Mounting an External Drive (Windows)

If a failed Windows Server still has intact drives, our technicians can attach them to your new Windows Server. This guide shows how to access the NTFS partitions and transfer files, IIS sites and SQL Server databases.

Important — follow this order: Install the operating system on the new server completely before letting us know the old drives can be connected. If the drives are attached before the OS installation, the installer may detect the wrong disks and irreversibly overwrite the old data.

Overview

Phase	What happens
1. Detect the drive	Windows detects the new drive automatically or via Disk Management
2. Assign drive letters	Assign drive letters to the old drive's partitions
3. Fix permissions	Take ownership of locked system folders from the old installation
4. Transfer data	Copy files, IIS config, and databases to the new server

Step 1: Detect and bring the drive online

Make the new drive visible in Disk Management.

Open Disk Management via Start → Run → diskmgmt.msc. The new drive appears in the lower list. If it shows as Offline, right-click it and select Online.

PowerShell

Get-Disk | Select-Object Number, FriendlyName, Size, OperationalStatus Set-Disk -Number 1 -IsOffline $false

Replace 1 with the actual disk number from the output.

Step 2: Assign drive letters

Assign drive letters to the old drive's partitions so they can be accessed.

Via Disk Management

Right-click a partition on the new drive and select Change Drive Letter and Paths → Add. Assign a free letter — e.g. D: or E:.

Via diskpart

PowerShell

diskpart list disk select disk 1 list partition select partition 1 assign letter=D exit

Step 3: Take ownership of system folders

Gain access to locked folders from the old Windows installation.

PowerShell

takeown /f "D:\Users" /r /d y icacls "D:\Users" /grant Administrators:F /t

PowerShell

takeown /f "D:\inetpub" /r /d y icacls "D:\inetpub" /grant Administrators:F /t

takeown /r works recursively and may take a few minutes on large directories.

Step 4: Copy web files and configuration

Transfer IIS web files, applications, and configuration to the new server.

Copy web files (IIS)

PowerShell

robocopy "D:\inetpub\wwwroot" "C:\inetpub\wwwroot" /E /COPYALL /R:3 /W:5

Back up the IIS configuration

The IIS configuration of the old installation is stored in applicationHost.config. Copy it for reference and recreate sites, bindings and application pools on the new server — do not overwrite the new server's file:

PowerShell

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:\Migration" -Force Copy-Item "D:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config" "C:\Migration\applicationHost.old.config"

Copy user directories

PowerShell

robocopy "D:\Users\YourUsername" "C:\Users\YourUsername" /E /COPYALL /R:3 /W:5

Step 5: Migrate SQL Server databases

Transfer SQL Server database files and attach them on the new server.

PowerShell

robocopy "D:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA" "C:\SQLBackup" /E /R:3 /W:5

MSSQL16 stands for SQL Server 2022 — adjust the folder name to your version and instance. Attach the copied database files in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS): Databases → Right-click → Attach and select the .mdf file. Or via T-SQL:

PowerShell

sqlcmd -S localhost -Q "CREATE DATABASE MyDatabase ON (FILENAME = 'C:\SQLBackup\MyDatabase.mdf'), (FILENAME = 'C:\SQLBackup\MyDatabase_log.ldf') FOR ATTACH;"

Only attach SQL Server database files if the new server runs the same or a newer SQL Server version than the old one. Attaching to an older version is not possible.

Step 6: Check services and settings

After the data migration, verify all relevant services and configurations on the new server.

1.Start IIS and verify all websites load correctly: iisreset /start

2.Check application pools in IIS — connection strings and database passwords may need updating

3.Review all Scheduled Tasks and recreate them on the new server

4.Check installed SSL certificates — they may need to be reimported

5.If you need registry keys from the old installation, load its registry file temporarily: reg load HKLM\OLD_SOFTWARE D:\Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE — unload it after exporting with reg unload HKLM\OLD_SOFTWARE

Step 7: Import SSL certificates

Import certificates from the old server and assign them in IIS.

If the old certificates are available as a .pfx file, import them via PowerShell:

PowerShell

Import-PfxCertificate -FilePath "C:\certificate.pfx" -CertStoreLocation "Cert:\LocalMachine\My" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString "CertPassword" -AsPlainText -Force)

Assign the imported certificate in IIS: IIS → Website → Bindings → HTTPS → Select certificate.

Need help with the drive swap?

The physical installation of drives in our data centre must be carried out by our technical staff. Open a support ticket in the PowerPanel.

Open a Support Ticket