Need help with Error

[alienware377]

Im trying to load a vm from a windows backup file that my boss needs me to restore to another server. It's windows server 2012.
We cant restore this backup, it says catalog corrupted. but all the files seem to be in the vhdx backup file. i converted vhdx to vhd to use w virtualbox for easier testing.

but when windows server made the backup, something about the way the virtual disk was made made it impossible to boot from it. Ive already converted gpt to mbr and set the correct partition to active. but it still wont boot, and now it gets a different error. It directed me here for help.

Here's the log. Can anyone help?

(log was too big to attach, and I'm new user, so please paste link from text file in browser).

The main error seems to be this, but I'm not sure.

00:00:02.136690 ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_VM_ERROR (0x80bb0003) aIID={4680b2de-8690-11e9-b83d-5719e53cf1de} aComponent={DisplayWrap} aText={Could not take a screenshot (VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED)}, preserve=false aResultDetail=-37

[mpack]

AFAIK, Windows Backup uses VHD(x) as containers, not as disk images. That's why you can't boot from it. You have to restore it in the "normal" way: which I can't tell you since I've never used Windows backup - I prefer the simple robustness of a disk image (I use Macrium Reflect). If Windows refuses to restore the backup, well, that's a support question for a Microsoft forum.

The screenshot error is normal: every log has that. It just means that the Guest Additions weren't running at that time.

[BillG]

As mpack said, Windows backup uses the .vhd(x) format, but it is not a bootable image. It is simply a copy of the file system.

If you still have the physical machine which created the backup, you can produce a bootable virtual disk using the Sysinternals app disk2vhd inside running server. If you don't, your best bet is to create a fresh install of Windows Server 2012 in a vm then restore the files from the Windows backup you have.

[alienware377]

As mpack said, Windows backup uses the .vhd(x) format, but it is not a bootable image. It is simply a copy of the file system.

If you still have the physical machine which created the backup, you can produce a bootable virtual disk using the Sysinternals app disk2vhd inside running server. If you don't, your best bet is to create a fresh install of Windows Server 2012 in a vm then restore the files from the Windows backup you have.

Thank you, but I don't think either option would work for me... The reason is because Windows server 2012 thinks the windows backup "catalog is corrupted" and we also don't have the original server. What if we just cloned our current other server's c drive, copy the files from the backup vhdx to overwrite the other server's files, would that work? Or, even better, how do you turn a filesystem back into a bootable image?

[mpack]

how do you turn a filesystem back into a bootable image?

You don't. It either is already a bootable image or it isn't.

Virtualizing your remaining functional server should work.

Yes, it's possible to access the contents of a vhdx, and yes, some files could be copied out of it. It's impossible for anyone here to know if that would be enough to suit your purposes.

I really think you need to seek out application specific support. VirtualBox is effectively the hardware manufacturer. You don't go to the hardware manufacturer with these kinds of questions, you go to the people who made the backup software, or made the server database software, or whatever.

[alienware377]

how do you turn a filesystem back into a bootable image?

You don't. It either is already a bootable image or it isn't.

One thing I've learned being a tech support manager for years with a company CEO that lets me experiment a lot is you never have a situation where the answer is simply "you don't". When it comes to digital things, there's almost always some weird, random way out there to fix it. Even if I have had to invent the way myself using a crapload of critical thinking, I've always figured it out.

Here's a method I found after searching for 2 seconds to restore a filesystem to bootable even though you said it isn't possible. I'm currently in the process of converting my VHD to ISO to inject the boot sector from the other windows server to this one using this software (it can't inject it into a virtual disk drive).

http://bootableusb.net/make-non-bootabl ... -bootable/

I hope this can help others as well as yourself figure out what I have. It's never simply "you don't".

[mpack]

I don't need to care what some third party says, because I'm comfortable that I know what I'm talking about, plus I have the advantage of knowing what you're talking about too.

Yes, it's possible to make a drive bootable. How else does a drive get to be bootable in the first place? Does that help you? No, because when you said "bootable" you actually meant "boot into a fully working install of Windows", and your inputs were a Windows backup VHDX, not an install CD. A whole bunch of mutually consistent boot sectors, drivers, OS files and registry entries need to be present for a Windows boot, so you aren't going to get a bootable Windows image unless you install Windows, or have a full image of a drive that Windows was already installed on.

...

And I just looked at your link. Oh wow, that's hilarious. You didn't notice that he was talking about ISOs, i.e. CD images, did you. Maybe you should have spent more than two seconds on this before you came back for your victory lap. A tech support manager you say?

[alienware377]

I don't need to care what some third party says, because I'm comfortable that I know what I'm talking about, plus I have the advantage of knowing what you're talking about too.

Yes, it's possible to make a drive bootable. How else does a drive get to be bootable in the first place? Does that help you? No, because when you said "bootable" you actually meant "boot into a fully working install of Windows", and your inputs were a Windows backup VHDX, not an install CD. A whole bunch of mutually consistent boot sectors, drivers, OS files and registry entries need to be present for a Windows boot, so you aren't going to get a bootable Windows image unless you install Windows, or have a full image of a drive that Windows was already installed on.

...

And I just looked at your link. Oh wow, that's hilarious. You didn't notice that he was talking about ISOs, i.e. CD images, did you. Maybe you should have spent more than two seconds on this before you came back for your victory lap. A tech support manager you say?

First, I'm not looking to be rude. Could we try to have a civil discussion? I like talking about tech stuff, as I'm sure you do. I'm not here to make enemies. In fact, I feel like I could learn a lot from you just talking with you. After rereading my last post, it does sound a little rude, but that was not at all my intention.

Anyway, I am aware it was talking about ISO. An iso is literally just another form of image, so I don't see what the problem is there. An iso can easily be burned onto a hard drive, just like a CD. Yes, I am a tech support manager and a few other hats at a small company. Nothing big time. I am not knowledgeable about what Windows backs up in its Server backup software, and if I was the one managing this server, I would NEVER have used something as ridiculous as Windows Backup to back it up. I was just assuming that, since the system drive VHDX looked like it had everything I've ever seen on a C drive, it should have everything besides the boot sectors. You said you need to

"have a full image of a drive that Windows was already installed on"

. You said before that what my vhdx is not an image, but it has every file on the original C drive. I don't think I understand the difference from an image and a filesystem. All I can think of is that an image is compressed into a single file and that an image contains boot sectors or maybe a few other hidden disk partition stuffs.

"drivers, OS files and registry entries"

these are all on the drive. It looks like the entire C drive was cloned into this VHDX. It's even labelled as "OS" when mounted which was the original name of the C drive on the other server. Also it's the exact same model of server with the same necessary drivers etc.

I wasn't coming back here for a victory lap, I was just telling you that basically any tech problem can be solved. If you don't currently have the knowledge, you search for it and test it out. That's all I was doing. Anyway, I never quite got to the end of testing that link out, because I found another potential solution by replacing the install.wim with the VHD converted to a WIM image in a windows server install iso, and burning it to a drive. My next step is to test out if it actually installs, and whether it installs to a working copy of the windows from the other server.

One last thing, thank you so much for your time. You could be off doing other things but instead you're willing to reply to me. Best regards.