How to troubleshoot the "Connection to Restore Target has been lost" error during an Exchange restore

Exact Error Message
Connection to Restore Target has been lost

Details:

Pre-Disaster Recovery Requirements for Exchange 5.5

To properly recover the Exchange Server, the Directory Store must be restored to a Windows NT server that has the same computer name, Windows NT domain, organization, and site names as the original. If these conditions are not met, the recovery will not be successful.
Exchange Service Pack level must be the same as original.
Microsoft Disaster Recovery for Exchange 5.5, see White Paper :http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/techinfo/administration/55/BackupRestore.asp.

Pre-Disaster Recovery Requirements for Exchange 2000

Hard disk configuration information, including a list of each hard disk partition with the volume names and sizes of the partitions (the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit utility dump config [Dumpcfg.exe] provides this information) as well as a summary of what is installed on each partition
Computer name of the server
Exchange 2000 organization name
Exchange Service Pack level must be the same as original
Administrative group name to which the Exchange server belongs
Storage group names and database names on the Exchange server
List of any static IP addresses, subnet masks, and default gateways used by the server
LegacyExchangeDN value of the administrative group to which the Exchange server belongs
If your topology includes Exchange 2000 clusters, you should keep a record of the cluster configuration information. To back up this information, use the Microsoft Cluster Tool (Clustool.exe). Clustool.exe is available in Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit.
Microsoft Disaster Recovery for Exchange 2000, see White Paper :http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B326052.

Note: There are numerous issues that can generate this error message. Here is a list that provides suggestions for troubleshooting the error "Connection to restore Target has been lost":

1. Verify that all of the above requirements have been met. Check Microsoft Disaster Recovery articles for more information.

2. Verify that all paths have been set to the original configuration when the backup operation was performed. See the Related Documents section of this TechNote.

3. Verify that there is enough disk space on the target location for both the temporary log files and for the databases to be restored. See TechNote 243154 in the Related Documents section of this TechNote.

4. For Exchange 2000, verify that the Exchange stores are dismounted and marked to be overwritten by a restore. See TechNote 234628 in the Related Documents section of this TechNote.

5. Confirm network interface card settings and connectivity to the network

6. In the case of a large database restore, consider applying Windows Service Pack 3 as there is a known issue with Windows and the copy of large files across the network. For more information, see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q259837.

7. Consider deleting the contents of the MDBDATA folder located in the Exchsrvr directory and running the restore again

8. Consider uninstalling and reinstalling Exchange. Exchange installation may have become corrupt.

Related Documents:

http://support.veritas.com/docs/231136

http://support.veritas.com/docs/231516

http://support.veritas.com/docs/234628

http://support.veritas.com/docs/235756

http://support.veritas.com/docs/241537

http://support.veritas.com/docs/247985

http://support.veritas.com/docs/257192

Acknowledgements
Microsoft Corporation

Products Applied:
Backup Exec for Windows Servers 10.0, 8.0, 8.5, 8.5 SBS, 8.6, 8.6 SBS, 9.0, 9.1

Last Updated: April 12 2005 09:03 AM GMT
Expires on: 365 days from publish date

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Subjects:
Backup Exec for Windows Servers
Application: Exchange Module, How To, Restore

Languages:
English (US)

Operating Systems:
Windows 2000

Advanced Server, Datacenter Server, Server

Windows NT

4.0 Server SP6a

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