Creating a network bootdisk - just isn't working

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terster
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:07 pm

Creating a network bootdisk - just isn't working

Post by terster »

Hi,

I'm having a tough time creating a working network boot disk in order to be able to do restores.

I have followed the various directions in the support section on this site but i just can't get them to work and i'm hoping someone can help.

I use Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.

I am a home users with a Windows 2003 Domain Controller on a gigabit network. My server has many shares with one drive/share being dedicated to backups. The drive has EVERYONE share and security permissions so there is nothing blocking my ability to connect to the drive via DOS.

I have tried creating a windows boot disk, dos boot disk, linux boot disk and i've tried downloading and getting the Barts PE going too. The closest i've come is the Linux boot disk. It will see the network, however, it does not recoginze my domain controller. I can use the UNC and i've figured out how to mount a drive but beyond that, i'm totally lost. I can't figure out how to then connnect to that drive to then drill down to where my backup images are, which were all created using IFW via windows.

I really am stumped why TeraByte doesn't have a simple utility which scans my pc, finds the appropriate network card drivers and then with the click of a button, either a boot cd is created or a jump drive image. (I tend to use boot cd's or dvd's).

I have Acronis backup also and it could not be more simple. I literally click a button, select a check box that says to include a copy of Acronis on the boot disk and done... it creates the disk. Infact, their boot disk is universal as i've used it on several different machines and every one has network support/connectivity, see's my shares and it has mouse support. It truly is easy.

Other than this though, i'm not a big fan of Acronis. I've had issues with their restores and that's when i decided to go with Terabyte instead. The reviews have been really great, so i've been backing up using Terabyte for years.

Ironically though, i've never done a RESTORE with Terabyte IFW.

I recently had a need to do one and everything i had failed. Acronis did the job easily but, it dropped the machine off the domain. In addition, i could NOT get it to accept a hd smaller than the one that crashed. My original drive was a 500 gig and the new drive was only an 80 gig, however, the actual space used was only 24 gigs. So there's no reason it should not have done the restore.

Anyhow... i'm now at the point where i really want to get Terabyte working. I want to be able to boot with network support, find my network share and do a restore. I want to confirm that my machine will be a perfect restore, that it won't fall off the domain, etc. I also want to make sure that it will restore to a drive smaller than the original, etc. I want to roll this out to all of my home PC"s but before i can do that, i gotta get it working on at least one.

Anyhow... can someone help?

I've contacted Terabye support and i've gotten really fast replies which is great however, the replies have not been overly helpful. They keep referring me back to there knowledge base. My primary issue is that their documentation does not match what i'm seeing. It seems that their documentation is written for Windows XP and not Windows 7. So when i run their Make Disk utility, it's not finding the files it's looking for and i don't know where they are.

Embarrassingly, i've tried Barts too and i have the same problem. It's looking for some windows files and i don't know where they are. I even put in the Windows 7 install disk and browse to it and it still can't find what it's looking for so, i'm totally stuck.

Most recently, i was advised to use the LINUX boot disk and as mentioned above, i get network connectivity, but that's about it.

So, that all being said... can someone help me figure out a way to create, ideally a generic and universal, boot disk with network support where i can connect to my network share(s) and then be able to run IFW/IFD in order to start learning how to use their restore features?

It serves me no purpose to keep doing all these backups if i can't figure out how to restore them. LOL and burning 24 gigs to DVD's... no thanks, not when i have a fast network that can be utilized.

Thanks so much for any help you can provide,

Terster
Last edited by terster on Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Brian K
Posts: 2214
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:11 am
Location: NSW, Australia

Re: Creating a network bootdisk - jsut isn't working

Post by Brian K »

Terster,

I expect this to work. Add your network drivers to this boot disk....

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/howto/ ... torial.htm

Have you read Backing up to a network share (pdf)?

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/howto/index.htm
terster
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:07 pm

Re: Creating a network bootdisk - just isn't working

Post by terster »

Thank you. I will look into this.

I did not read that document for i back up via the IFW when logged into windows. So up until a week ago, i never made a Linux boot disk. The only reason i made one was because that is what technical support suggested in order to get network access.

I just skimmed the document and i'll have to print it and go through step by step.

I'm not a Linux guy. I'm not an apple guy either. I"m totally Windows. So i need to go through that document for it's talking about a samba share and i'm not sure if i have apple support turned on/installed on my server.

As mentioned, with Acronis, it's unbelievable how easy it is to create a boot disk, connect to my network share and either backup or restore. If only i could take their disk, lose the Acronis portion of the boot disk and replace it with TeraByte IFW, that would be great. But i'm not a DOS guy or a programmer.

That kind of stuff isn't my strong areas. LOL.

Anyhow... that's the long answer. No, i did not read that document prior to a few min's ago becuase i've backed up via IFW when in windows.

I will also look at that first link.

Thanks again for the help.

Terster
Brian K
Posts: 2214
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:11 am
Location: NSW, Australia

Re: Creating a network bootdisk - just isn't working

Post by Brian K »

Terster,

The reason I mentioned that pdf is for you to adapt it to a restore procedure. You don't need to backup that way as you can more easily backup using IFW.

Edit... That pdf is an old document and uses the CUI IFL, not the GUI IFL.
terster
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:07 pm

Re: Creating a network bootdisk - just isn't working

Post by terster »

HI.

Well, you just did what i have been working on for weeks! I can't thank you enough. I literally have hours (plural) working this issue and your link for adding network drivers to the boot disk, did work.

I had that zip file already d/l'ed and on the root of C. So i must have started this and then botched it or something happened and it was mentally lost, but... it did work.

Booting then following the instructions did not work. Pressing F8 just during and after the POST screen did nothing. So i rebooted and simply booted to the newly created disk. That did present me with the IFW (x64) 2.71 screen.

I did a "validate". I entered the UNC path, got to my files and did a validate... about 20% in i stopped as i know i am where i need to be.

So thank you so much.

I'm a touch confused by this document when it talks about the WinPE vs. the WinRE... but i don't think it matters. I saw the options to backup, restore, validate, etc. So later on, i will do another backup and then tomorrow, i'll put in my unformatted 80 gig drive and see if i can do a restore to it. Again, my current drive is 500 gigs but only 24 is acutally used.

AS for the booting to a network share doc... i'll have to play with that later. I'll print the doc and then go through it and see if i can figure it out.

I love the ability to do a full backup while logged into windows, but i am a believer that the best... is always to backup from DOS (or equivelant).

Once again, thanks. I feel like an ID10T now for what i've spent hours and hours and hours working on, getting frustrated and more frustrated and even to the point where i wanted to scrap this software for another... is resolved in 30 minutes.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Terster
Brian K
Posts: 2214
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:11 am
Location: NSW, Australia

Re: Creating a network bootdisk - just isn't working

Post by Brian K »

Terster,

Glad I could help.

I had a look at the IFL gui boot disk and this works...

click net1
Auto Detect SMB Servers
select the remote computer
username
workgroup
password
select your "share" containing the image
exit menu
exit menu (again)
In IFL, select Restore
Normal
File (OS)
net1 (you might have to double click (or press Enter) this if Next doesn't work)
select your image
Linux drive interface
Target drive
etc
mjnelson99
Posts: 785
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:24 am

Re: Creating a network bootdisk - jsut isn't working

Post by mjnelson99 »

Did you use the networking version of IFL when you tried
Linux? There are CUI & GUI versions available.

Good luck getting it to work.
Mary

On 6/9/2012 6:21 PM, terster wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm having a tough time creating a working network boot disk in order to be able to do restores.
>
> I have followed the various directions in the support section on this site but i just can't get them to work and i'm hoping someone can help.
>
> I use Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.
>
> I am a home users with a Windows 2003 Domain Controller on a gigabit network. My server has many shares with one drive/share being dedicated to backups. The drive has EVERYONE share and security permissions so there is nothing blocking my ability to connect to the drive via DOS.
>
> I have tried creating a windows boot disk, dos boot disk, linux boot disk and i've tried downloading and getting the Barts PE going too. The closest i've come is the Linux boot disk. It will see the network, however, it does not recoginze my domain controller. I can use the UNC and i've figured out how to mount a drive but beyond that, i'm totally lost. I can't figure out how to then connnect to that drive to then drill down to where my backup images are, which were all created using IFW via windows.
>
> I really am stumped why TeraByte doesn't have a simple utility which scans my pc, finds the appropriate network card drivers and then with the click of a button, either a boot cd is created or a jump drive image. (I tend to use boot cd's or dvd's).
>
> I have Acronis backup also and it could not be more simple. I literally click a button, select a check box that says to include a copy of Acronis on the boot disk and done... it creates the disk. Infact, their boot disk is universal as i've used it on several different machines and every one has network support/connectivity, see's my shares and it has mouse support. It truly is easy.
>
> Other than this though, i'm not a big fan of Acronis. I've had issues with their restores and that's when i decided to go with Terabyte instead. The reviews have been really great, so i've been backing up using Terabyte for years.
>
> Ironically though, i've never done a RESTORE with Terabyte IFW.
>
> I recently had a need to do one and everything i had failed. Acronis did the job easily but, it dropped the machine off the domain. In addition, i could NOT get it to accept a hd smaller than the one that crashed. My original drive was a 500 gig and the new drive was only an 80 gig, however, the actual space used was only 24 gigs. So there's no reason it should not have done the restore.
>
> Anyhow... i'm now at the point where i really want to get Terabyte working. I want to be able to boot with network support, find my network share and do a restore. I want to confirm that my machine will be a perfect restore, that it won't fall off the domain, etc. I also want to make sure that it will restore to a drive smaller than the original, etc. I want to roll this out to all of my home PC"s but before i can do that, i gotta get it working on at least one.
>
> Anyhow... can someone help?
>
> I've contacted Terabye support and i've gotten really fast replies which is great however, the replies have not been overly helpful. They keep referring me back to there knowledge base. My primary issue is that their documentation does not match what i'm seeing. It seems that their documentation is written for Windows XP and not Windows 7. So when i run their Make Disk utility, it's not finding the files it's looking for and i don't know where they are.
>
> Embarrassingly, i've tried Barts too and i have the same problem. It's looking for some windows files and i don't know where they are. I even put in the Windows 7 install disk and browse to it and it still can't find what it's looking for so, i'm totally stuck.
>
> Most recently, i was advised to use the LINUX boot disk and as mentioned above, i get network connectivity, but that's about it.
>
> So, that all being said... can someone help me figure out a way to create, ideally a generic and universal, boot disk with network support where i can connect to my network share(s) and then be able to run IFW/IFD in order to start learning how to use their restore features?
>
> It serves me no purpose to keep doing all these backups if i can't figure out how to restore them. LOL and burning 24 gigs to DVD's... no thanks, not when i have a fast network that can be utilized.
>
> Thanks so much for any help you can provide,
>
> Terster
>
>
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