I am not sure if you have already answered it and I have somehow missed it:
- Are these 'a' and 'b' on two different servers? ( I think they are on different servers)
> yes
- Did you stop the server on 'b' before you replaced the files and attempted a startup?
> yes
> thanks. it doesn't help. i also tried pg_ctl without luck (
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.3/static/app-pg-ctl.html).
What exact pg_ctl command you used?
> "pg_ctl start" and "pg_ctl stop"
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So is there anything in the Windows system logs?
> looks like file system level backups don't work well on windows
because they get corrupted during transfer.
Whoa, how did we get to that conclusion?
> as a safety, i had also renamed old data-b. when copying old data-b
from the network didn't work, i renamed it back. and that worked.
Well all that proves is that there is some difference between the data directories. That could be corruption, it could be something else.
Since we are on the subject of corruption and this is Windows, do you have anti-virus software running on these machines?
If so, is it pointed at the directories in question?
> yes (symantec) but it is pointed to both directories, old data-b and renamed old data-b, so i doubt if that is the issue.