
media, you are putting back  the oldest versions of those .dll's.  Then if
the restore can't overwrite them because they are in use, you are left with
a machine that has some .dlls back leveled, which can cause weirdness such
as you describe.

Because of this, when you reinstall Windows NT, you should ALSO reinstall
any Windows service packs BEFORE you start your restore.  That USUALLY gets
us around the kind of problems you are having, but isn't guaranteed.
Depends on who's been messing with your .dll's.

A better alternative is the one described in the bare metal recovery
document, which is to install WIndows NT on a DIFFERENT DRIVE, boot from
that drive, install ADSM there and use it to restore the C: drive - then you
are GUARANTEED to have all the files come back to the correct level.

For systems that only have one drive, we have also had success by installing
the new version of WinNT in a DIFFERENT DIRECTORY.  If the old Windows NT
directory was called WINNT, we install the new one to WINNTr, or something
like that.  Then you are running on copies of all the files in the NEW
directory when you boot.  Then you use ADSM to restore the C: drive, and it
can restore EVERYTHING back to the original WINNT directory, because none of
those files are in use.  Then you have to know how to change the boot files
to point back to the original WINNT directory, reboot, then restore that
registry and reboot again, then delete the WINNTr directory that you used
for recovery.

That gets a bit complicated, but my point is that what you tried MAY work,
if you are lucky, and depending on how close the install media is to the
system you backed up.  But what you did won't always work when you are
trying to restore the C: drive on top of itself.

Hope this helps some...


===============================================================
Wanda Prather
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
443-778-8769
wanda_prather AT jhuapl DOT edu

"Intelligence has much less practical application than you'd think."
              - Scott Adams/Dilbert
===============================================================



> ----------
> From:         Doug Strilecky[SMTP:dstril AT voyager DOT net]
> Sent:         Thursday, June 18, 1998 3:27 PM
> To:   ADSM-L AT vm.marist DOT edu
> Subject:      NT 4.0 Bare Metal estore
>
> Can anyone give me the step by step process by which they have done a
> successful NT 4.0 bare metal restore?  We've looked several
> places(Redbooks online, Windows client manual) and found what we feel
> are incohesive pieces.  From what we found in the process we have tried
> and have not been successful with is:
>         1. Install ADSM client software
>         2. Using the client GUI do a backup
>         3. Reformat the disk
>         4. Reinstall NT
>         5. Reinstall ADSM client
>         6. Using the client GUI restore the data
>         7. Using the Utility bar on the client GUI restore the
> registary.
>         8. Reboot the client.
>
> After doing that the client will come up put any attempt to run setup to
> install new software fails and the Office tool bar has no buttons for
> the various products.
>
> All assistance will be greatly appreciated..
>
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