How To Install Windows Server 2008 R2 Step By Step - ITzGeek
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Download Windows Server 2008 R2

I recently had the need to install Windows Server 2008 from a USB stick. This was because I didn’t have a working DVD drive to hand. I found a couple of tutorials online explaining how to create the disk. They generally explained this technique. It is fairly easy to put together a single installation DVD or USB stick that will allow you to install Vista, Windows 7, Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2 – in a variety of x86 and x64 flavors. A couple of things to note about this guide.

Server 2008 R2 doesn't give the option to create recovery disks - that stayed with 2003. Irrelevant of the type of server, the 2008 BMR works by creating a full system image. If you need to restore, you boot off an install media (DVD, usb, etc) & choose recovery options at the menu. Insert the installation disk, boot from it and configure the hard disk for your needs. Or what i would prefer, use SmartStart from HP prepare the server with RAID controller and hard disk setup and install the software also with SmartStart, follow the included wizard. Is there an existing domain or do youhave to create a new one?

This article shows you how to create a recovery disk for Windows Server 2003, Server 2008 and Server 2012 or where to download our disk – Easy Recovery Essentials.

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Download recovery disk for Windows Server

If you’re not able to create a recovery disk for your Windows Server edition (2003, 2008 or 2012), you can download our recovery and repair disk, Easy Recovery Essentials, to repair your Windows Server edition.

Features of Easy Recovery Essentials include:

Automatically find and fix boot errors
Works even when you can’t get into Windows
Recover from virus infections
Restore your PC to a working state
Access and backup your important data
Advanced tools for IT experts

Easy Recovery Essentials is an ISO download image ready to be burned directly to a CD, DVD or a USB flash drive.

It’s compatible with newer versions of Windows, up to Windows 8.1:

It’s also compatible with Windows XP:

Create Windows Server 2008 R2 Installation Disk

Create recovery disk for Windows Server 2003

To recover a Windows Recovery 2003 system you’ll need to boot into the Recovery Console (similar to Windows XP steps).

You need to have your original Windows Server 2003 installation CD to access Recovery Console, if you don’t have it installed on your computer.

If you’re not able to access Recovery Console, go to Download recovery disk for Windows Server.

Follow these steps to access the Recovery Console:

Insert the CD in the optical drive
Restart your computer
At the Welcome to Setup screen, press R to load Recovery Console
Select the Windows installation you want to access with Recovery console
You’ll need to log in as an Administrator or with any user that has administrative rights to the system. Do so and enter the password.
Press Enter
The Recovery Console should now be available

In Recovery Console, you can now run the bootcfg or chkdsk commands.

Create recovery disk for Windows Server 2008

Your original Windows Server 2008 installation CD can be used a recovery disk.

If you already created a bare metal restore image using the Windows Server backup utility, you can restore your computer from that image.

Restoring Windows Server 2008 from a bare metal image will delete all personal files and replace your system with the backup image.

If you haven’t created a bare metal image (required to restore your computer) and can’t boot into Windows to do so, go to Download recovery disk for Windows Server.

Follow these steps to create a bare metal restore image that you can restore later using the installation CD:

Boot into your Windows Server 2008
Click Start
Click Administrative Tools
Click Windows Server Backup
Select Backup once…
Select Different options at the Backup options screen
Click Next
Select Custom
Click Next
Click Add Items
Select Bare metal recovery
Click OK
Click Next
Select Local drives from the Specify Destination Type screen
Click Next
Select your backup destination from the Backup destination field
Click Next
At the Confirmation screen, click Backup
Wait for the backup process to finish
At the Backup Progress screen, you should see the Status: Completed text

In order to restore your Windows Server 2008 from this created bare metal image, follow these steps.

You need your original installation CD for the steps below. If you don’t have it, go to Download recovery disk for Windows Server.

Insert the Windows Server 2008 CD in the disc tray
Boot your computer
Boot from the CD
At the Install Windows screen, select a language, time and keyboard
Click Next
Click Repair your computer
At the System Recovery Options screen, select Restore your computer using a system image that you created earlier
Click Next
At the Select a system image backup, select Select a system image
Click Next
At the Choose additional restore options screen, you can choose to format and repartition the disks
Click Next
Click Finish
Click Yes at the warning message
Wait for the process to finish

Create recovery disk for Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 uses the Windows Server Backup utility, just as Windows Server 2008 does, which lets you create a bare metal image that you can use later to restore from.

Restoring from a bare metal image will delete all personal files and will be replaced with the image you are restoring from.

If you haven’t created a bare metal image (required to restore your computer) and can’t boot into Windows to do so, go to Download recovery disk for Windows Server.

Follow these steps to create a bare metal restore image:

Boot into your Windows Server 2012
Click Start or search for the Windows Server Backup software
Load Windows Server Backup
Select Backup once…
Continue with the wizard instructions until you can select the Bare metal recovery option
Click Next
Continue with the wizard instructions to create the image

Once you’ve created the bare metal image, you can restore it using your original Windows Server 2012 installation DVD:

Insert the DVD in the optical drive
Boot from the DVD
At the Windows Setup screen, click Repair your computer
Select Troubleshoot
Select System Image Recovery
Select the Windows system, e.g. Windows Server 2012
At the Re-image your computer screen, you can begin to select what image to restore from
Click Next and follow the instructions to continue with the process

More Information

Linked Entries

Support Links

Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows – our repair and recovery disk.
It’s an easy-to-use and automated diagnostics disk. It’s available for Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista. It’s also available for Windows XP and Windows Server.
Read more at Windows Recovery Disks.
The NeoSmart Support Forums, member-to-member technical support and troubleshooting.

Applicable Systems

This article applies to the following operating systems:

Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2012

This a

Create Windows Server 2008 R2 Installation Disk