Sorry to jump on an old thread but I thought it might be better then starting a new one.
I also need to upgrade a Windows Server 2003 to 2008 R2 server howver I only have the one physical machine and would prefer to do a clean install as opposed to trying to upgrade.
Could anyone tell me how I can backup all the shares from the existing server (Im reciving an "Unable to copy file" error when I try Copy / Paste to an external drive currently) as well as AD accounts (including passwords) and then restore them to the new server install?
Unfortunately I'm also wanting to re-partition the Hard Drive to create more space so can just wipe the OS partition and keep the folder shares intact