DR can never access backup set

[iainh]

I'm a long-time user of Retrospect both on Mac and Windows but find Retrospect very unreliable in DR use on Windows which the time I really need it to work! I was wondering if others see similar issues as I've previously found EMC support particularly unwilling to assist :-(

 

So my scenario goes like this...and has been repeated many times over:

 

1. I have a machine with a HDD that starts to fail (and yes, sadly that's been repeated a few times!)

2. I ensure I have an up to date backup

3. I create a new DR CD

- - First problem here. If you use the HDD i386 dir to build the disk you always end up with an image too large to fit on a CD and there seems no DVD support :-(

- - So always create the DR from a 'fresh' Windows setup i386 and it seqeezes in just under 700Mb

4. Swap over the HDD for a new bare disk

5. Boot from the DR CD

6. Work your way through Windows setup, first restart and into Retrospect under minimal o/s

7. As soon as Retrospect starts it reports:

"Retrospect encountered problems while opening file backup set "backup_set_name" and can't contrinue. Please see the operations log in the window menu for details. Contact support...."

8. Log file doesn't show any error, just:

"Retrospect Express - Disaster Recovery v7.0.326

Launched at mm/dd/yyyy hh:mmpm

Retrospect update, version 7.0.6.108"

Nothing else. No error, no nothing!

9. At this point if I try a manual Restore and to rebuilt the catalogue from File, the system is unable to see any USB devices and so do anything

10. Restart and let more of Windows to install

11. Restart and Retrospect again starts and again complains about beng unable to access the backup set

12. But, USB support is now working and so it's possible to rebuild the catalogue and then to conduct a retore, however...

13. There's an option to specify 'Original location' or 'New location'. Select 'original' (on the basis this is a DR restore) and everything fails and at this point you have to quit and restart the manual Restore

14. Select 'New location' and you get to select the 'new' c:\ drive...but why can't you go back to do this at step 13?

 

So the sum total is that I did manage a DR and things do seem to be working, however, I have more DR CDs created at different times of different snapshots and have tried more times over different weekends than I care to admit to.

 

Why though does Retrospect not do as it's supposed? What is this 'problem opening file backup set' given the DR CD was created only 30 minutes previously and so there's been no new backups or other changes?

 

I have finally won, but I do wonder what would happen were I to have a sudden catestrophic disk failure and so I couldn't keep going back to the 'bad' disk and building yet another DR CD.

 

Has anyone else experienced these kinds of problem?

 

.../Iain