# SBS Repair Install



## ziggy1621 (Dec 3, 2005)

Ok, I have a new client who has a server that just shut down. He had Dell come out for warranty and inspect hard-drives, etc. Its was confirmed to be a software issue with the OS. This box was running SBS 2003 on a raid 5 (3 SATA) drives. Upon booting a Linux boot cd, there is a partition showing. 

Now, my question is, can I do a repair install of SBS and if so, is there a way to preserve any of the AD?

There is no backup of the server that I am aware of unless we find one in some corner full of dust 

Thanks in advance,

David


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## djaburg (May 15, 2008)

First thing I would do, obviously, is back up what you can. I believe the repair install should keep your AD data intact. I've not done it with SBS, but I have done it with Server 2003 and it worked fine. Just like every time I do it, DO NOT PANIC with the error messages, because you'll get them until you catch up on your OS updates. I'll assume you know that, but I'm stunned how many people panic when they first boot following a repair install and then fail to run updates thinking something got really hosed. If you're a MS Registered partner, take advantage of their FREE support for critical outages. I had a client server go down and I had them on the phone literally for 7+ hours getting the server and exchange server running again and I didn't have to wade through many levels of support, I got right through to who I needed. I had 5 different techs on a conference call and they were GREAT (and spoke english...well except for the guy in India that fell asleep during the call and the other guys were giving him crap). I have to say that it was NOT like normal consumer support, and they stayed on the line until the issue was resolved.


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## ziggy1621 (Dec 3, 2005)

Thanks, thought for a second I was going to get past having to repair install after I ran TestDisk off of a UBCD, repaired the MBR and was able to access the disk, but after rebooting, it won't boot up, nor will it boot to cd, after "Setup is inspecting your hardware configuration" the screen goes black. So now I have to find a way to Get to the repair... 

thanks


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