Missing utility partition - Server won't boot

[Guest]

I have an Exchange Server that has the OS mirrored on two SCSI drives. One
of the drives went down about a week ago and I replaced it. I went to reboot
it today and it would not start back up. I happened to remember that the
utility partition on the drive was never mirrored, only the OS partition. I
tried to go through the emergency repair process but whenever I put my ERD
disk in i get a blue screen. I tried to let it do it with the ERD and it
finds the load of Windows but never repairs it enough to boot. How can i get
that OS mirror to boot now that it is missing all of the startup files?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have an Exchange Server that has the OS mirrored on two SCSI drives. One
of the drives went down about a week ago and I replaced it. I went to reboot
it today and it would not start back up. I happened to remember that the
utility partition on the drive was never mirrored, only the OS partition. I
tried to go through the emergency repair process but whenever I put my ERD
disk in i get a blue screen. I tried to let it do it with the ERD and it
finds the load of Windows but never repairs it enough to boot. How can i get
that OS mirror to boot now that it is missing all of the startup files?

As a first step I would try to boot the machine from a Win2000
boot disk, in order to confirm the integrity of the OS. Format a
floppy disk on any Win2000/XP PC, then copy these two files
from your server CD to the floppy disk:
- ntldr
- ntdetect.com

Now use the ERD process to copy c:\boot.ini to the floppy disk,
then boot the server with this disk.

By the way, a mirrored disk is of limited use if you do not test
its operation while things are going well. You would sleep much
better if you set up the mirror, then removed one disk and checked
if the machine is still bootable. This applies to all other backup
processes too.

 

[Guest]

If I am able to get the machine to boot with this disk after editing the
boot.ini, which files do i need to copy over to the hard drive to get it to
boot on its own? Just the ntldr, ntdetect.com and the boot.ini?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Yes. You also need to make the boot disk active.
Furthermore, you must ensure that you have a Windows
MBR and a Windows boot sector. They can be set from
the Recovery Console with the command fixmbr and fixboot.

 

[Guest]

I would make the disk active within disk management in the OS correct? Also,
the password to access the console should be the cuurent administrator
password right, or am i missing something? I tried logging in to the console
and it would not accept the password.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

You can use any old tool to make the partitition active,
even a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).

The password you need is the password for the
account named "administrator".

 

[Guest]

This partition is on a disk that is part of a mirror controlled by the Server
OS disk management. I tried to mark active but it will not, i guess since it
is not labeled as the primary partition. Now what?