Hi there - I have a problem trying to restore my laptop from a WHS11 backup. I've searched multiple forums and tried all sorts of solutions but without success.
- Dell Latitude 7440 (64-bit) running Windows 8.1 with a UEFI SSD and Intel I218-LM network card. It's not irreparably broken but I want to go back to a previous backed-up position, plus also make sure I can do a bare metal restore if I absolutely need to in the future.
Both the laptop and server (HP54g) are 64-bit and have all updates, including the UEFI hotfix.
I can successfully create a USB boot stick from the client computer via WHS dashboard, including a copy of the drivers from one of my previous backups, and use this to boot up the laptop in Client Restore mode (requires changing the boot sequence in BIOS). The restore mode identifies three storage devices on the laptop but no network card.
- if I enable the WiFi (via boot options) then that device will appear but that's no use, and won't permit me to proceed anyway.
- It makes no difference if I have the laptop and server connected normally via the LAN, or with a direct network cable between the two.
Some solutions (dating from 2009-2011) suggest putting Vista 32-bit drivers on the USB stick (didn't work). I've also tried including Intel Windows 8 32-bit and 64-bit drivers too, without success.
I also tried using the Client Restore CD that came with the WHS11 box but this fails to load. Downloading the current Client Restore image from Microsoft also fails to load - I suspect this is due to the UEFI laptop setting.
I also tried shutting the laptop down with "SHUTDOWN -R -O" and selecting the USB boot source but this fails to load the USB Client Restore "Windows cannot continue from this exception (0xc0000025) occurred at localtion 0xff36b477".
I don't have a second computer (as has been suggested elsewhere) to temporarily relocate my SSD to complete the backup.
I tried copying the x64 and x32 Client Restore Wizard folders from the server and running the x64 from the laptop desktop. This worked partially in that Client Restore found the server, allowed me to select the desired restore point and partitions, but then failed. There is an option to open a log file but this doesn't work so I've no pointers as to what went wrong.
Although this approach (if it worked) might be a solution to my current problem it doesn't solve a catastrophic disk failure scenario, so I'm really looking for the USB-driver solution if it exists.
If anyone has a clue for me on where to go from here I'd be eternally grateful!