Restore 2000 ad server to new hardware

[burnley]

I have a 2000 advanced server working on a Dell with RAID-1. I back up
the user data and system state from this server daily.
We are a small company and do not want to have an identical backup
server running incase the primary server fails. We do usually have a
spare desktop computer around (basic Dell Celeron, etc).
I want to create a copy of our server with the active directory,
security permissions, etc onto this spare computer with minimal fuss.
What I have done by looking website, usergroups, etc.

Server - create system state backup
- create backup of all files/directories EXCEPT system state
Spare computer - installed 2000 ad server
- Booted into Directory services and restored system state
- Computer would only boot into safe mode since registry stuff.
- Computer would not repair the installation using 2000 ad server
disk.

Spare computer - installed 2000 ad server
- Performed full restore of files/directories EXCEPT system state
- Computer will not reboot. Looks like 2 versions of Windows are on
the server. One cannot find a file and the other cannot find Windows.
- Trying to repair, setup cannot find windows

Spare computer - installed 2000 ad server
- Same as above but I installed SP4 prior to restore.

If the above would take, I was going to go into directory services to
restore the system state.

Any help in how to do this?
Would all this be avoided if I had a similar computer?

Server = Dell SC420 - P4, 1GB mem, RAID SATA
Spare = Dell 2400 - Cel, 512MB mem, ATA

 

[Cameron Dorrough]

I have a 2000 advanced server working on a Dell with RAID-1. I back up
the user data and system state from this server daily.
We are a small company and do not want to have an identical backup
server running incase the primary server fails. We do usually have a
spare desktop computer around (basic Dell Celeron, etc).
I want to create a copy of our server with the active directory,
security permissions, etc onto this spare computer with minimal fuss.
What I have done by looking website, usergroups, etc.

Server - create system state backup
- create backup of all files/directories EXCEPT system state
Spare computer - installed 2000 ad server
- Booted into Directory services and restored system state
- Computer would only boot into safe mode since registry stuff.
- Computer would not repair the installation using 2000 ad server
disk.

Spare computer - installed 2000 ad server
- Performed full restore of files/directories EXCEPT system state
- Computer will not reboot. Looks like 2 versions of Windows are on
the server. One cannot find a file and the other cannot find Windows.
- Trying to repair, setup cannot find windows

Spare computer - installed 2000 ad server
- Same as above but I installed SP4 prior to restore.

If the above would take, I was going to go into directory services to
restore the system state.

Any help in how to do this?
Would all this be avoided if I had a similar computer?

Server = Dell SC420 - P4, 1GB mem, RAID SATA
Spare = Dell 2400 - Cel, 512MB mem, ATA

Ideally, you should do nightly file backups of your server ESPECIALLY THE
SYSTEMSTATE onto the spare.

When (if) you need to restore to the Spare:
1. Boot the Spare in "Directory Services Restore Mode"
2. Restore the backup - including all files *and the systemstate*.
3. Make sure the Server is unplugged from the network and reboot the Spare.
4. Get the Server fixed at your leisure..

The restore process takes about 30mins if the spare is already loaded with a
clean copy of W2k Server (SP4 is installed with the restore from the
Server).

HTH,
Cameron