Hi

I am having some trouble restoring a new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook.

I have WHS 2011 on a server machine. Backups are running fine.

I created a restore USB Key from the server tools menu.

When I boot using the key I get an error dialog just after it boots into windows - RestoreCDInit.exe Application Error. This happens whether I choose 32bit and 64bit recovery options.

I tried downloading and adding both 64bit and 32bit drivers to the USB key but the same things happens.

So next I tried downloading the recovery ISO file from MSDN for WHS 2011 with Power Pack 1.
I created a bootable USB key with WinUSB utility.
This time I get a little further and it goes into the recovery application but it fails to recognise any network devices. I assumed that it couldn't find the necessary drivers for the network devices. I downloaded the drivers from Intel and placed them on the USB key. Rebooted and the same problem - still can't recognize the network devices.

This machine has a wireless network card. I have also a USB to Fast Ethernet adapter. I am not sure if WHS will work with either of these options.

Can someone please advise me and point me in the right direction.

Regards,
Chris

You will want to be sure you have:
- Extracted the drivers from the package from Intel's site. You can't just slap the EXE or ZIP file onto your USB key and expect the WHS Restore program to extract the contents.
- Make sure you have the correct drivers for the kind of restore you are doing, 64-bit or 32-bit, and that the drivers are appropriate for your hardware.
- Even after you have the drivers on the USB key, the WHS restore process will not recognize them right away. You have to force it to scan the USB stick (takes a while) to find the drivers. You will see this as you go through the restore process. After you have done that and it finds correct drivers (depends on the above two steps) you should have a link LED on your Ethernet port.

If that still fails, you can always restore the "Drivers for Full System Restore" from the WHS 2011 dashboard for your Dell Ultrabook. Go into dashboard and mount the latest backup, by using "Restore files or folders for the computer", mount the latest backup then navigate to the c:\ root, then look for the "Drivers for Full System Restore", in there you should find the INF and drivers for your network. Copy those files to the USB, then go through the restore process and make sure to allow it to scan the USB as stated above.

Hope that helps...

Thanks for the reply. I've tried all of this.

When I click the Scan button it immediately comes back saying that it hasn't found the drivers. It seems as if it doesn't scan at all because it is so quick.

Is there any particular folder I should put the drivers in.

Thanks
Chris

It sounds wrong that it "immediately comes back" with nothing found. The scan takes at least a few minutes on my systems. To me, it sounds like it is not recognizing the USB port as something to scan at that point. Have you looked at your BIOS settings and pay special attention to anything USB related? (especially anything "legacy USB"). Maybe try in a different USB port (ie. maybe not a USB3 port).

I don't know if there are any requirements about which folder the drivers should be in. I place mine in the root of the USB in a folder called "drivers", then separate out by motherboard/computer model (and I have both 32 and 64-bit drivers mixed up in there).

For example:

F:\>f:

F:\>cd drivers

F:\drivers>dir /s

Volume in drive F is WHS-RESTORE
Volume Serial Number is 48FB-A7FE

Directory of F:\drivers

07/03/2011 06:47 PM <DIR> .
07/03/2011 06:47 PM <DIR> ..
07/03/2011 06:48 PM <DIR> hp_dv4-2153cl
04/17/2012 07:32 PM <DIR> dh67cf
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of F:\drivers\hp_dv4-2153cl

07/03/2011 06:48 PM <DIR> .
07/03/2011 06:48 PM <DIR> ..
07/03/2011 06:47 PM <DIR> net
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of F:\drivers\hp_dv4-2153cl\net

07/03/2011 06:48 PM <DIR> .
07/03/2011 06:48 PM <DIR> ..
07/03/2011 06:47 PM <DIR> 32
07/03/2011 06:47 PM <DIR> 64
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of F:\drivers\hp_dv4-2153cl\net\32

07/03/2011 06:48 PM <DIR> .
07/03/2011 06:48 PM <DIR> ..
12/23/2008 11:47 AM 151 note.txt
11/06/2009 01:05 PM 351,492 rt86win7.cat
11/06/2009 06:32 PM 829,242 rt86win7.inf
11/05/2009 10:14 PM 230,912 rt86win7.sys
03/05/2009 02:54 PM 73,728 RtNicprop32.DLL
07/22/2009 06:24 PM 94,208 RTNUninst32.dll
6 File(s) 1,579,733 bytes

Directory of F:\drivers\hp_dv4-2153cl\net\64

07/03/2011 06:48 PM <DIR> .
07/03/2011 06:48 PM <DIR> ..
12/23/2008 11:47 AM 151 note.txt
11/06/2009 01:05 PM 351,505 rt64win7.cat
11/06/2009 06:36 PM 829,264 rt64win7.inf
11/05/2009 10:15 PM 291,328 rt64win7.sys
03/05/2009 02:54 PM 67,584 RtNicprop64.DLL
07/22/2009 06:24 PM 97,792 RTNUninst64.dll
6 File(s) 1,637,624 bytes

Directory of F:\drivers\dh67cf

04/17/2012 07:32 PM <DIR> .
04/17/2012 07:32 PM <DIR> ..
04/17/2012 09:42 PM <DIR> 32
04/17/2012 09:42 PM <DIR> 64
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of F:\drivers\dh67cf\32

04/17/2012 09:42 PM <DIR> .
04/17/2012 09:42 PM <DIR> ..
04/17/2012 06:34 PM <DIR> e1c6232.inf_x86_neutral_e5591de1ee0be352
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of F:\drivers\dh67cf\32\e1c6232.inf_x86_neutral_e5591de1ee0be352

04/17/2012 09:44 PM <DIR> .
04/17/2012 09:44 PM <DIR> ..
03/20/2012 10:55 PM 10,100 e1c6232.cat
01/06/2012 02:02 PM 3,109 e1c6232.din
03/15/2012 08:58 PM 84,919 e1c6232.inf
04/11/2012 04:59 PM 95,960 e1c6232.PNF
03/15/2012 08:54 PM 392,872 e1c6232.sys
02/17/2012 02:52 AM 72,360 e1cmsg.dll
05/26/2009 10:05 AM 28,792 NicCo36.dll
02/03/2012 03:07 AM 82,624 NicInstC.dll
8 File(s) 770,736 bytes

Directory of F:\drivers\dh67cf\64

04/17/2012 09:42 PM <DIR> .
04/17/2012 09:42 PM <DIR> ..
04/17/2012 12:15 AM <DIR> e1c62x64.inf_amd64_neutral_6761ee61676f4903
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of F:\drivers\dh67cf\64\e1c62x64.inf_amd64_neutral_6761ee61676f4903

04/17/2012 09:46 PM <DIR> .
04/17/2012 09:46 PM <DIR> ..
03/20/2012 10:55 PM 10,138 e1c62x64.cat
01/06/2012 02:02 PM 3,114 e1c62x64.din
03/15/2012 08:58 PM 88,289 e1c62x64.inf
04/12/2012 09:00 AM 98,600 e1c62x64.PNF
03/15/2012 08:57 PM 514,736 e1c62x64.sys
02/17/2012 02:52 AM 72,360 e1cmsg.dll
05/26/2009 10:05 AM 36,472 NicCo36.dll
02/03/2012 03:07 AM 99,520 NicInstC.dll
8 File(s) 923,229 bytes

Total Files Listed:
28 File(s) 4,911,322 bytes
29 Dir(s) 3,497,033,728 bytes free