ServerMagic(TM) by PowerQuest(R) Version 4.0 Versions for Windows NT 4.0/2000 Server and DOS TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- 1. Before Running ServerMagic 2. Known Issues 3. General Usage Notes 4. PowerQuest's Storage Manager Newsletter 1. BEFORE RUNNING SERVERMAGIC ----------------------------- A. Back Up Your System! ----------------------- Back up your hard drives before using ServerMagic. While ServerMagic has been thoroughly tested and is safe, power failures, operating system bugs, and hardware design bugs can put your data at risk. BEFORE USING ANY UTILITY THAT MAKES SUCH EXTENSIVE CHANGES TO YOUR HARD DRIVE, YOU SHOULD CONNECT YOUR SERVER AND STORAGE TO A RELIABLE UPS SYSTEM AND BACK UP YOUR DATA! To back up your system, we recommend using PowerQuest's Server Image(TM) for Windows NT. Server Image is a state-of-the-art disk-imaging tool that allows you to create an image of your entire system (an exact sector-for-sector copy) that can easily be restored. Having a backup allows you to run ServerMagic with the security of knowing that you can get your system back up and running quickly if you run into problems. Server Image for Windows NT is included with this version of ServerMagic. You can install it from the CD. B. Keep Your Partitions Healthy ------------------------------- For optimum server performance, you should regularly check partition integrity by using CHKDSK and reverse file fragmentation by using a partition defragment tool. ServerMagic, like most other programs on your server, runs best when partition health is maintained. 2. KNOWN ISSUES --------------- A. Disk Administrator, Computer Management and ServerMagic ---------------------------------------------------------- Because ServerMagic requires exclusive access to disks attached to the server, you cannot run it concurrently with Windows NT's Disk Administrator or Windows 2000's Computer Management. You must close these programs before ServerMagic will run. If you try to run either program while ServerMagic is running, no disks will be displayed. B. Moving/Resizing the Windows NT/Windows 2000 System Partition --------------------------------------------------------------- Resizing the Windows NT/2000 system/boot partition larger than the 1024 cylinder boundary (approximately 8 GB) or moving the partition past this boundary may make your server unbootable. Due to INT13 BIOS limitations on some machines, your rescue diskettes may not be able to recover from this situation. If you resize or move the partition and your server becomes unbootable (and the rescue diskettes do not show the entire drive), you may be able to recover your server by performing one of the following steps: * Install Windows NT/2000 Server with the appropriate drivers (if necessary) and Service Pack update onto another device attached to the same server. Then use ServerMagic to manipulate the problem partition back to a bootable state. * Attach the drive to another Windows NT/2000 Server installation, install the appropriate drivers (if necessary) and Service Pack update, and use ServerMagic to manipulate the problem partition back to a bootable state. Then reattach the drive to the original server. C. Running ServerMagic on Compressed NTFS Partitions ---------------------------------------------------- Although ServerMagic supports the manipulation of compressed NTFS partitions, you may notice a marked speed difference between compressed and non-compressed partitions. For best performance, you may want to decompress compressed NTFS partitions before using ServerMagic. D. Mount Points --------------- Under Windows 2000, if you perform operations on partitions that include mount points, you will have to restore the mount points after the operations are complete. E. Across the Wire ------------------ If you disconnect from the network or lose power while you are performing operations across the wire to a remote machine, the Remote Agent will not recover gracefully. The hard disk that was being manipulated at the time of failure on the remote machine will be marked as bad. To correct the error, you should: 1. Run ServerMagic with the /IPE switch. (Change to the %systemdrive%\Program Files\PowerQuest\ServerMagic 4.0\WinNT folder, and start ServerMagic by typing "SMAGICNT /IPE".) 2. Connect to the remote machine using Remote Agent. 3. Delete the partition that was only partially copied. 4. Close ServerMagic. You should not run ServerMagic with the /IPE switch on a regular basis, since it causes ServerMagic to ignore partition errors on all drives. If you manipulate drives with errors, you could lose data. However, if you only use the /IPE switch to resolve the problem noted above, it will not cause data loss. F. Using Remote Agent with In-use Partitions -------------------------------------------- If you attempt to move or copy an in-use partition from the local server to a remote machine, you will receive the following error message: "Operations on remote partitions cannot be applied in conjunction with operations that require the machine to reboot." Typically such an error occurs if the source partition has open data files or is where your server operating system is installed. If the source partition is the server operating system partition, you can work around these issues by first copying this partition to unallocated space on a drive attached to the local server, rebooting the server, then using the copied partition as the source partition for Remote Agent operations. If the source partition has open data files, you can work around these issues by ensuring no users are logged on to the server and any programs and services that require use of the source partition are closed and stopped. Please keep in mind that Remote Agent was not designed to be a deployment tool, but rather a way to copy partitions between machines. If you want to deploy servers, you should use Server Image(TM), which is included on the ServerMagic for Windows NT CD. If you want to deploy workstations, you should use PowerQuest's Drive Image(R) Pro. G. Windows NT/Windows 2000 Boot Partition Drive Letter ------------------------------------------------------ You should not change the drive letter originally assigned to the Windows NT/Windows 2000 boot partition (the partition where Windows is installed). Changing the drive letter to anything but its original designation will cause severe boot problems and may cause your computer to be unbootable. H. Remote Agent and Multiple NICs --------------------------------- Remote Agent does not run on machines with more than one network adapter. I. Init Failed: Error 183 ------------------------- If you attempt to run ServerMagic on a Windows 2000 Server machine where the boot partition (the partition where Windows is installed) is on a dynamic disk, you will receive the following error: "Init failed. Error 183. Unable to identify the Windows partition." You will not encounter this problem if Windows is installed on a basic disk. J. Error 184 ------------ If you encounter error 184 when initializing ServerMagic, run Disk Administrator (Windows NT) or Disk Management (Windows 2000), then start ServerMagic again. K. Error #2009 Encountered When Merging FAT Partitions ------------------------------------------------------ On some merge operations, you may encounter error #2009. To resolve the problem, create a temporary file (such as junk.txt) in the root directory of the target partition. Then restart the merge operation. 3. GENERAL USAGE NOTES ---------------------- - ServerMagic is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese. A non-Asian language version of ServerMagic should never be used on an Asian language version of Windows NT/2000 Server, as this may cause corruption of file names and partition/volume set labels. - Progress bars are an estimation only and may pause for several minutes, even though ServerMagic is still working correctly. If you think your computer has locked up, please be patient and ServerMagic will finish the operation. - You should run Adobe(R) Acrobat(R) reader at least once before you attempt to open the ServerMagic PDF documentation in the English\Docs folder on the ServerMagic CD or from the Reference Center book in the Contents tab of online Help. If you open PDF manuals on the CD or from the online Help the first time you run Acrobat, the Acrobat splash screen will appear, display a license agreement, then disappear. When you make a second attempt to display the PDF documentation, you will not encounter any display problems. PowerQuest recommends Adobe Acrobat version 4.0 or later for best viewing quality. You can download the Acrobat reader for free from www.adobe.com. 4. POWERQUEST'S STORAGE MANAGER NEWSLETTER ------------------------------------------ PowerQuest has a free monthly electronic newsletter that is dedicated to official announcements regarding PowerQuest products. It contains tips and techniques for getting the most out of your PowerQuest products. You can view the newsletter online at www.powerquest.com/newsletter/index.html. ================================================================== PowerQuest can be reached at: Voice: 801-437-8900 Fax: 801-226-8941 E-mail: servermagic@powerquest.com Web sites: PowerQuest: www.powerquest.com ServerMagic info: www.powerquest.com/servermagic/ Copyright 1994-2000, PowerQuest Corporation. All rights reserved. U.S. patents 5,675,769, 5,706,472, 5,930,831, 6,088,778, and 6,108,759; other patents pending in the United States and elsewhere. PowerQuest, ServerMagic, Server Image, and Drive Image are trademarks or registered trademarks of PowerQuest Corporation. Adobe and Acrobat are registered trademarks of Adobe Corporation. Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.