Creating a network bootdisk - just isn't working
Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:21 pm
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
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