I had an interresting day yet again 🙁
Windows 2008 Server (x86) [codename Longhorn] [win2k8] setup corrupted my existing Windows 2003 Enterprise Server!
The problem might be traced back to Dynamic Disk Group ID problem (and not related directly to the win2k8 setup at all) and might be caused by the dualboot config.
After I cancelled the win 2008 install and tried to boot my win 2003 it failed with STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF789EA98,0xc0000034,0,0) BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).
One (yet) unconfirmed explanition is Dynamic Disk Group ID mismatch between the one stored on the disk configuration information (1MB at the end of the disk) and the one stored in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\dmio\Boot Info\Primary Disk Group). How and why this happened is unccelar at this momnet.
Here are some info on the topic:
Description of Disk Groups in Windows Disk Management
Dynamic Disk Numbering and the DmDiag.exe Tool
How to troubleshoot “Stop 0x0000007B” error messages in Windows 2000 — the best guess on solving the problem (yet)
Useful tools for (data recovery) experts:
Dmdiag
DiskProbe
Details:
I had 2 working Windows 2003 Enterprise Server on my computer (a Main and a Backup). The Main win2k3 was running on mirrored dynamic disk volumes. The Backup is (still) running on Basic Disk.
- Disk Setup:
Basic Disk on Motherboard PATA Primary Master – Backup Win2k3
DVDRW on MB PATA P. Slave
Dynamic Disk on MB PATA Secondary Maste – SW mirror (RAID1) – Main win2k3
Dynamic Disk on MB PATA S. Slave – Some SW mirrors and simple volumes – (intended win2k8 target)
Basic Disk on MB SATA (Si3112r) Ch. 0
Dynamic Disk on MB SATA (Si3112r) Ch. 1 – SW mirror – Main win2k3 mirror and others
Basic Disk on SATA Raid Card (Si3114r) Ch. 2
Basic Disk on SATA Raid Card (Si3114r) Ch. 3
- BIOS Settings:
Boot Order: CDROM, HDD-1, SCSI
(HDD-1 is MB S. Master – Main win, HDD-0 is backup win)
Main win was working perfectly (for years), backup win was installed 15 days ago on a single disk.
- The Process:
Boot from Win 2008 Install DVD, choose language, exit / cancell setup. On the install screen i closed the window. I wanted to do a backup first. As it turns out I was already late 🙁 The setup said the computer “might restart” if i cancel the install, and it did. I left the DVD in the drive, but did not boot from it rather let it boot to HDD. but instead of booting the hdd-1 it booted to the backup win (hdd-0). I tried to chane bios boot order with no effect before I realised the DVD was booting the hdd-0 not the bios. So I removed the DVD and restored the original boot sequence. (I think i mught tried to boot the main win form the backup win boot menu (hdd-0/boot.ini)) Although my main win boot menu was displayed it did not boot correctly. After displaying the progress bar the computer restarted. I disabled auto reboot and ther it was our favourite BSOD with the message:
STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF789EA98,0xc0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000)
I booted my backup win and googled the hell out of it, and came up with a bunch of misssing /corrupted driver explanation, witch seens highly unlikely, since it was just working fine a minute ago, and nothing was changed on the HW (nor should have on the SW). I found a very similar case here:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/winserversetup/thread/19402d17-3239-4e8b-b6c6-e06f45f3a123/
His config:
Disk 1 active partition/volume boots to Windows 2000 Professional
Disk 2 active partition boots to Windows Server 2008 (setup failed)
Disks 3/4 contains mirrored volumes. Active partition/volume boots to Windows Server 2003
“This system was working fine until I attempted to install Windows Server 2008 onto Disk 2”
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314082/