Windows Home Server Reinstall question

[XBoxLPU]

The computer started up a few days ago with a corrupt Windows file and wouldn't boot into Home Server. It is the system drive that WHS is installed into. I removed the hard drive and placed it into my main computer, chkdisk did a scan on the first Vista boot and found bad sectors on the drive. It fixed the data errors and remapped everything properly. I was able to move what data that was shared off the drive and I have no plans to reuse the drive since it is a fairly old hard drive and will replace it with a new 500Gb that I just ordered from Newegg.

The WHS system also has a working 500Gb HD that holds the rest of my shared data but I know whenever you install Home Server and add a hard drive to the storage pool, it will erase the drive completely.

I have no problems installing WHS onto the new clean 500Gb hard drive and migrating the old data from the 500GB hard drive via my main Vista machine/network.

Unless there is another the way to install WHS again that will make it realize an existing hard drive was used in a previously WHS setup?

 

[RebateMonger]

No. The shared file database for WHS is no good anymore. Everything has changed now.

For data shares, you'll have to install WHS on the new drive and then and move the shared files back into the new shared folders from the other drive(s). That'll let WHS build the file database properly.

If you need your additional drive(s) to hold all your shared files, you'll have to find somewhere else to move the files temporarily. Adding the additional drives to the Pool will re-format them, erasing anyting that's on them. Do NOT add the additional disks to the drive pool until all their files are copied elsewhere.

Overall, it'd probably be best to try to move as many files as you can to temporary storage, so WHS can directly place the new files onto the "correct" disk, rather than filling up the first disk and then having to re-balance everything later.

You CAN rebuild your WHS backup database if you wish (and if you have all the backup files and database files. You can find instructions on a couple of sites.