If it were me, and I did it for a living...

1) I would have a patched set of Windows install disks with all of the necessary drivers, service packs, etc., constructed that were customized for the machine. There are various sites that tell one how to do this. E.g.:

http://www.ryanvm.ne...datepack-sp2.html for updating XP+SP2 with subsequent fixes.

http://www.tacktech....play.cfm?ttid=295 for most/all MS OSes (but not Vista).

You would use #1 to do a full restore of the OS to a blank drive or blank RAID array, or (with luck), a case when the OS gets corrupted but the rest of the drive/partition is Ok.

2) On most OSes, it's a good idea to separate user data from OS programs and data. Windows makes this nearly impossible to enforce because too many programs (still) want to write to C: and dump things in the WINNT or Windows tree. Rather than fighting it, it's probably best to do a periodic full backup of the Windows partition and incremental backups of user data files. You would use #2 to backup the system in the event that everything was wiped out.

3) There are Linux "rescue" disks that work well, but I don't know if they can read Windows RAID arrays. Presumably if there are BIOS bootstrap drivers for the RAID, then the CD should be able to read them. But you'd want to check. My favorite is SysRescueCD - http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page - but I haven't used it recently.

[edit:] Actually, the last Linux rescue CD I used was http://clonezilla-sysresccd.hellug.gr/ . It seemed at the time (May 2008) to be a better package than just the SRCD or others I looked at. YMMV. [/edit:]

You can use SysRescCD to partition and format a new disk, and it has DD and the like. I don't know what's involved in using it with RAID, especially if the RAID has Windows-only drivers.

Here's a quick thread on installing Win2k3 on a fresh RAID5 on a Dell Server. Not a lot of meat, but it might give you a starting point on what's involved. http://en.community....6/t/17514482.aspx

Possible more useful hits here: http://www.google.co...=83f87efc6f926f13

I haven't done any of this myself, though. ;-) HTH a little. Good luck!

Cheers,
Scott.

1) I would have a patched set of Windows install disks with all of the necessary drivers, service packs, etc., constructed that were customized for the machine. There are various sites that tell one how to do this. E.g.:

http://www.ryanvm.ne...datepack-sp2.html for updating XP+SP2 with subsequent fixes.

http://www.tacktech....play.cfm?ttid=295 for most/all MS OSes (but not Vista).

You would use #1 to do a full restore of the OS to a blank drive or blank RAID array, or (with luck), a case when the OS gets corrupted but the rest of the drive/partition is Ok.

2) On most OSes, it's a good idea to separate user data from OS programs and data. Windows makes this nearly impossible to enforce because too many programs (still) want to write to C: and dump things in the WINNT or Windows tree. Rather than fighting it, it's probably best to do a periodic full backup of the Windows partition and incremental backups of user data files. You would use #2 to backup the system in the event that everything was wiped out.

3) There are Linux "rescue" disks that work well, but I don't know if they can read Windows RAID arrays. Presumably if there are BIOS bootstrap drivers for the RAID, then the CD should be able to read them. But you'd want to check. My favorite is SysRescueCD - http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page - but I haven't used it recently.

You can use SysRescCD to partition and format a new disk, and it has DD and the like. I don't know what's involved in using it with RAID, especially if the RAID has Windows-only drivers.

Here's a quick thread on installing Win2k3 on a fresh RAID5 on a Dell Server. Not a lot of meat, but it might give you a starting point on what's involved. http://en.community....6/t/17514482.aspx

Possible more useful hits here: http://www.google.co...=83f87efc6f926f13

I haven't done any of this myself, though. ;-) HTH a little. Good luck!

Cheers,
Scott.

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