After a computer disaster about a year ago I decided to build a home server using WHS 2011 that would keep all my computers backed up. I re-used an old i5 650 machine while I got used to the new software and then, in order to reduce the power consumption, I bought an HP N54L Proliant Microserver which was on offer.
Three computers back up to the server and the server backs up to an external drive. All my computers, two desktop PCs running Windows 7 and one new laptop running Win 8.1, were backed up regularly without any problems visible in the Dashboard so when the SSD in my main desktop computer failed recently I wasn’t too upset until I replaced the SSD and attempted to restore the computer. I struggled a bit at first with missing drivers but then found the network drivers and carried on. The client computer found the server but the restore failed:
ClientRestoreWizard_Fresh.exe – Application Error
The exception Cannot Continue
Windows cannot continue from this exception 0xc0000025 occurred in the application at location 0xffacb4bd
I tried two more times and got the same error with two slightly different locations:
0xffdfb4bd, 0xff29b4bd
The computer I’m trying to restore uses a Gigabyte Z77N-WiFi motherboard with UEFI bios, and after searching for a solution online I came across several references to problems with UEFI bios so I put the SSD in an old, pre-UEFI bios computer, the old i5 650, and tried again, without success – same error.
Next, I put the SSD into a spare caddy in the HP N54L Microserver which houses the drive with the backups on it and tried to restore using the Client Restore Wizard which I’d copied from the Client Restore CD to a USB memory stick (The server has no optical drive at present). The wizard opens, seems to be active for a few seconds and then closes without warning or comment.
This evening, when I returned to the problem, I checked the Server Folder containing Client Computer Backups, and although in Windows Explorer there are 293Gbs of backups with several different dates, probably from each of my computers – I can’t tell from the filenames – when I look in Archived Backups in the Dashboard all references to all my computers simply say “Removed”. I didn’t remove them. Are they still there or have I lost everything?
I’ve still got most of my valuable files but my main desktop computer had some software which I can’t replace, and it was set up in the way I like.
What’s going on? I’ve spent countless hours and quite a bit of money trying to protect myself from computer failures since the disaster I had a while ago. There was no indication of any problems in the Dashboard, or anywhere else, and any minor alerts were always dealt with promptly. I can re-install as a last resort, but that’s not the point – what’s the use in doing all these backups when they don’t work when you need them. I’ve wasted over a week, have been without my main machine and neglected other work. Where’s the support or notifications from Microsoft? What about “Windows Server 2012 – Foundation” or is it time to ditch Microsoft? I feel really upset and let down. Any ideas anyone?