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Thread ID: 124639 2012-05-09 03:43:00 Windows Home Server reconfiguration problem Tony (4941) Press F1
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1274286 2012-05-09 03:43:00 My WHS setup has 2 HDD. One is all data and the other has a system partition and a data partition. I have been getting messages that imply one of the drives is about to fail. When I investigate I find that the problem drive is the one with the system partition on it. This appears to mean I can't just "remove" the drive (in WHS parlance). If I do a re-install it will put the system back in the same place. If I do a full install to a new HDD it will scrub all the data I have on the system. I'm not so worried about losing the backups, but I also have a lot of general files stored there. In theory I could copy all those off somewhere, but we are talking several gigs, so it would (a) take for ever and (b) I would actually have a problem finding the space elsewhere.

So what do I do? any suggestions gratefully received.
Tony (4941)
1274287 2012-05-09 03:59:00 Can you not just clone the problem disc to a new one with a live CD like you would if it was a normal desktop OS? gary67 (56)
1274288 2012-05-09 04:04:00 Before it fails, clone the drive to a new drive using Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost or Clonzilla or a similar program. (You will have to make a bootable disk). Then replace the drive. If the existing drive has bad sectors you may be able to temp repair using HDD Regenerator. fnphoto (2434)
1274289 2012-05-09 07:18:00 I'm not so worried about losing the backups, but I also have a lot of general files stored there. In theory I could copy all those off somewhere, but we are talking several gigs, so it would (a) take for ever and (b) I would actually have a problem finding the space elsewhere.
WHS is no different to any other place you store data -- hope you have backups of the data, because like any other HDD they can fail at anytime, and you run the risk of losing everything. :2cents:
wainuitech (129)
1274290 2012-05-09 12:10:00 WHS is no different to any other place you store data -- hope you have backups of the data, because like any other HDD they can fail at anytime, and you run the risk of losing everything. :2cents:Oh yes - I back the WHS data files on to my main PC and my main PC files to WHS, and everything to an external HDD once a week which goes offsite. Tony (4941)
1274291 2012-05-10 22:04:00 Well, I'm all sorted at last. I cloned the offending drive - thanks for that suggestion - it should have occurred to me but it is not something I have ever had to do before. However while WHS booted OK, it didn't properly recognize all the storage, so I had to do a server re-install. That preserves all the data, but meant I had a brand new, fresh copy of WHS - which required 135 updates to make it current! And then I had to re-install the Connector software on the client PCs. What a PITA!

Thanks for all the help.
Tony (4941)
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