Restoring NTFS partitions with partimage

There are plenty of articles out there describing how to use partimage to backup and restore your servers. Most of them assume you are using Linux but the process can be used with Windows servers without much hassle. Except for one big hassle, which is the raison d'être of this post.

I have managed to use partimage version 0.6.4 to backup and restore Windows 2000 servers. Partimage will nag about the experimental status of NTFS support but it works fine, at least it did for me, as long as the MBR (Master Boot Record) was intact.

If you have lost the MBR (for example, you are restoring to a new hard-disk), then you have, most likely, tried partimage's option that says:

( ) Restore an MBR from the imagefile

Only to be presented with an error message:

Can't read block 0 from image (0)

If you have already tried Dave Farquhar's solution without success, or if, like me, you didn't backup the MBR, there might still be hope. You will need your Windows 2000 installation CD, though.

1. Start the windows installation by booting up with your Windows 2000 CD.
2. Have the installer re-create the partitions. If you use "restore" methods the installer will not create a new MBR for you.
3. When the installer reboots to finish the installation, quickly replace the CD in the drive with your Linux emergency boot disk. I used Knoppix v5.1.1.
4. Restore your data using partimage as describe in one of the many tutorials on the Internet.
   

This method assumes that you have created the partitions in the windows installer based on your previous partitions. When you create your image, make sure you also back-up your partition information.