sepusa.com | ONE network-wide backup solution

1 Introduction
2 System requirements
3 Troubleshooting

Introduction

With SEP sesam BSR light it is possible to restore the Windows system after a complete breakdown. No additional software is required to install on the corresponding system except for the SEP sesam Client. In order to recover a system with SEP sesam BSR light it is only required that the system is frequently backed up with VSS.

When recovering a system with SEP sesam BSR light it just has to be started from the SEP sesam BSR light CD and the original partitions have to be created again. Afterwards the full backup is restored and finally the boot sector is created.

Important information:

SEP sesam BSR light can only operate correctly if the Recovery client uses the same Hardware as the Backup client because there is no dissimilar hardware wizard.

System requirements

SEP sesam Server and Client from version 4.0.2 or newer
SEP sesam BSR light Download

Setting up the backup

For the backup a normal all backup of the corresponding client will be set up. If just the system partition should backed up the other partitions can be excluded.

Configuration for a restore

Burn the *.iso file on a CD and boot the corresponding system from the CD.
Start the hardware detection using the desktop icon HwPnP Install Drivers.

Configure the network using the desktop icon PENetwork through a static IP address or alternatively DHCP. In the sub item Computer you can adjust the hostname and test the connectivity. For the restore it is also possible to use an IP address that differs from the original system. The specified hostname has to be registered at the name server and must be resolvable via DNS (forward and reverse) from the SEP sesam Server.
- If you are using DHCP in some cases it is helpful to renew the DHCP release to be sure that the SEP sesam Server can reliable resolve the machine name. But we more encourage you to use static IPs instead of DHCP.

Note:

It is useful to assign the name used by the system which should be restored. If a different name is used, the option "Target Node" in the restore task window of the SEP sesam GUI has to be changed to the assigned name.

Now the SEP sesam Client can be installed via the desktop icon sesam installation.
After installation every SEP sesam Server has full unrestricted access to the SEP sesam Client.

Open the Disk Management Start->All Programs->Computer Management->Computer Management->Drive Management and configure the hard disk.

If the hard disk does not contain any partition information, e.g. when the HDD was formatted, you have to initialise the drive with Master Boot Record.

Attention

We do not recommend using Global Partition Table because we cannot guarantee that you will have a bootable system after the restore.

After you have initialised the drive, you can add new volumes.

Please always keep in Mind:

Independent from the number of partitions on your hard drive you always have to set the boot partition as the active partition. If you do not set the partition as active, you won't be able to run Windows also when you have rebuilded the boot sector.
If your operating system has a so called "system reserved volume" e.g. in Windows Server 2008 R2, this partition has to be set as active.

Now add the system booted with SEP sesam BSR light with the given name as a new client to the SEP sesam Server.

Attention

To verify the connectivity it is a good idea to run a short test backup from the ram disk X:\.
Important Note: While making a backup from a running SEP sesam BSR light, the option Backup with VSS has to be deactivated because SEP sesam BSR light does not contain VSS-Writers.

Now you can start the restore.

After the restore

In newer Windows systems the data required for boot are saved on a hidden partition the so called System Reserved Volume. To make these systems bootable the following steps are necessary after restore:

Open a command line and start the program bootrec.exe.

Because of the boot manager is located in the System Reserved Volume possibly it has to be rebuilt. In the following section the options of bootrec are described.

Necessary commands for recovering the boot sector of the operating system W2003

change to the restored directory c:\windows\system32\
type in bootrec /fixmbr
reboot the system

Necessary commands for recovering the boot sector of the operating system W2008 and Windows 7

The /FixMbr option writes a Windows 7 or Windows Vista-compatible MBR to the system partition. This option does not overwrite the existing partition table. Use this option when you must resolve MBR corruption issues, or when you have to remove non-standard code from the MBR.

The /FixBoot option writes a new boot sector to the system partition by using a boot sector that is compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Use this option if one of the following conditions is true:

The boot sector has been replaced with a non-standard Windows Vista or Windows 7 boot sector.
The boot sector is damaged.
An earlier Windows operating system has been installed after Windows Vista or Windows 7 was installed. In this scenario, the computer starts by using Windows NT Loader (NTLDR) instead of Windows Boot Manager (Bootmgr.exe).

The /ScanOs option scans all disks for installations that are compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Additionally, this option displays the entries that are currently not in the BCD store. Use this option when there are Windows Vista or Windows 7 installations that the Boot Manager menu does not list.

The /RebuildBcd option scans all disks for installations that are compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Additionally, this option lets you select the installations that you want to add to the BCD store. Use this option when you must completely rebuild the BCD.

Note:

If rebuilding the BCD does not resolve the startup issue, you can export and delete the BCD, and then run this option again. By doing this, you make sure that the BCD is completely rebuilt. To do this, type the following commands at the Windows RE command prompt:

Rebuilding the bootmanager with StartRep.exe

If rebuilding the BCD does not help:

boot from your windows server 2008 (r2) CDROM
choose "Repair" and execute an command prompt
Switch to the Path:

and execute the Program:

after executing and finishing this, reboot your system.

Troubleshooting

System will not start after restore Control the c:\ partition for the flag 'Active partiton'.
After the restore you may be prompted to activate Windows again for example if the hard disk was changed.
If the Eject CD/DVD option at shutdown is selected, all optical drives will be ejected if there are two or more optical drives attached to the machine.
If a message appears that the BSR light image could not be started, please reboot the Computer. If the message appears furthermore, please check if the image was downloaded correctly.
The input of primary DNS suffixes in PE Network Manager with more than 15 characters is not possible at the moment.
- If you want to use such a long primary DNS suffix you can change this with the following command:reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters /v "NV Domain" /d "domainname.tld" /f
- To add it to the DNS suffix search list you can use this command:reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters /v "SearchList" /d "domainname.tld" /f
  where domainname.tld is the DNS domain to add.

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