You can take a backup of the system state and restore this to another
server. However, this can be tricky to get right if the server you are
restoring has different hardware.
As far as I know, you should install a blank copy of Windows, installing
only the components you used on the live DC = DNS, DHCP, Certificate
Services etc.
Don't install any 3rd party hardware drivers such as network cards, video
adapters - just leave the setup to default out of the box Windows install.
Make sure to name the DC the same as the one you backed up. Also make sure
to create the same partitions e.g. C: & D:
Then run NTBackup and restore the system state, overwriting existing
settings. Re-boot the server and 99% of the time, it won't boot up (if the
hardware setup is different). You need to run setup and run a repair. If
this doesn't work, then the next step is to try an 'in-place' repair. You
need to hit enter at Windows setup screen and then F8 to agree to license
before running the repair (this is an inplace repair and re-generates the
HAL).
If anyone has any further information to supplement or correct the above, I
would be interested to hear - I have always found restores onto dissimilar
hardware setups something of a black art.
Cough, McTough
