Solution : System Error 1311

Ok... Im posting this purely as an informational article on how i fixed the following problem..

The reason Im posting it here is that i still think devshed is one of the best troubleshooting sites on the net.. anyway...

Scenario.. Customer in their infinite wisdom decided to install a parallel port zip drive on thier windows 2000 Small Business Server using the original CD that came with the Zip drive..

reboot... STOP 7B error - INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

fun fun fun... way to fix this was to boot to recovery console
cd /winnt/system32/config - rename the system file to system.old and copy the system.sav to system.. (system.sav is the clean registry).. machine will then allow you to boot .. albeit with minimal drivers...then.. regedt32 load the system.old hive and manually remove the iomega entries from classes and change startup options to 4 (disable)..
(there is a technet doc on this, it was for a version 4.something iomega driver, but it pointed me in the right direction)...

once hive has been modified back to recovery console and rename it back to system.. reboot.. machine will start and looks fine... BUT... its not...

net use to self - error 1311 - no logon servers available..
AD Users and Domains - No authorive server available
Exchange System Manager - similar errors..

Event logs show a number of failures...
Problem was every error led me down a different path.. so i decided to concentrate on the AD / Exchange errors..

after reading hundreds of articles i ended up finding a technet doc Number 329642 'Error messages when you open active directory snap-ins and exchange system manager'..

this article explains that there is the possiblity of the kerbros realm being incorrect, and shows you the route to check and repair the kerbros realm...

after a reboot.. the system is operational again...

what a PITA!.. but the customer is happy and has promised never to install a zip drive on the server again... !

Have fun out there!
Steve