Windows Home Server back up relink to build PC

One of your PCs has had a hard disk failure, or you are rebuilding the PC for some other reason – like an OS upgrade. Once done, you install the Windows Home Server Connector and even though you have given the PC exactly the same name (or maybe you didn’t) you see the computer listed as a new PC in the WHS Console. You would really like your newly rebuilt system to be associated with the backups of the same system you have from before, but you cannot see any way to achieve this. This becomes particularly relevant for those moving from XP to Windows 7 as you have no way to preserve the settings from your old PC. Suddenly, you end up with an extra PC in your WHS list and you are not sure why, or what to do with the old one. Today, we’ll help you reunite your rebuilt PC with its former backups on Windows Home Server.


But first, let us delve into why this looks like a new PC to Windows Home Server. When the Connector is first installed on a PC, it creates a number of keys in the registry. These cover your backup preferences, which server the is associated with, the PC’s name and most importantly a unique GUID (Globally Unique Identifier). This is one of those long strings of alphanumerics enclosed in curly brackets that you see so often in Windows. To WHS, the GUID is all important, more so than the PC’s name. Names may change, but if the GUID remains the same, it is the same entity. Here lies the problem. A new build with a fresh OS install has a registry void of WHS settings and the all important GUID. Install the Connector and a new, unique GUID is created and so you have a new system connected to Windows Home Server.

Those of you half a step ahead of me will have worked out that a bit of forward planning would help the user here. Export the GUID Registry key before rebuilding and then bring it into the new build and WHS will still see it as the original PC and keep it linked to the old backups. To do this, follow these steps CAREFULLY (Regedit Alert).

1. On the PC about to be rebuilt, run Regedit. On Windows 7 and Vista, just type in regedit into the Start Menu’s search bar, and it should pop up

2. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Home Server

3. Right-click on the words ‘Windows Home Server’ in the tree in the left-hand pane of Regedit and select Export

regedit whs2 thumb How to: Link a Rebuilt PC to its Old Windows Home Server Backups

4. In the dialog box that pops up, navigate to somewhere where you will be able to find the file and save as WHS.reg

5. Exit Regedit. Save the WHS.reg file somewhere safe – USB key, external drive on on the server – so you can get at it after you have rebuilt the PC.

6. You can now rebuild your server with whichever version of Windows you like.

7. Once installed and set up, but before installing the WHS Connector, copy the WHS.reg file to somewhere where the PC can access it and double-click it. This will import the settings into the PC’s registry.

8. Now install the Windows Home Server Connector and your server will identify it as the original PC making a new appearance.

This is fine for those who have the benefit of acting in advance, but what do you do if your hard drive or your memory (the one in your head) failed and you haven’t got access to that original registry?

Try the following procedure as it may well help. I would add at this point is has not been exhaustively tested and so feedback would be welcome.

1. We need to run Regedit on the server itself. The warnings above now should be heeded with even more care. Mess this up and you won’t have a backup to help you. You can either run Regedit by creating a Remote Desktop Connection to the server (Start> All Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection) and running from the Start menu (Select Start > Run and type in regedit to open).

Or you can use the more convenient method of using the Advanced Admin Console add-in (you are all using this excellent add-in, aren’t you), where you will find it in the drop-down menu on the far right of the window.