IT experts, I require your assistance

[Sekani]

I need opinions and/or suggestions for backing up and restoring a client's Windows 2000 Server machine in case of hardware failure.

Anyone reading this should know that Win2K Server installations are hardware-locked, so trying to restore them to a different machine usually ends up with blue screen errors.

To further complicate things, the client does not have any of the original Win2K install/recovery discs, nor do they have the install discs for their "mission critical" database software that they need to stay in business.

What do I do here?

[SabZero]

Hire a professional.

[VioletSkye]

If you haven't messed with W2KServer, I would also suggest finding someone who is qualified. It would be way too complicated for me to type out exactly what steps you should take for various scenarios which may or may not apply to the customer's situation. There are ways to do it safely and help ensure no data loss but I'd let an actual IT person do it. One thing you could do however is create a current backup image of the harddrive and make sure to save all the customer's data to an external source (harddrive/CD/DVD/USB Drive.) I'd also suggest that you let the customer know that you HIGHLY RECOMMEND seeing about getting replacement disks for their db software even if it means getting an upgraded version of the software (and check to make sure it will be compatible with their old database.) If they are really that concerned about their business they need to have backup software for whatever programs they need to run their business. You might also suggest spending a little more coin and upgrading their server with at least a RAID1 configuration.

[Sekani]

VioletSkye, sent you a PM.