[SOLVED] server 2012 recovery loop

[4ycr]

Got a server 2012 (not R2) that failed after a power cut
No restore points or backups available, gave up trying with this client.

Anyway I have tried but not in this order

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=E:\Windows\ - it fails at the start
dism /image:\ /cleanup-image it also fails at the start
ran \recovery\startrep.exe
chkdsk did find errors
bootrec /fixmbr bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

 

[lcoughey]

I know that I'll sound like a broken record, but did you clone the drive(s) first, before trying to fix it? File system repairs can be very bad if the root cause is media damage.

 

[4ycr]

Yes I have a backup (not clone) of the drive before I started.

 

[MacBeton]

Sound like you need to hire a sysadmin.
Servers should not fail after a power outage! If they do - it means you need a proper sysadmin, who knows what a UPS is.
Those "Repairs" never work. If you didn't have the system partition cloned - everything except reinstall is a waste of time.

 

[4ycr]

I don't need a sysadmin, if the client refuses to buy a bit of equipment then nothing I can do. It looks like the hard drive was dying anyway and this was the last straw

 

[TAPtech]

Was this a large deployment? You might be able to really scour the internet, or call MS to get it back up (although they probably will just say reinstall) but you may save time just recovering data and reinstalling. You've done the normal tasks that I would have tried.

Unfortunately 2012 R2 seems to have much better recovery options. I think I only have 2 of those 2012 servers out there and can never figure out what's going on with the damn start menu button until I realize "oh, right... dang."

 

[mrapoc]

Have you tried using the C:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack files (take a backup before you do it) but copy them into place and see if it works.

 

[lcoughey]

I don't need a sysadmin, if the client refuses to buy a bit of equipment then nothing I can do. It looks like the hard drive was dying anyway and this was the last straw

I don't see that you liked my previous post about the hard drive possibly being the root cause. Glad you were able to narrow in on it, rather than setting the client to continue working with a failing hard drive. It kills me to see data recovery projects coming in here after a tech has sent the client home with a fresh OS install or repair on a failing hard drive.

Good job.

 

[4ycr]

Have you tried using the C:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack files (take a backup before you do it) but copy them into place and see if it works.

I did but then got a different error so ended up reinstalling the server.

 

[seedubya]

Make sure that the bill is big enough to "encourage" him to avoid this scenario by backing up going forward.

 

[4ycr]

Was this a large deployment? You might be able to really scour the internet, or call MS to get it back up (although they probably will just say reinstall) but you may save time just recovering data and reinstalling. You've done the normal tasks that I would have tried.

Unfortunately 2012 R2 seems to have much better recovery options. I think I only have 2 of those 2012 servers out there and can never figure out what's going on with the damn start menu button until I realize "oh, right... dang."

Ended up reinstalling it. All his data was on a different hard drive so it is now back up and running. Not a massive job thankfully and first time I have had to reinstall a failed server. He had another server so the AD was still intact.