# How can i restore win2003 AD system state data backup to newly installed 2003 AD ?



## pgabhi444 (Jun 3, 2010)

My 2003 DC got crash, but i have system state back, i tried to restore from active directory restoration mode in to new installed system; after that i could not create a new user because it throwing 'Access denied' message.

is there any other method to restore it or should i do any setting changes ?


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## digitalsatori (Apr 28, 2010)

How old is your system state backup? They don't have a long shelf life (60 days, I think). If its older than that, you may have some issues trying to restore the domain.

Is the 2003 server your only server? Is there another DC you can replicate Active Directory from?

Before you begin a system state restore, make sure everything is the same as it was prior to the crash, including your partition sizes, drive letters, hardware settings, etc. The System State also restores the Windows Registry, so if there are major differences (such as making the decision to merge the C: and D: partitions), the system may fail with a bluescreen after rebooting.

If you need to preform the restore, reboot the server and strike the F8 key before the Windows logo appears. This should bring up the boot menu. Select 'Directory Services Restore Mode' and restore your system state backup using your backup software. Be sure you *overwrite*/*replace* the files you're restoring!

Once you've done that, reboot the server and verify your Domain Admins group includes all the appropriate users. You _may_ lose your group memberships during the AD restore (this happened to me), but once you recreate the group memberships everything appeared to run normally.


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