Computer Does Not Start After You Use Windows Backup to Restore the System State

After you perform a manual restore of the system state by using Windows Backup, you may be unable to start the computer. The computer may enter a continuous restart loop.

This issue may occur under the following scenario:

1. You upgrade a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer to Windows Server 2003.
2. You make a copy of your computer's System State by using the Windows Backup utility.
   
   Note System State includes the system files, the registry, Component Services, the Active Directory database, and the Certificate Services database.
3. You perform a new installation (a clean install) of Windows Server 2003.
4. You restore your computer's System State by using the Windows Backup utility.

The issue occurs because the System State restore operation was started when Windows Server 2003 was installed in the C:\Windows folder, whereas the System State backup was created when Windows was installed in the C:\Winnt folder.

By default, Windows 2000 is installed in the C:\Winnt folder. Therefore, when you upgrade to Windows Server 2003, Windows uses the C:\Winnt folder. However, when you perform a new installation of Windows Server 2003, Windows is installed in the C:\Windows folder instead. Because the System State was backed up from the C:\Winnt folder, the Windows Backup utility cannot find the Windows installation in the C:\Windows folder.

Note This issue does not occur when you use the Automated System Recovery (ASR) wizard to save and restore the system files and configuration settings.

To work around this issue, you can perform a second installation of Windows Server 2003. When you do this, Windows discovers the existing Windows installation in the C:\Windows folder, and then you are prompted to specify another folder for the installation. When this occurs, you can specify the C:\Winnt folder. You can then restore the System State by using the backup that now matches the location of the Windows installation in the C:\Winnt folder.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Install Windows Server 2003. (Windows Server 2003 is installed in the default C:\Windows folder.)
   
   Note If Windows Server 2003 is already installed in the C:\Windows folder, you can omit this step and go to step 2.
2. Install Windows Server 2003 a second time. Windows discovers the existing installation in the C:\Windows folder, and then you are prompted to specify another folder for the installation.
3. When prompted, specify the C:\Winnt folder, and then continue with the installation.
4. When the installation has completed, you can delete the C:\Windows folder if you want.
5. Continue to restore the System State by using Windows Backup.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.