After restoring MASTER database, can't start SQLServer Service: Configuration block version 0 i

Now, I checked and verified that my backup version of SQL Server is the same as the version installed on the computer I'm restoring too.

I have SQL Server on a production machine that I backed up and want to test a full restore on a dev machine to make sure it will work when I need it to.

Now that I've run the restore command on my tape backup and go to restart the SQL server service I receive:

Configuration block version 0 is not a valid version number. SQL Server is exiting. Restore the master database or reinstall.

I'm afraid I don't understand why this is happening. If the builds are the same, then shouldn't restoring the MASTER database have worked normally and I'd be able to restart the service now?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

If the service cannot be started, you must rebuild the

system databases, adding information that has been lost by attaching existing tables and recreating

objects.

After this, Restoring the master database when SQL Server is accessible

With master database accessible, you should start SQL Server in single-user mode and then restore your copy of the

master database from your most recent full database backup in the usual way, as described in the

following steps.

#1 - Start SQL Server in single-user mode.

with command:

sqlservr.exe -c –m

#2 - Restore the master database from the most recent backup:

RESTORE DATABASE master

FROM masterbackup

If Master isn′t accessible:

To rebuild the master database, you should run the SQL Server setup program with the following

options:

? The /qn switch to suppress the user interface.

? The REINSTALLMODE = AMUS property to rebuild system databases.

? The REINSTALL = ALL property to set up the server with the previously installed features.

This must be used when specifying the REINSTALLMODE property.

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I tried rebuilding using this command:

start /wait d:\setup.exe /qb INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER REINSTALL=SQL_Engine REBUILDDATABASE=1 SAPWD=YourPassword

However, you are saying those were not the proper commands and switches to use during the reinstallation?

(Also I didn't want to specify an SA account and password, I wanted to use windows authentication but didn't see an option for that).

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To use Windows authentication, you need use this parameters:

start /wait d:\setup.exe /qb INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER REINSTALL=SQL_Engine REBUILDDATABASE=1

SQLACCOUNT=<domain\user> SQLPASSWORD=<DomainUserPassword>

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Thanks.

Anyway, I tried rebuilding and that DID work.

But when I restored the master database, I was back where I started.

I KNOW the database installations are the same version as I did SELECT @.@.VERSION on both and they match.

So I don't understand why restoring a tape from one server to the other causes the other server to throw this error when the versions of the server do appear to be the same.