Server 2003 hardware upgrade

[dpowell1]

I am in the process of upgrading the motherboard/processor on my server 2003 boxes. All of them booted to the new hardware and detected the new hardware properly with the exception of my server 2003/Exchange server. When I boot the hard drive with the new hardware it gets as far as the Windows Server 2003 splash screen but the activity scroll (sorry I don't know what else to call the scrooll bar just beneath the words Windows Server 2003) just keeps perpetually spinning and never moves past that screen. The strange thing is that I can boot it into Safe Mode just fine. Any ideas as to how I can get past this screen?

 

[TechyMcSe2k]

could be a list of things. Video driver, mass storage driver, anything conflicting with the old motherboard compared with new features on the new motherboard. When you change the motherboard, you are literaly changing your HAL requirement within the OS.

 

[dpowell1]

The motherboards arent' all that different (Intel S7230 going to an Intel S3000AH) and use the same HAL. I'm using the same RAID controller, only change is the motherboard. The fact that I can boot into Safe Mode seems like a clue. Any ideas how to force it past the scroll?

 

[TechyMcSe2k]

Can you get to the F8 screen and choose VGA mode and see what happens.

 

[TechyMcSe2k]

Also, try disabling individual Services for applications on that server such as Exchange while in safe mode...see if will boot then, could isolate it down to a service.

 

[58sniper]

If you can boot into Safe Mode and not normal mode, it's likely a driver issue, since Safe Mode loads only the basic drivers for only the basic services you need to get in and fix things. You can also append /SOS to the line in the boot.ini and it may help point to which drivers are being installed when it hangs.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[dpowell1]

Neither VGA mode nor disabling all unnecessary services helps. I'll try this /SOS mode and see what I come up with. Does msconfig work in Server 2003?