I wish I could...the 2005 and 2008 R2 data centers are geo-separated and a standard Windows copy takes 10+ hours. A potential problem with the block-level copy seems to be the most promising lead. Odd thing is every other backup that travels the same path is fine restoring to 2008 R2, and this only started happening with the one database this morning. Thanks for looking and for the info and suggestions. I'll post back if I get to the bottom of it, or not, to close the loop either way.