Windows server 2008 converted to Dynamic Volume will not start

[Desertsweeper]

Hello

I am running the free eSXI v5.1 Hypervisor. In an attempt to increase the size of my boot partition I changed it to a dynamic volume. When i restarted the machine would not start "no boot device". I installed it with the Paravirtual SCSI controller. I have booted of a Windows Server installation CD in an attempt to "repair" the server but even with manually loading the Paravirtual drivers it does not see the windows operating system. Do I start from scratch or is there any hope?

Many thanks for any suggestions in advance.

[Desertsweeper]

What is interesting is that if I connect to the server with the standalone-converter it sees all the partitions...but even if I try to install a new windows server onto the existing VM it doesn't recognize the disk anymore...

I "converted" the machine to a VMworkstation on my PC and although i get the same "The Boot selection failed because a required device is not inaccessible" I am able to mount the partitions by mapping to a local drive and browse them. Everything is there...frustrating!

[Desertsweeper · Accepted solution]

OK I solved this. These are the steps I took in case anyone has this issue:

I exported the VMachine to an OVF Template on my local PC. I used "WinImage" to convert this to VHD image which I could mount in VirtualBox (only because I am familiar with it). I hit F12 in VirtualBox (after mounting a Windows Server CD-ROM to the machine) which booted  Windows Server off the CD and allowed me to start the recovery command prompt. I guess the conversion somehow striped the "dynamic" volumes as they could be seen now. I ran:

bootrec /fixmbr

bootrec /fixboot

bootrec /rebuildbcd and brought the OS back into the bootable list

>restart

For the first time Windows tried to boot but I got a BSOD so I figured it was just a Storage Controller error. I used WinImage to convert it back to a vmdk which I was able to boot in VMware Workstation by editing it to "IDE".

Successful boot!... and then just "uploaded" to the ESXi Hypervisor from VMworkstation after attaching to the host server.