Windows Server 2008 R2 Restore

When you want to recover system state data, you need to take an extra bit of precaution and planning when recovering this data. Because of the nature of the data being recovered, you have the potential to render your system unbootable. Specifically, when this restore process is started, it cannot be stopped or interrupted. If it is, this process could render your server unbootable. In other words, use caution when recovering the system state. Of course, if you are using this process, chances are you are not too far from having to rebuild your server anyway.

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To perform a system state recovery of your Windows Server 2008 R2 server containing Active Directory information, you need to boot the operating system into Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM). Specifically, you will be performing an authoritative restore.

Sometimes you run into problems that a simple file restore or a system state recovery cannot fix. If you have created a bare-metal recovery image, then you can recover your full server using the recovery process. This recovery process is different from recovering just files or the system state. The bare-metal recovery process is part of the Windows Recovery Environment, and to get to it, you need a Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD to boot the operating system to, and you need access to the drive containing the bare-metal backup. Typical USB drives can work really well in this scenario presuming your BIOS supports USB at boot.

Recovering files via a shadow copied shared volume is something you can teach your users to do. It is very straightforward to work with when it is enabled and as easy to access as right-clicking the file or folder you want to perform the recover. To access the shadow copies on your Windows Server 2008 R2 server, the users must be running an operating system that supports the Shadow Copy Client. Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2 all have built-in support for the Shadow Copy Client. For Windows XP or Windows Server 2000 SP3 or later, you need to download the client located from this location:

Since the system state backup only contains boot files, active directory, cluster database, registry and other system files, it will be useful to restore Windows Server 2008 R2 to previous date. If you want to repair Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system, the best way is to restore a full server backup. In this case, you have 2 ways in the following:

So I strongly recommend you using the best server backup and restore software - AOMEI Backupper Server to restore Windows Server 2008 R2 and repair the operating system. If your computer is unbootable, you still need to create a bootable media in simple steps with this software.

How to restore Windows Server 2008 R2 to previous date? You can use a system state backup or full backup. In general, if your problem is caused by Windows Updates, drivers, or installed, just restore system state backup to roll backup a Windows Server. If your system has problem booting up, try to perform a full backup and repiar the operating system step by step.

If a backup is available, your best choice for restoring your server is to use the manufacturer's installation media to restore from an external backup. The restoration will recover server settings and folders from the backup that you choose. You only need to configure settings and restore data created after the backup.

When you choose to recover your server by restoring from a previous backup, you must choose the specific backup that you want restored, and you must have a valid backup file on an external hard drive that is directly connected to the server:

If the server has a single hard drive and the drive is not replaced, the drive partition information is left intact when you restore the server. The system volume is restored, and the data on the remaining volume is preserved.

If the server has a single hard drive and the drive is replaced, the system volume is restored, and then you must manually restore folders to the data volume. Any non-default shared folders need to be created because they are not created when the server storage is recreated.

If the server has multiple hard drives, and drive 0 (contains the system volume) is not replaced, the drive partition information is left intact when you restore the server. The system volume is restored, and the data on all remaining volumes is preserved.

If the server has multiple hard drives, and drive 0 (contains the system volume) is replaced, the system volume is restored, and then you must manually restore any shared folders that were previously stored on drive 0.

If you do not have a backup that you can restore from, or for some other reason you want or need to perform a full system restore without restoring the previous server configuration, you can perform a restore that resets the server to factory default settings by using installation or recovery media from the server hardware manufacturer.

When you restore your server by resetting it to factory default settings, all existing settings and installed applications on your server are deleted, and you must configure your server again. After a factory reset, your server restarts.

The first step in server restoration is to restore or repair the server system drive. After you restore the system drive, you will do whatever is needed to restore the data drives on the server and restore any sharing that was lost in the restore.

Restore or reset your server from a client computer using the recovery DVD. If you need to restore a remotely administered server that is running Windows Server Essentials, you must perform the restore from a client computer by using the restoration DVD from the server manufacturer.

The following procedure describes how to restore your server system drive from a backup by using the Windows Server Essentials installation media. (To find out how to use the installation media to restore to factory default settings, see the documentation from the server manufacturer.)

On the Select a system image backup page, you can choose to use the latest backup or you can select an earlier backup. The system will be restored to the state that it was in at the time of the backup that you choose for restoring or repairing your server. Data that was added or changes to settings that were made after the backup was saved must be recreated.

The following procedure provides general steps for performing a server restore. The steps are equally applicable for restoring from a back or restoring to factory default settings. For more specific instructions, see the documentation from your server manufacturer.

If you created additional shared folders on the server, after you restore the data from the backup, the additional shared folders might not be recognized by the server. You must share those folders again. For more information, see Restore files and folders on the server.

Depending on the method that you used to restore or repair your server, and the type of storage the server uses, you might need to recover the data volumes after you restore the system drive. In some case, you might need to share existing folders again so that the server recognizes them.

Restore files and folders from a server backup. If you replaced the system disk, or if the partition information on the system disk is unreadable, you can restore the system, but you cannot restore data from other volumes on this disk. To restore files and folders from other data volumes, you must use the Restore Files and Folders Wizard.

Restore shared folders on the server. If you created additional shared folders on the server, after you restore the system drive from the backup, the shared folders are still on the data partition or were restored to the data partition, but might not be recognized by the server. You must share those folders again.

You cannot use the Restore Files and Folders Wizard to restore the full system drive. For information about how to restore the full system, see Restore or repair your server using installation media or Restore or reset your server from a client computer using the recovery DVD.

After you restore the server's system drive, if shared folders are still on the data partition or were restored to the data partition, you might need to configure the shared folders again in order for the server to recognize the folders. The following procedure describes how to add shared folders that have been shared before.

This article describes theWindowsNT Backup Restore Utility for Windows 7and for Windows Server 2008 R2. The utility restores backups that are made on Windows XP and on Windows Server 2003 to computers that are running Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. To download the utility, go to the "How to obtain this update" section.

Notes

Removable Storage Manager (RSM) is no longer included in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2. If you want to restore a backup from a tape device, please perform the restore on one of the following operating systems:

The Windows NT Backup Restore Utility for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 is not intended to remain on computers that are running Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 indefinitely and should be removed once you have restored backups that were made on Windows XP and on Windows Server 2003.

I have a Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 installation whose main disk drive is now 7 years old and showing signs of age. For the last couple of months it's been displaying increased errors and requirements to run checkdisk. I have successfully created a bare metal restore (BMR) image on a separate data drive on the server, which can be seen from the Windows Recovery console; I tested it by booting to and using the Windows Server installation DVD's recovery utilities.

So now what if you accidentally delete an OU, group, or a user account and it's already replicated to your other servers? We will need to perform an authoritative restore of the Active Directory object you accidentally deleted.

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