Best way to upgrade hard drive with NTS 4.0

[Hanson]

We want to move the entire NT setup from our old server to a new server. I tried restoring onto the new hard drive, but it won't boot up (various system files didn't backup because they were in use).

Is there either:

a) A better way to do this than backing up the old HD and restoring onto the new or:

b) Is there a trick to the backup or restoration process that will let me create a duplicate hard drive or:

c) Do I need to load NTS 4.0 and manually load all the programs over again?

If the answer is c, then how do I get by the 1024 cylinder limit?

Hanson

 

[pbwarrior]

Norton Ghost will do the job for you. Drive Image by PowerQuest is a good choice also.

 

[Hanson]

Doesn't Norton Ghost require the same hardware (or at least NIC) to work?

I also don't want to spend a ton of money for what is essentially a one shot process. Considering the problems I'm having restoring from a backup, what happens when you actually need to restore due to disk failure? How are you supposed to get up and running if you can't back up locked system files?

 

[jaeddy]

Commercial backup systems (Seagate Backup Exec comes to kind- must be something newer than that by now) will let you back up files in use. NT backup really is all about data recovery. Think of it this way- it is rare in my experience that an OS just suddenly crashes as the result of a single error, rather, it is usually the end result of an accumulation of small errors that progressively get worse. The admin sees what is going on, yes, but does he/she recognise the looming problem? A restore in such a situation would simply set the clock back.

Anyhow, Drive Image Pro is a good choice, but the caveats regarding device drivers are not to be ignored- if you are moving to a new hardware platform you can expect real problems. Not insurmountable, just real...