Microsoft KB Archive/253110

= Moving Windows NT Basic Disk FT Sets to a Windows 2000 Computer =

Article ID: 253110

Article Last Modified on 3/1/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition

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This article was previously published under Q253110



SUMMARY
When you upgrade a computer from Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 and that computer contains fault tolerant Disk sets (FT sets - Stripe Sets with Parity, Stripe Sets, Volume Sets and Mirrors), Setup automatically migrates the FT sets and allows immediate access after Windows 2000 Setup is complete.

After Windows 2000 migrates this information, it does not need to be done again because the FT set information is no longer registry based. This means clean installations of Windows 2000 on the same computer will recognize the FT disk sets (volumes) immediately without the need of restoring basic disk configuration information. Disks that contain legacy FT sets that you moved from one computer running Windows 2000 to another computer running Windows 2000 is also recognized and the volumes are immediately accessible.

However, if you want to move Windows NT 3.5x or 4.0 Disks containing FT sets to a Windows 2000-based computer, you need to restore the basic disk configuration information saved to a floppy disk using Windows NT to the Windows 2000-based computer before you can use them.

This configuration information is normally saved under Windows NT 3.5x or 4.0 by running Disk Administrator (WINDISK.EXE) and selecting from the Partition menu the Configuration, Save option. This saves the SYSTEM registry file containing the FT information (DISK key) to a floppy disk.

To restore this saved configuration information in Windows 2000:
 * 1) On the Windows 2000-based computer where you moved the legacy FT disk sets, run the Disk Management (Diskmgmt.msc) snap-in.
 * 2) On the Action menu, click Restore Basic Disk Configuration, and then insert the floppy disk that contains the System file. Windows 2000 extracts and imports the DISK registry key, and then prompts you to restart the computer.
 * 3) After you restart the computer, the legacy FT sets are recognized and accessible.



Advanced Recovery Techniques
If you could not save the configuration information in Windows NT because it is too large to fit on a floppy disk or was not saved before you moved the disks to a Windows 2000-based computer, use one of the following methods to get the FT disk sets recognized again in Windows 2000.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

152160 Disk Administrator Cannot Always Save Disk Configuration

Method 1
Windows NT disk configuration information is too large to fit on a floppy disk and cannot be saved.

 On the computer running Windows NT, run Rdisk.exe, click Update Repair Information, and then close Rdisk.exe. At a command prompt, change to the %systemroot%\repair folder, and then type the following command:

expand.exe system._ system

 Start Registry Editor. In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE window, click the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key. On the Registry menu, click Load Hive. Browse to the %systemroot%\repair folder, and then click the System file you expanded in step 2. When you are prompted for a key name, type TEST, and then press ENTER.</li> Under the TEST key, click and then delete all the ControlSet### keys. Ignore the access denied message. The majority of the subkeys are deleted, which reduces the size of the registry file.</li> Click the TEST key, and then click Save Key from the Registry menu and save it as SYSTEM2.</li> On the Registry menu, click Unload Hive, and then exit Registry Editor.</li> Copy the System2 file to a floppy disk, and then rename it to System with no extension.</li> On the Windows 2000-based computer where you moved the legacy FT disk sets, run the Disk Management (Diskmgmt.msc) snap-in.</li> On the Action menu, click Restore Basic Disk Configuration, and then insert the floppy disk that contains the System file.</li> Restart the computer.</li></ol>

Method 2
Windows NT Disk configuration was never saved to a diskette and the original computer is no longer available, but an Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) that contains the SYSTEM._ registry file exists.

<ol> From the original Windows NT systems' ERD disk, copy the SYSTEM._ file into a new folder called C:\recover on the Windows 2000-based computer.</li> At a command prompt, change to the C:\recover folder, and then type the following command:

expand.exe system._ system

</li> Copy the System file to a floppy disk.</li> On the Windows 2000-based computer where you moved the legacy FT disk sets, run the Disk Management (Diskmgmt.msc) snap-in.</li> On the Action menu, click Restore Basic Disk Configuration, and then insert the floppy disk that contains the System file.</li> Restart the computer.</li></ol>

Method 3
Windows NT Disk configuration was never saved to a diskette and the original computer is no longer available. You have no Windows NT ERD Disk or backup tape that contains the SYSTEM hive from the original computer.

Because you do not have disk configuration information to restore, you need to know exactly which disks and partitions belong to what kind of legacy FT set. This is the same scenario that you would see in Windows NT after performing a new installation.

It is desirable to move the affected disks containing FT sets back to a Windows NT 4.0-based computer, use the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles to recover them, then save the disk configuration information to a floppy disk:

149927 FTedit.exe: What You Can and Can't Use It For

131658 Use Ftedit.exe to Recover Fault Tolerant Disk Configuration

If you do not have a Windows NT 4.0-based computer available, use the following steps to populate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Disk registry key with current disk configuration information and redefine the FT sets.
 * 1) Make a complete backup of your current Windows 2000 installation including the "System State".
 * 2) Copy from a Windows NT 4.0-based computer or expand the Windows NT Disk Administrator program (Windisk.exe) from a Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack CD-ROM.
 * 3) Run Windisk.exe on the Windows 2000-based computer to populate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Disk registry key with the current disk and partition information.

NOTE: Do not use the Windisk.exe program to create or delete partitions in Windows 2000.
 * 1) Exit Disk Administrator (Windisk.exe).
 * 2) Redefine the legacy FT sets.

NOTE: FTdisk.sys is always started in Windows 2000.
 * 1) After you create the FT sets and you save the configuration changes, restart the computer.
 * 2) Windows 2000 (Ftdisk.sys) reads the DISK key, extracts the FT member information and migrates it to the Windows 2000 installation.
 * 3) Run Windows 2000 Disk Management (Diskmgmt.msc) snap-in, and if necessary assign drive letters to the recovered FT volumes.
 * 4) If any of the FT disk sets were built wrong or out of order, and are not accessible, you may need to repeat using Ftedit.exe until all sets are defined in the correct order and recovered. Microsoft recommends that you back up any sets that are accessible before you attempt to recover incorrect sets again.

NOTE: When you attempt to use the floppy disk, the computer may be unable to read from the disk, and you may receive the following error message:

Logical Disk Manager:

The required file is not present.

If this occurs, verify that the Restrict floppy access to locally logged-on users only policy is disabled in your security policy.

To do this, follow these steps: <ol> Click Start, and then click Run.</li> In the Open box, type mmc, and then click OK.</li> <li>On the Console menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in.</li> <li>Click Add.</li> <li>In the Available Standalone Snap-ins box, click Group Policy, and then click Add.</li> <li>Verify that the value in the Group Policy Object box is Local Computer, and then click Finish.</li> <li>Click Close, and then click OK.</li> <li>Under the Group Policy snap-in, navigate to the following location:

Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options

</li> <li>Locate the Restrict floppy access to locally logged-on users only policy.</li> <li>If the Local Setting for the Restrict floppy access to locally logged-on users only policy is set to Enable, change it to Disable.

NOTE: If the Local Setting for the Restrict floppy access to locally logged-on users only policy is set to Disable, but the Effective Setting is set to Enable, use one of the following methods: <ul> <li>Log off from the domain, restart your computer, and then attempt the operation again.</li> <li>Contact your local area network administrator to change the policy.</li></ul> </li></ol>

If the Restrict floppy access to locally logged-on users only policy is set to Enabled, the Local Disk Manager is not allowed to read the floppy disk for this operation.

Additional query words: unrecognized unknown

Keywords: kbenv kbhowto kbsetup KB253110

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