Unable to restore to different hardware with System Recovery 2013

[tonypalmer]

Hi,

I am evaluating System Recovery 2013 and have installed trialware on four machines in my office.  I am having difficulty restoring to different hardware, which is a must-have feature.

I am unable to open a support case with Symantec, because I don't have a serial number. I find this odd, since I would imagine that any vendor or developer would want to provide at least SOME support for people who are not customers yet but are interested in purchasing.

Backups are running fine, and I am able to perform granular restores of files with no problem.

I have upgraded one machine with a new motherboard and hard drive.

Source: ECS Motherboard, Intel Q9550 Core2 Quad  CPU, 4GB DDR2-800 RAM, Integrated Intel SATA Controller, 150GB SATA II HD, Integrated Realtek 1Gb NIC, ATI Radeon HD Graphics Adapter. Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1

Target: Asus Motherboard, the same Intel Q9550 Core2 Quad  CPU, 8GB DDR2-1333 RAM, Integrated Intel SATA Controller, 180GB SATA II SSD, 2x Integrated Marvell 1Gb NICs, the same ATI Radeon HD Graphics Adapter.

I first burned the 64bit SRD and booted the system. the system booted into the SRD environment and I was able to mount the network share that contained my backups. I wiped the partitions and first track of the target drive and rebooted as directed in this technote: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH53848&actp=search&viewlocale=en_US&searchid=1363737926922

I then remounted the network share and selected the most recent restore point. The restore got to 99% and then prompted me for the System Restore disk with this message: "Please insert Recovery Disk. Press OK to continue or cancel to abort." I clicked OK, but the system would simply return to the prompt.

According to this technote the SRD I was using is corrupt: http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH55219&actp=search&viewlocale=en_US&searchid=1363743156834

Unfortunately, I am unable to download a valid SRD ISO using the link in this note because I have no serial number (trialware). I then burned the 32bit version of the SRD and reran the restore, again wiping the partitions and first track, then rebooting into the SRD.

This iteration got a little farther. The restore completed and the system rebooted into Windows, After adding all devices, this error popped up: "Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware." I rebooted the system and Windows threw this error: "Windows could not complete the installation to install Windows n this computer. Restart the installation."

I've since tried burning a fresh copy of the 64bit SRD and retried the installation, I've been able to get all the way to the first reboot into Windows again, with the same "Windows Setup could not configure Windows..." error message as detailed above.

I've collected the destination logs and the Restore logs as detailed in the troubleshooting tech note above as well.

Looking for deeper knowledge than I can find on this forum or in the tech notes (or just a pointer to anything I may have missed.

If you need more information, just ask, I'll be happy to provide.

Thanks,

Tony.

[Markus_Koestler]

Are you using the english or multilanguage version ?

[tonypalmer]

The installed version of SSR is Multilingual (This is the only version they offer to download for the trial).

The recovery disk I've been using is the English version.

Do you know of specific issues with the English or Multilanguage versions?

Thanks,

Tony.

[Markus_Koestler]

Well at least there were issues in one version which were not present in the other version.

[tonypalmer]

OK. So, without any responses or support forthcoming from Symantec,I've downloaded and burned the 64bit mulitlingual SRD and will atttept another restore using that disk.

In all, I've spent the better part of four days trying to get this system restored and I have to say I'm not too impressed with Symantec support for trial users.

I could have reinstalled Windows, reinstalled all my local applications, and restored all user files by now.

If I can't get System Restore to work, that's exactly what I am going to have to do, which will mean that Symantec has actually cost me a lot of productivity and time.

Thanks for the suggestion, Markus, I'll let you know how it goes.

Tony

[Drew_Meyer]

Tony, I've dropped a note to our support team for you. Try us on Twitter for the fastest response.

Typically we only offer online support for trial versions of the software.

[tonypalmer]

Hi Drew, Thanks for the response, I tried online support, but couldn't open a case because I don't have a serial number. Some feedback: There was no clear guidance as to how to get support as a trial user when I signed up. I was contacted by inside sales who asked me to let them know wheether I needed any help. I contacted them with a licensing question and got an immediate response. I pinged them about this issue two days ago, asking how to get support, no response as yet. On the "Contact Technical Support" page: http://www.symantec.com/support/contact_techsupp_static.jsp?inid=us_sc_flyout_support_contacttech there's no mention of Twitter. Anywhere. Again, I appreciate your response to this post. Tony.

[Drew_Meyer]

Tony - we're really only doing it for Backup Exec and SSR today, sorry for the missed clarity. Regardless, this Connect forum is also a great choice and we're looking into your question right now.

[Drew_Meyer]

PM me your contact info and we'll get your sorted out. We've just recently been trying Twitter out for BE and SSR (not the whole company). Sorry for the confusion.

[tonypalmer]

Hi Drew, Thanks, PM sent. FYI, I attempted a recovery with the multilingual SRD and got all the way through to the first reboot, then got the "Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware." error. Please note: I have successfully installed Windows 7 directly on this hardware (did this as a test, to rule out a Windows incompatibility issue. Best, Tony.

[Jaydeep_S]

Hey Tony,

This is a very tricky issue that you are facing. You could try the steps below -

1. Boot from SRD and get to the screen which says "Drives to Recover".
2. There is a check mark for "Use Restore Anyware to restore to dissimilar hardware.
3. Uncheck that option.
4. Pressing left shift key on the keyboard, re-check Restore Anywhere.
5. There will be a pop up of "Restore Anywhere Advance menu".
6. Uncheck "Prompt for drivers" check "Delete existing drivers"

Continue with the restore.

Note: It will take long time while booting to windows as it will reconfigure the devices. Please be patient and allow this to complete. Let me know here or on twitter if this does not work.

[tonypalmer]

Hi Jaydeep, I have tried the method you suggest multiple times, follwoing the published technote. I get the errors I reported above: When the system reboots after the restore and retargeting, I get "Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware." When I click OK, the system reboots and Windows throws this error: "Windows could not complete the installation to install Windows n this computer. Restart the installation." Tony.

[tonypalmer]

Hi again Drew,

I received a short voice mail message yesterday morning from someone ID'ing themselves as a Symantec engineer, saying he'd follow up with an email (he didn't leave his number). I haven't seen any emails yet. I am completely stymied by this issue. One way or another, I need this PC up and running before the weekend is done and am about ready to call this trial done. System recovery is more expensive than most of the other solutions I have tested. A working implementation of bare metal recovery and world class support would go a long way to justify the extra cost to me. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tony.

[tonypalmer]

Coorection, just found the email from Wendell in my spam filter. reviewing it now.

Thanks,

Tony.

[tonypalmer]

I have an update for anyone who's interested. I had a good conversation with Wendell, from Symantec Enterprise Technical support. After reviewing my environment, he recommended some additional troubleshooting, adn indicated that this appeared to be a driver issue (I agreed).

Here's what I did, based on his recommendation:

I tfollowed this tech note: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH129112 and restored system reserved partition first, then the OS partition as described, the restore completed, and when the system booted into windows and the symptoms were exactly the same as previously described: 

After adding all devices, this error popped up: "Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware." I rebooted the system and Windows again threw this error: "Windows could not complete the installation to install Windows on this computer. Restart the installation."

Next, I installed Windows 7 on the new target PC from the Windows DVD (It installed flawlessly), and updated the installation with the latest drivers for the motherboard chipset, network adapters, storage controller, sound card, and video card.

I then created a custom SRD. The Create SRD wizard found no additional drivers required. I then ran the SRD Driver Validation.

SRD Driver Validation ran and reported that "All detected storage devices and network cards have drivers in the System Recovery Disk".

I then booted into the Custom SRD and prepped for another recovery: I deleted the partition table, wiped the first track, and rebooted, to ensure I was starting from an empty drive.

Using the Custom SRD, I again ran the restore, first the system reserved partition, then the OS partition, as documented by Sumantec.

Again, the restore completed and the system rebooted into Windows, After adding all devices, the same error popped up: "Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware." I rebooted the system and Windows again threw the same error: "Windows could not complete the installation to install Windows on this computer. Restart the installation."

This system has now been out of commission for a full week, and I have tried restoring using every imaginable combination of parameters and procedures documented by Symantec. I have verified that the hardware I am restoring to is in fact supported by the drivers in the SRD. In all, I have spent more than twenty hours this week trying to get Restore Anyware to work as advertised.

nce again, it's looking like my only option to get back to a working system (other than scrapping the hardware upgrade) appears to be a fresh Windows installation, re-installation of all my applications, and granular restore of all my files. This is decidedly NOT what I expected when I decided to trial System Recovery.

Tony.

[deca2499]

Tony,

Like you, I am trialing this software to backup and restore computers with failed hard drives. It appears as thou you are getting a little further than I am on this situation. I keep getting stopped right after the selection process has been made. I tend to get the following error to which I cannot find anything on:

Error EBAB03EE: Operating System API 10,004 failed.
Error 00000057: The parameter is incorrect.

Getting frustrated with the lack of pre-buy support. If I cannot get it proven to work, I am not going to waste the money on it.

Scott

[LeoKearns]

Tony

Same here but I presumed it was due to the trial limitations and we use BSER for server backups without issue so I'm not being stupid. I have raised a case with symantec and should get a response in 48hrs as a paying customer. I will let you both know how I get on.

Leo

[grantpsd]

Anyone have any updates on this problem?