"The system then reacted by producing loud noise ( as if first powered on ) - while Windows Server 2003 was still running.  Then the staff moved quickly to properly SHUTDOWN the system ( while the chassis door was opened )." This is normal behavior.  When the lid is removed, the fans kick up to full speed to accommodate the change in pressure and temperature in an effort to maintain environmental/operational control.  This would have returned to normal once the lid had been securely replaced. "However, the system STILL did not boot to Windows Server 2003 OS.  For some reason, it just stopped" The failed drive would have had nothing to do with the OS not booting ... you need to perform a repair (start with CHKDSK /R, then FIXBOOT and FIXMBR) using Recovery Console (booting to the 2003 CD). If you have repaired an XP system that could not boot (missing/corrupt this-or-that file, blank screen, and/or blinking cursor), then this is EXACTLY the same (this is NOT the same as a System Recovery, Factory Recovery/Restore, System Restore, Repair Installation, or new/clean installation from OS media).  The only difference is going to be the fact that Server 2003 will not know how to talk to the RAID controller to be able to see the drives, so you will need to either use F6 and a floppy to load the RAID driver or you will need to use something like nLiteOS.com to integrate the driver into the installation media. 32-bit:[URL] 64-bit:[URL] Be sure to run the above files to extract the contents before use.
Dear Forum members, I made good use / read previous posting on misc topics.  Now I have one of my own.  I am no expert to DELL SERVERS / didn't have problems before. I got this Dell PowerEdge 1900 for 4 years, never got any problems.  When I got it, I loaded Windows Entreprise server 2003 sp1.  Everything worked just fine until a few days ago when it booted through the boot process, stopped, never went through to Windows Server 2003.  It just stay blank ( on the screen ), left it run overnight.....  and still blank.  [ Normal process, it should have gone to Windows screen.... ). Apparently one of the disks went bad ( my guess ) - please refer to attached snapshots of "on scrren boot  messages" below.   PLEASE HELP.  HOW DO I BRING IT BACK?  A LOT OF DATA RESIDEs IN THE SYSTEM. QUESTIONS: 1.  Can I make the system reboot with just 3 good disks?  2.  If  I need to replace the bad disk, does it have to be the same size and specs?  Can it be bigger in size or greater in RPM? 3. PLEASE GUIDE ME THROUGH! HELP!  ( Please see attached info in the snap shots of the system below ) Would appreciate your help very much!  If you need more info, please let me know. Sincerely,  HK_UH_Hi [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE]    
PowerEdge 1900 - Raid 10 - Not booting up anymore / 1 Foreign