SBS 2011 failed restore – KSOD black screen with cursor

Crisis compounded …a business is critically impacted and NOW like as in NOW need to use their Windows Backup to restore back to a known good point.  You go through the 1-2 hour process and when the server reboots you get …a Black Screen of Death (KSOD) aka black screen a cursor and an unhealthy server OS that you cannot access.

When I hit this issue I immediately called a colleague who laser beamed onto the source of this issue.  Even with that information of the general cause and fix in hand, I had a very difficult time finding the needed detailed information so I could apply it and quickly overcome the issue.  My client needed to get back up and in business – my ass was now on the line!

…So I’m rectifying this info sprawl disconnect and putting it all in one place  – here.

In the interest of helping other businesses get back up from this scenario as fast as possible, below is this assemblage blog post.  This assembled information resolved my issue and can resolve yours as well.  It really isn’t very complicated to execute and you will find yourself quickly de-stressed once you again see the Ctrl-Alt-Delete screen following the server’s startup.

This also can apply to SBS 2008 too; just remember to copy the directory mentioned below from an SBS 2008 source.

First – What, Why, When

• The reason you aren’t fully booting into the OS GUI is due to a previously installed Microsoft tool that you will later want to remove. This tool is the NTbackup & Restore Tool.  It is installed as a individually downloadable KB (.msu) which means it doesn’t appear as a standalone Role, Feature, or Program.  Unlike those things which you are commonly used to manipulating this tool has to be removed via the “Installed Updates” list …more on that later.
• This Microsoft Tool is interfering with a specific directory that is now incomplete and without it your recovery fails.  You end up at a KSOD (Black Screen of Death).

Second – Help!

• The ‘kinda’ good news is that if you can get a copy of this directory from a known good installation of the same OS at another of your clients or from someone you trust to provide you the same …then you are ‘in like Flynn’

The reason for this is that a specific folder is omitted from the backups – c:\Windows\Registration – if this condition exists.

This condition is now noted in Update Rollup 3 for SBS 2011 – http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2012/06/13/update-rollup-3-for-wssg-bpa-is-now-available-via-microsoft-updates-along-with-its-installation-tool.aspx

The simple fix for this is as follows:

1. Copy the contents of C:\Windows\Registration from a working SBS2011 server
2. Boot into the Windows Repair/Recovery mode using SBS2011 Disc 1
3. Open up a command prompt and browse to C:\Windows\Registration
4. Copy the files (from a USB drive or something) over to the server

The server should now boot up

(see reference link to PowerBiz Solutions post by Boon Tee below)

Third – Cleanup

• once the OS is back up and running you’ve got some critically important work to do
• uninstall the NTbackup & Restore Tool by bringing up either Programs and Feature or the Widows Updates Windows and then selecting the ‘Installed Updates’ choice on the left column.  Within the list of updates find and remove
  “Update for Microsoft Windows Windows (KB974674)”
• install, review, and take remediation steps from the Microsoft Windows Server Solutions BPA 1.3 – avoid aka ignore the direction to alter the webconfig as instructed with the EWS error (see references below for further information)
• run a full image backup immediately

(click above to enlarge)

References:

• SBS 2011 Build Wiki – V. Backup, Restore, and Disaster Recoveryhttp://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/1919.v-backup-restore-and-disaster-recovery.aspx
• Susan Bradley – remove that http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2011/12/25/remove-kb974674.aspx
• problem discussion in Microsoft Forums http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/smallbusinessserver/thread/be28b0a1-9cad-45aa-ad4c-b9e85e3128d2/?prof=required
• the fix – Fixing the Black Screen of Death (KSOD) on SBS 2011
  http://blog.powerbiz.net.au/fixes/fixing-the-black-screen-of-death-ksod-on-sbs-2011/
• BTW – don’t do that with regards to the latest Windows Server Solutions BPA 1.3 – EWS can be broken
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2012/06/13/update-rollup-3-for-wssg-bpa-is-now-available-via-microsoft-updates-along-with-its-installation-tool.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0&CommentPosted=true#commentmessage

RWA connections from XP for SBS 2011, WHS 2011, SBSE 2011, WESS 2011

There is an issue when attempting remote connections from Windows XP SP3 through SBS 2008 or SBS 2011 as both use a Remote Gateway implementation that requires a couple of updates. To succeed at reaching your remote office desktop from your home or offsite based XP desktop (not applicable to Vista or later OS) you need to install two things to make this work:

Here are the links:
· http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=20609 – XP RDP 7.0 client – doesn’t require restart

· http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951608  Microsoft FixIT – repairs Credential Security Support Provider (CredSSP) Service in XP – requires a restart

**ref** SBS 2011 release documentation which covers the second linked fix above and other possible remote connection issues:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg491249.aspx

SBS 2011 install and why Windows 2008 R2 SP1 doesn’t get offered

**After installing SBS 2011 I immediately wanted to install Windows 2008 R2 SP1 but instead I got offered 59 other updates and no SP1!  So of course you can just roll with that and eventually after cycles of updates and reboots you’ll get SP1 offered …but I really wanted to lay down SP1 saving time and then build from there.  Why isn’t it being offered though …even if you scan via Windows Updates?  Google didn’t give me any good results on Windows 2008 R2; however, remembering that since the Vista ‘major release’ kernel unification change to align the desktop and server kernel led me to look at Windows 7 information.

The following article identifies three required updates that must be installed in order to get offered W2k8R2 SP1.  Interestingly I was offered the KB2534366 patch (required a reboot) via WSUS but I had to go out to Windows Update to be offered the KB2533552 patch (didn’t require a reboot).  KB2454826 is the latest patch to be added to this list as this KB article has gone through multiple revisions over the years.

You do not have the option of downloading Windows 7 SP1 when you use Windows Update to check for updates

• “0xC000009A” error message when you try to install Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2534366
  § for SBS 2011 download – http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=7391
• An update that prevents a “0xC0000034″ error message when you try to install Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is available http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2533552
  § for SBS 2011 download – http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=10038
• A performance and functionality update is available for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2454826
  § for SBS 2011 download –
  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4895
  **note that the KB states this is update IS for Windows 2008 R2 though the download itself omits this information

SBS 2011 Standard – Test Build Write-up

For those just looking for “What’s New” and the official Release Documentation for SBS 2011 Standard Edition those are found here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg490793.aspx

It seems that the Premium Edition is rebranded as a “Premium Add-on” though it is the same thing as before. BTW there isn’t a Premium download as of yet.

IMO this release looks and feels much more like an R2 rather than a full revamp of the platform. Kudos to Hilton Travis for that idea.  Perhaps the R2 branding is being dropped from the Microsoft marketing lexicon branding wheel.

After having gone through a lab build out and poked around in the UI, I can say that the reworked RWW page is nicer with its published “Shared Folders” visible much that same as previously seen in WHS. Using SharePoint Foundation 2010 will make for a richer and more easily adoptable teamwork platform. The improved and renamed “Internet Address Management Wizard” simplifies setting up a public domain name complete with DNS records creation if hosted at Enom or GoDaddy. You can separately purchase the domain name and the wizard accommodates this …thankfully. The rest of the newness is attributed to Windows 2008 R2 and Exchange 2010 SP1 including WSUS 3.0 w/ SP2 allowing for usage of Branch Cache. Also SQL gets a bump to SQL 2008 R2 Express (Std Ed) or SQL 2008 R2 Std (Prem) …FWIW 

Plan on two rounds of updates.  At not even weaned from infancy (or available from OEM’s) I downloaded 11 initial updates and then 36 more the second reboot go around.  Wish the boys up top could avoid saddling every install with massive time taking patching.  If this minor miracle of technology could be automated or avoided it would easily stimulate businesses with cost savings on the technology deployment that could be better spent on training and adoption of the new goodness.

As in SBS 2008 there is an Answer File Tool for creation of this file required if doing a Microsoft migration. Both it and an .html file tutorial are found under Tools off the root of the media (you have to create).

Speaking about media …since the download is a whopping 6 + GB in size no mere mortal DVD will do. As alluded to by many already …plan on building a bootable USB drive. Tim Barrett’s helpful and well written tutorial works exactly as advertised.  Per the suggestion of a colleague I’ve also tried a cool Open Source tool “UNetbootin” which made the bootable USB drive a synch by merely pointing to the .iso and clicking OK (expect it to take over 30 minutes). I’ve also confirmed that the Dell Systems Build and Update Utility recognizes both the Tim Barrett method and the UNetbootin method created USB Flash Drives as ‘OS Media’ and will succeed in installing SBS 2011.