Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures
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Fixing the boot.ini is probably the right thing to be working on.
On a normal system it looks like:
[boot loader]
timeout=05
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptInIf Hirens changes the drive order, have you tried creating an entry with disk(1) or other things in case the location of the partition has changed?
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In your boot.ini file are you using the /burnmemory switch? If so, check this out:
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1016613 -
@Danp said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
Did you try the command
chkdsk c: /pas shown in the one article?Yes, it did fix a few things but didn't fix boot.
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@Mike-Davis said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
In your boot.ini file are you using the /burnmemory switch? If so, check this out:
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1016613Hiren is booting without that switch, so I'm guessing it's not needed.
Also my fresh install of 2003 doesn't have it and works great. -
@Mike-Davis said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
Fixing the boot.ini is probably the right thing to be working on.
On a normal system it looks like:
[boot loader]
timeout=05
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptInIf Hirens changes the drive order, have you tried creating an entry with disk(1) or other things in case the location of the partition has changed?
I've thought about this, but there is only one disk in the VM on one of my restores.... And that boots just fine with hiren.
I really think I have a broken MBR area in the disk.
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Keep bringing ideas though. Thanks.
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Probably not what you'd like to hear, have you tried using Disk2vhd?
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415.aspx -
@Dashrender said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
@Danp said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
Did you try the command
chkdsk c: /pas shown in the one article?Yes, it did fix a few things but didn't fix boot.
Afterwards, did you try the other commands (fixboot, fixmbr) to see if the combination now works?
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@Mike-Davis said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
In your boot.ini file are you using the /burnmemory switch? If so, check this out:
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1016613Now that I'm at a desktop (not a phone), I looked at the link. Interesting, I've never heard of the /burnmemory switch before. As my pictures of my boot.ini file above show, I don't have this switch listed.
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@FATeknollogee said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
Probably not what you'd like to hear, have you tried using Disk2vhd?
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415.aspxI kicked this off late in the day yesterday and it finished at 7 PM, and I just wanted to go home - now to figure out how to move this VHDX to my XS box.
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@Danp said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
@Dashrender said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
@Danp said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
Did you try the command
chkdsk c: /pas shown in the one article?Yes, it did fix a few things but didn't fix boot.
Afterwards, did you try the other commands (fixboot, fixmbr) to see if the combination now works?
yep, and nope, didn't work.
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@Dashrender said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
Something I just considered.
To ensure that the partitions where large enough, when I created the partitions for the VM, I made them 1 GB larger than the originals. This leaves slack space in the drive that will not be used by the restore.
I looking through the defaults when in expert mode, it looks like Clonezilla grows your disk to fit the space...more trial and error.
OK so I made a new VDI in XenServer, removed the old one, and restored my image using Clonezilla again. This time I made the new VDI as close in size to the original disk as possible, and disabled the -r command so it leaves the freespace unused.
I still have 165 MB of slack space.
https://i.imgur.com/jcvFvhn.png -
Open up the command prompt...
And run fdisk, and make sure your
drive is set as an active boot volume.If you can't run it from Windows, boot from the HBCD into a Linux command prompt and then fdisk /dev/sda ?
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on Server 2003, you could also try it with diskpart ...
https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-make-a-partition-bootable-with-diskpart
Just ignore the bits about run as administrator.
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I've done all of these things.
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well - I guess 3 (or was it 4) times a charm.
After reading another tech page trying to find solutions to my non booting 2003 server I ran into someone who said
@gregrocker
However once you accept the offered repair if it fails to start up then rebooting DVD/CD to run Startup Repair up to three more reboots will often get it started, depending upon how complicated the problems it needs to test and attempt fixes for.the bits about run as administrator.
So I decided to run chkdsk /f again on my VM. Well this time it seemed to stall out. I started it last night around 7 PM, and it was still running when I came in this morning.
About 20 mins ago I took a look at it and noticed it was finished, AND it said there were claims of slack space in the MFT that were repaired. So rebooted - no luck. What the heck, let's try fixmbr/fixboot again. Booted from 2003R2 ISO, ran the fixes, popped the ISO, and told it to reboot - tada! The Windows 2003 boot screen!!!!
Issue number two put to bed!!
Originally I ran chkdsk twice, once with an error, and a second time to make sure it came up clean (which it did). I then ran it again several days ago after a prompting from reading another post.
For whatever reason, I read the post above yesterday and just said, what the heck.. let's do it again.
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@Dashrender
Last P2V evar? -
@momurda said in Windows Server 2003 P2V adventures:
@Dashrender
Last P2V evar?It's the last one I need to do for this office, we are 100% virtual now in the server closet.
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Considering the solution - I have been thinking for several days that perhaps this issue stemmed from a problem with the disk on the original system. It might be slightly damaged - somehow not enough to prevent it from booting, but enough to cause the seen issues in the clonezilla image.
If I cared, I could run chkdsk /r on the system a few times, then take a clonezilla image again, and then try restoring that.
meh.
