I’m running WinXP Pro / SP2 on my PC.

A few weeks ago I introduced a subject concerning system restart problems after running certain backups on my PC using Norton Ghost 9.  I’ve since upgraded to Ghost 9.02 and my problem continues to persist.

Background – I have 2 hard drives on my system.  My first drive has two partitions, c:\ and e:\.  My second hard drive has 6 partitions, d:\, f:\, i:\, j:\, k:\ and l:\.  My PC is dual boot.  I have Win98SE on drive #1, c:\ partition and WinXP Pro / SP2 on drive #2, d:\ partition.  I’ve been running this configuration since January 30, 2002.  I use WinXP Pro about 99% of the time and the remainder I use Win98SE.

I had been using Norton Ghost 2002 and then Ghost 2003 until Symantec came out with Ghost 9.  Ghost 9 is Symantec’s adaptation of Powerquest’s Drive Image product.  I installed Ghost 9 on my PC back in November 2004.

I can comfortably back up any of my partitions on either of my drives with no problems except for when I do a backup of my d:\ partition which houses my WinXP Pro OS.  Initially I was having reboot problems after backup up my d:\ partition because of some unknown error that was being created by Ghost 9.  I turned off “Automatically restart” under System Failure so I could generate a BSOD to get some idea of my problem.  Sure enough I now get a BSOD and it says it was caused by a driver named pqv2i.sys.  The error message I get is PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA.  I hit my reset button to reboot and I don’t get the error again until I back up my d:\ partition again.

Attempting to do some research before sending this note I did find some clues.  Pqv2i.sys is a driver used by Ghost 9 and it was brought over from Drive Image.  I discovered that pqv2i.sys also had (has) a BSOD problem in the past.  The problem further seems to be related to a file created on each partition named vsnap.idx.  Temporarily deleting this file supposedly before rebooting prevents the BSOD problem albeit a poor workaround.  What is more interesting is that once you back up a partition and reboot Ghost 9 starts some process to run which triggers pqv2i.sys and it executes during either shutdown, startup or both.  On my PC this process somehow goes awry and creates the aforementioned BSOD.

In reference to the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA there are two causes to this problem.  (1) Bad memory on the MOBO or video card or (2) shoddy software.  I believe my problem is the latter as I can pinpoint it to Ghost 9’s pqv2i.sys driver.  

Where do I go from here?

"I have only five words for you..."

[glb]"Norton Ghost Two Thousand Three !!!"[/glb]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/El_Pescador/NRAsquirrelW.jpg

[glb]El Pescador[/glb]

FYI, I am still using Ghost 2003. With no problems. Some here like Ghost 9, but it is really Drive Image, which Symantec bought from PowerQuest, and all my faith, from dozens of (successfully) restored images, is in Ghost (not Drive Image). I heard Symantec is going to market the original Ghost (with networking support enabled) to corporate clients and jack up the price.

I passed my information on to Symantec's customer support.  Lets see what they say (ha).  They'll probably want me to uninstall/reinstall Systemworks 2005 or reformat my HD's and reinstall WinXP from scratch as in the end they don't really know (or care) what the cause of my problem really is.

Clevelandtxus , I too encountered the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA error – but ONLY after installing the first version of the Ghost 9.0.2 update.  I have not yet installed the second (current) version of that update to see if the problem persists.

Did you also encounter this error when using Ghost 9.0 – or, only with Ghost 9.0.2?

Pleonasm - Both

A posting on the Symantec.CustomerService.General forum describes one's person success with Ghost 9.0.2, in which the individual implemented the Data Execution Prevention policy fix (see Symantec KnowledgeBase article #2004101410380862), and then reinstalled Ghost 9.0.

Not having attempted the procedure myself, I can't say whether or not it is critical to apply the DEP fix BEFORE upgrading to Ghost 9.0.2.

Clevelandtxus, please let us all know if you test this idea (uninstall Ghost, apply DEP fix, reinstall Ghost 9.0, upgrade to Ghost 9.0.2), and whether it succeeds.

When I first got the BSOD problem it was with Ghost 9.0.  I did the DEP stuff to no avail.

When the first version of Ghost 9.02 came up I had the installation problem that we all experienced.  At that time I unstalled Ghost 9.02 and resinstalled Ghost 9.0 from the NSW installation CD.  

Last week I updated to the second Ghost 9.02 release.  I still have the problem with the DEP setting in effect when I did the install.

texdawg wrote on Feb 9^th, 2005 at 5:43pm:

When I first got the BSOD problem it was with Ghost 9.0.  I did the DEP stuff to no avail. When the first version of Ghost 9.02 came up I had the installation problem that we all experienced.  At that time I unstalled Ghost 9.02 and resinstalled Ghost 9.0 from the NSW installation CD.   Last week I updated to the second Ghost 9.02 release.  I still have the problem with the DEP setting in effect when I did the install.

I'm actively working with Symantec in solving (trying to solve) the BSOD problem.  I tried some things this weekend that Symantec Support suggested but they were unsuccessful which I reported this morning back to Symantec.  At 2 to 3 days between contacts this may be awhile.

One thing that seems to be apparent is that the BSOD problem occurs on systems with WinXP SP2.  Is there anyone on this forum getting BSOD's with WinXP SP1 / Ghost 9?  Is there anyone on this forum not getting BDOS's with WinXP SP2 / Ghost 9?

To anyone who doesn't have the problem please report  your O/S and hardware configuration.  Likewise for those who are getting the BSOD's with Ghost 9 report the same.  Perhaps some common factor in our hardware configurations, like a particular brand of video card, could lend to some clues.

Until proven guilty, Symantec is innocent.  Ha!

Clevelandtxus, I am running Windows XP Professional SP2 on a Compaq Presario 8000T, and have never received a 'blue screen of death' error with Ghost 9.0 - nor with the first version of the Ghost 9.0.2 release.  (I have not yet updated Ghost with the new [current] Ghost 9.0.2 download.)

I did receive a PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA error once with the first release of the Ghost 9.0.2 update; but, after returning to Ghost 9.0, the error has never appeared again.

Please let us know how your discussion with Symantec proceeds.  And, it would be of interests to all to learn what was updated/fixed with Ghost 9.0.2 – so, if you can, please ask Symantec and post the reply.

It difference why some get the BSOD and some not could be as simple as which video card we use or don't use.  Outside of the WinXP O/S and Ghost 9 which we have in common is a world of variety.  The video card we use, the sound card, the CD writer, the DVD writer, etc, plus a whole host of applications.

I'll keep this forum posted as my adventure continues.

Pleonasm wrote on Feb 14^th, 2005 at 2:41pm:

Clevelandtxus, I am running Windows XP Professional SP2 on a Compaq Presario 8000T, and have never received a 'blue screen of death' error with Ghost 9.0 - nor with the first version of the Ghost 9.0.2 release.  (I have not yet updated Ghost with the new [current] Ghost 9.0.2 download.) I did receive a PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA error once with the first release of the Ghost 9.0.2 update; but, after returning to Ghost 9.0, the error has never appeared again. Please let us know how your discussion with Symantec proceeds.  And, it would be of interests to all to learn what was updated/fixed with Ghost 9.0.2 – so, if you can, please ask Symantec and post the reply.

Symantec is still working on my problem.  They assigned a new techie to help work out my BSOD page fault problem.  Got new things to try.  The first techie hadn't got back to me in a long time.  The new techie was very apologetic.  I guess they monitor this stuff.

Here is what they told me about the changes in 9.0.2:

"Also, Symantec has done few minor cosmetic changes and added few extra drivers for external devices like DVD, CD and USB devices to Ghost 9.02. These minor changes have not been documented on our knowledge base. "

Hi,

I bought a new HD and tried to ghost the system to it. I have a dual boot (Win98 and WinXP/SP2) system.
I can boot on win98 but the WinXP freezes on boot (at the blue screen).

I used ghost 2003 and ghost 9 but the problem remains...

Any clues?

Fabiano Cruz

Are you cloning the working HDD to the new HDD and then putting the new HDD in place of the old working HDD and testing the dual boot?

Compare the 'boot.ini' file on the working HDD to the one on the cloned HDD (print them out so you can compare them side by side).  Are they the same or are there differences?

As an FYI, I upgraded from Ghost 9.0 to Ghost 9.0.2 - and it worked flawlessly.  The download completed on the first attempt, and LiveUpdate did not prompt for the installation of the same update thereafter.

No BSOD or page fault errors have occurred to-date with Ghost 9.0.2 on my PC.

I have Norton 9.0 Ghost stand alone w/ WinXp SP2, .Net 1.1; I have an Athlon CPU, Asus MOB, 512Ram, 2 HDD w/5 patitions; And I have DL'd 9.02 and re-installed; CD'd 9.0 and reinstalled; I have cleaned house of Norton System works 2003; I have fresh installed of WinXP (per Tech Support);
I have waited hours on the phone for poor tech support (I could hardly understand the person); I have tried the sorry help support Norton has online for Ghost;

Bottom line: Norton Ghost 9 " cannot conncect to the agent. Service not running" I have checked to make sure all the "Services" Ghost needs is running; (Except for it's own: Ghost).

Please keep in touch if anything new comes up. I'm currently scanning the internet for any help and this form is all I can find that is on track!!

Thanks, Jimmy.

Pleonasm wrote on Mar 7^th, 2005 at 1:32pm:

As an FYI, I upgraded from Ghost 9.0 to Ghost 9.0.2 - and it worked flawlessly.  The download completed on the first attempt, and LiveUpdate did not prompt for the installation of the same update thereafter. No BSOD or page fault errors have occurred to-date with Ghost 9.0.2 on my PC.

Pleonasm,

Would you please post a description of your system, especially your hardware makes and models.  Perhaps if I can compare yours with mine I may notice a difference, like video card, etc, drivers.

I just got off the phone from Norton Tech and was not helped. Apparently the number I came her was not current? I couldn't get a response at all -- It might have been self-service, anyway...
I'm using ATI 9700Radeon card with drivers ( I removed them and this didn't do any good.), NEC DVD Burner; the only programs I have installed are Norton Ghost and Acrobat and
WinXP Pro.

I don't know if this matters but: I have NTFS partitions on one HDD and FAT32 on another? Never gave it much thought?

Jimmy

Jimmy Navarro

You might want to start a new posting that is specific to your problem--might get more folks looking at it--this thread was about Ghost 9 causing a 'Blue screen of death' (BSOD) fault that stopped the system after doing a backup procedure.

Your problem seems to be you can not get Ghost 9 to start--a different problem completely.


Quote:

Bottom line: Norton Ghost 9 " cannot conncect to the agent. Service not running" I have checked to make sure all the "Services" Ghost needs is running

Have you tweaked or modified any of the WinXP services per some other website recommendations?

Have you tried to uninstall and reinstall '.net' to be sure it's installed correctly?

Any other clues as to which 'agent' the fault notice is referring to?  --is the install program trying to 'phone home' to Symantec and your firewall is preventing the connection?


Quote:

I don't know if this matters but: I have NTFS partitions on one HDD and FAT32 on another? Never gave it much thought?

That should not be the issue with the problem you're having--can't be sure, but shouldn't be.

Thanks for the tips. My intial problem with Ghost 9.0 started with the BSOD; then I was able to recover with "OptOut"; but things have not changed much since my last post. I've tried diabling the firewall; installed and uninstalled .net; as far as services: those outline in the manuel, not much tweaking there...
Thanks again.  

Jimmy Navarro


Quote:

then I was able to recover with "OptOut";

So, that got rid of the BSOD problem, but Ghost 9.0 is still a no-start.


Quote:

as far as services: those outline in the manuel, not much tweaking there...

Okay, that's a bit vague...what 'manuel' and what 'outline'?

Hey, you Ghost 9.x users--where are you when someone needs help?

FWIW -- I understand Ghost 9 is a revision of Drive Image 7, which I have run on my WinXP Pro machine.  Using DI7  I initially got a BSOD with an error message pointing to the pqv2i.sys file .  After exchanging emails with symantec_support, I was sent a revised pqv2i.sys file.  I reinstalled Drive Image 7, substituted the new pqv2i.sys file, and was able to run the program without further trouble.   I stopped using Drive Image 7 because I have to use both Win 98SE and WinXP machines, and DI7 is strictly a WinXP program, as is Norton Ghost 9.    Norton Ghost 2003 adapts to either OS, with it  I can backup/restore either OS using either machine, this gives me both the flexibility & degree of safety I want in an imaging program.

Jimmy Navarro, with respect to the Ghost 9.0 problem, “cannot connect to the agent - service not running,” please double-check the Windows XP services status (click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and then Services).  Does anything therein look abnormal?  Can you kindly post your findings?

Is the Event Viewer reporting any helpful diagnostic information (click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and then Event Viewer)?

By the way, I too have a NTFS partition and a FAT32 partition, and am not experiencing a BSOD issue with Ghost 9.0.2.  So, it is very unlikely that such a configuration is problematical.

Sorry for the long wait on your follow-ups; and BTW, thanks:
North Ghost 9.0 User's guide, p.108, "...agent & Windows Services." i.e. Event Log, Logical Disk Manger and RPC.
 No help from the Events Info. I've turned on/off several services that I thought would be of help (too long to post here...) and it will not "connect". As I understand it,  pqv2i.sys is the driver that is loaded by pqv2isvc.exe? (I'll have to check to see what version I have.) But what is it that prevents the "loading", perhaps security? I don't know...
No BSOD after tweaking the boot.ini file (per Norton) i.e. "optout".

BTW, I don't if you know this, but I came across an article on "Windows XP Crashed" at Digital Webcast that saved my WinXP system (I had no Bkups);

anyway...
I found that one of my drives is a fat one (8?16? but not fat32); So my new install or start-up drive "C",  is NTFS on one disk and on the other: 1 fat drive and 2 fat32!
I messed things up earlier and I trashed my previous "C" drive.  I have to go back to the fat drive to a fat32 and fix by the fixing the boot sector; this way so that I can re-capture my old "c" drive and the old Winxp system on it? (I have too many programs, updates, etc...)
Confusing? But before I do that I want to get N. Ghost 9.0 working on the new install... BTW sorry for the long post; I thought I fill you in on the "ghosts in my past" (Sorry ;D) )
Jimmy

"I messed things up earlier and I trashed my previous "C" drive.  I have to go back to the fat drive and convert it to fat32; this way, I can get back my old "c" drive and the old WinXp system on it? (I have too many programs, updates, etc...) "

Hope this is a little clearer...?

Pleonasm wrote on Mar 15^th, 2005 at 1:29pm:

Jimmy Navarro, with respect to the Ghost 9.0 problem, “cannot connect to the agent - service not running,” please double-check the Windows XP services status (click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and then Services).  Does anything therein look abnormal?  Can you kindly post your findings? Is the Event Viewer reporting any helpful diagnostic information (click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and then Event Viewer)? By the way, I too have a NTFS partition and a FAT32 partition, and am not experiencing a BSOD issue with Ghost 9.0.2.  So, it is very unlikely that such a configuration is problematical.

You certainly did NOTtry to clone a system-partition, i.e. the one carrying the OS XP with SP2. Otherwise you would have encountered the BSOD, as all the others.
You are only making false hope to them.

The programm can only copy normal data-carryuing partitions like D:, but never a system partition to boot with.

Unless you know some tricks which some seem to know.

Here in Germany we are meeting the same BSOD-problems.
And the arrogance of Symantec Germany is so great, that that they even do not have a help-line, not to speak of an update, like Ghost 9.0.2

Rennwald, I'm not sure I correctly understand your post:  "program [Ghost 9.0] can only copy normal data-carrying partitions like D:, but never a system partition to boot with."

I use Ghost 9.0 to image both my operating system partition (NTFS, Windows XP SP2) - plus a FAT partition - without difficulty.  It's not "false hope" and there is no "trick" involved.

Am I missing something here?

Pleonasm

I'm curious--you have, in several threads, mentioned your success with creating images with Ghost 9.x, but I have never seen where you say (maybe I just missed it) that you have 'cloned' your OS partition to another HDD, and you were able to then successfully boot from that new cloned HDD.  When I say 'cloned', have you done direct cloning disk-to-disk with Ghost 9.x, and/or image-to-disk?

Nor do I recall you saying you have 'restored' your OS partition from an image file, and successfully booted from that restored image.

Can we assume that you have done one, two or all three of the above and all has worked fine?

Will appreciate the confirmation of that information.

I have not had the need to either clone (copy) a drive, nor to restore a drive (although there have been a few 'close calls').  I'm sure the day will come - but, hopefully, in the distant future.

Recall that the original subject of this thread specifically concerns the creation of images, not their restoration.

NightOwl, may I inquire:  what is your motivation for asking?

Kind regards,
Pleonasm

P.S.:  By the way, the procedures for copying a drive with Ghost 9.0 are documented in chapter 7 of the User's Guide.

Pleonasm


Quote:

NightOwl, may I inquire:  what is your motivation for asking?

Glad you asked--very specifically, because no one has answered this question in this other thread:

Ghost 9.0 restoration problem-Windows boot freeze

As I see more questions about Ghost 9.x, it seems that the questions (some other forums besides here as well) are less on the installation and image creation side of things--but when it comes time to recover from a disaster.  And I'm not seeing 'successful' users reporting their results and how they accomplished it.

Regardless of the backup solutions I've used over the years, I have not placed my trust in it until I have actually successfully demonstrated the ability of the software to correctly restore my system with the given hardware.

Added later:

For instance, in using Ghost 2003--I had two HDD's, the original with my OS, Data, etc.

I cloned the original to the backup HDD--disk-to-disk clone, swapped the HDD's an made sure the 'cloned' HDD functioned correctly.

I then created a disk-to-image backup of the original HDD saving the image on the backup HDD.  Then copied the image from the backup HDD to the original HDD (in the next step, I couldn't be using the image file on the backup HDD to overwrite the backup HDD with that image!).   And then 'cloned' image-to-disk to the backup HDD, placed the 'cloned' HDD as the master, and again verified that it booted without problems into the OS.

Until you know you can do that, in my opinion, you do not have a trustworthy backup solution.

Quote:

"... I have not had the need to either clone (copy) a drive, nor to restore a drive (although there have been a few 'close calls').  I'm sure the day will come - but, hopefully, in the distant future..." Pleonasm

A major benefit of my having various internal HDDs mounted in external enclosure kits (as opposed to your Maxtor OneTouch whose features you are so reluctant to divulge) is that I can perform Norton Ghost 2003 Restores and Clones to an external HDD only to substitute it for the original primary internal Master HDD so as to validate each procedure.  With complete aplomb on three occasions, I have performed elective Ghost Restores after major "screw-ups"; on a fourth catastrophic occasion, I performed a successful non-elective Restore when a partition table was corrupted.

As far as Ghost 2003 BackUps go, I suspect I am well over two hundred - many for actual security purposes, but most for testing purposes.  I used to keep careful notes on a spreadsheet, but I lost track after I passed 125+.

[glb]El Pescador[/glb]

I got the same problem too!!!!!!
After many tentatives, i just put off all symantec programs form my pc!! I found a less known but better solution: Acronis True Image 8.0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm just using it :))

I know this thread is old and dead, but in case someone Googles to it, I have a little update.  On my brand new Athlon 64 computer, I installed Norton Ghost 9.  I guess Live Update brought it up to 9.02. I backed up my FAT32 C drive and my NTFS E: drive.  Both went through incremental backups a day later after which the computer was Hibernated.  The next time I actually had to reboot, I got a BSOD as soon as Windows XPSP2 started to load.  The problem was PQV2i.sys and it caused a "page_fault_in_nonpaged_area."  I couldn't load Windows in Safe Mode for some reason (SHOULD be able to since Safe Mode's supposed to load Windows withOUT any third-party drivers)..
Because my C: is FAT32, I could boot to a floppy and access it.  The long-story-short is that I found TWO copies of PQ2Vi.sys, one in windows\system32\drivers where it's SUPPOSED TO BE and another one in windows\system32 where it's NOT supposed to be.  The one in windows\system32 was SMALLER, and the version # was OLDER than the one in windows\system32\drivers.  When I got rid of the older version in windows\system32, Windows XP booted again, and Norton Ghost works fine.  
I reported this to Symantec, but I've heard nothing from them.
My suspicion is that Live Update might have caused this duplication of files when it took Ghost from 9.0 to 9.02, but that's ONLY a suspicion.

I post this because I hope the info might help someone else.

What an interesting observation Ron and thanks for the report. Symantec should take notice and could you please pass along any updated information.

@Ron Miller:
Thank you for staying "on top" with this thread! I´ve just googled for Ghost 9 deinstallation issues - et voila!

My problem: I have Win XP SP2 installed (and all the rest of Post-SP2-updates), and guided by the Radified-Ghost-Guide I decided to uninstall Norton Ghost 9, for to switch back to Ghost 2003 boot disks. I also did the last MS Post-SP2-updates. Next time I started the WinXP went down with a BSOD and an error message concerning something similar as mentioned before. The thing is now: I can start WinXP normally, until I log in or (as I suppose) some services are started during bootup. Then every time I get a sudden death. This weekend I searched a lot along the registry, Autostart, services and so on; fortunately the Safe Mode is still accesible. I removed all the Post-SP2 updates by hand.  I also tried to uninstall other programs with Autostart functionality: Kaspersky AV, Outpost firewall, ERUNT, Adobe Acrobat, but nothing helped.... My only success so far was a sudden reboot without any promt or BSOD after 1 minute or so uptime.  I was really careful not to overlook Symantec or Norton or Ghost startup services or registry values. Unfortunately the problem persists.

Instead I found a lot of registry entries for programs that have been uninstalled very recently, even with the help of Ashampoo Uninstaller.

So I´ll try if pqv2isvc.exe/dll might be the problem. But it seems that Symantec applications can never be removed correctly. By browsing the Symantec Knowledge base I saw HORRIBLE things.... If I can solve this once, I will never trash my hard disk with any Sym. programs again, I swear!
Or perhaps I install Ghost 9 again in the same folder as before and leave it there until the PC dies.... Sure I´ll never touch it again.

Like Ron Miller, I too initially installed Ghost 9.0 and then upgraded (via LiveUpdate) to Ghost 9.0.2.  However, unlike Ron's situation, there is only one copy of PQV2i.sys on my PC in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers with the following attributes.

    Size on disk:  139,264 bytes
    Created:  Thursday, July 29, 2004, 4:33:08 AM
    File version:  2.0.4.403

Therefore, the cause of the older version of PQV2i.sys in C:\WINDOWS\system32 reported by Ron appears to be due to a reason other than an upgrade from Ghost 9.0 to 9.0.2.

Has anybody tried the fixes (new PQV2i.sys download) as outlined here:
 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=892000

and here

http://service1.symantec.com/support/powerquest.nsf/35f1485389b899f088256e97004a3bb4/626010eae181acc988256e75007cd1f9?opendocument&prod=v2i%20protector&ver=server%20edition%202.0&pcode=v2ipro&src=ent&miniver=v2ipro_server_2&tpre=&prev=&dtype=corp

D. Webb, that’s quite an interesting post.

The Symantec Knowledge Base Document (ID 2004076514991962) describing the new Pqv2i.sys driver doesn’t indicate whether it is applicable to Ghost 9.0 (only to V2i Protector 2.0 and Drive Image 7.0).  Nonetheless, I’ve sent an inquiry to Symantec Technical Support requesting clarification on whether the new Pqv2i.sys driver should be installed if using Ghost 9.0.  I’ll post back what I learn.

I'm trying the fix tonight, on my system that suddenly developed the BSOD problem.  After eventually uninstalling Norton Systemworks 2005 Premier (a painful ordeal, since I couldn't boot except off of CD) the problem went away.  I re-installed Norton, and the problem appeared again.  The BSOD will go away if the PQV2i.sys file is re-named to something else, but Ghost is obviously not happy with that.  Tonight, I'll take the new downloaded PQV2i.sys file, rename it "new_PQV2i.sys", copy it to the Windows\system32\drivers\ folder,  re-install Systemworks, get the expected BSOD, boot off of CD, and rename/swap the old and new files.  I'll report on the results.

The funny (but disturbing) thing is that I didn't (knowingly) install any SW or HW for months prior to this happening.  I used the Ghost recovery CD to restore the C:\Windows directory to a version made a few days prior to this happening, but the probelm was still there.

Also , in another post (Reply 21), somebody said that Symantec sent them an updated PQV2i.sys file, that fixed the BSOD PAGE_FAULT problem.

D. Webb, one thing to check:  the fact that the Symantec Knowledge Base document (ID 2004076514991962) has a “Last Modified” date of 05/04/2005 doesn’t necessarily mean that the Pqv2i.sys download is newer than the one installed by Ghost 9.0 (file version 2.0.4.403).

Can you kindly report back the file version of the Pqv2i.sys file extracted from the pqv2isysdriver.zip download?

D. Webb, the statement "I was sent a revised pqv2i.sys file" appears in the post by artfd on 15 Mar 2005 in this thread.  Note that it is in reference to the use of Drive Image 7 and not Ghost 9.0.

Hello, I'm running Ghost 9.0.2.3981 with version 2.0.4.403 of PQV2i.sys. I've tried the pqv2isysdriver.zip from the microsoft support mentioned above, this installs the 2.0.1.309 version of PQV2i.sys. Both give me the BSOD and are only located in winnt\system32\drivers directory. The only way around the BSOD is to rename PQV2i.sys so it can not load on a boot. I was fortunate to have a FAT32 C: drive so I could boot from floppy and rename the file.

As an update to my post, I have Ghost 9 running on 2 computers. Only one has scheduled backups and incrementals and it is this computer that is having problems with PQV2i.sys  and the BSOD on bootup.
Interestingly enough, I've found that I can successfully boot with PQV2i.sys renamed and hidden, then after I've completely booted up I rename it for Ghost 9 to use.
I check to see if  Ghost 9 sees this service, then I rename it and hide it again. A bit messy and certainly Symantic needs to fix this, but Ghost 9 seems happy with this work around, and no BSOD on bootup.

I have had the same pq2vi.sys problem with Ghost 9. I'm running XP SP2 on a RAID 0 drive and am quite happy with Ghost 9 where I back up a NTFS (boot) and FAT32 partitions. I also have restored several times. I have also experienced the BSOD occasionally and I would like to tell you what I do.

I have set up the XP console as a boot option, I have also created a floppy disk which enables me to load the RAID 0 driver when I press F6.

When I get the BSOD, I boot using the console option and then press F6, load the drivers and boot into the console.

I then rename pqv2i.sys (in SYSTEM32\DRIVERS) to pqv2i.old and then reboot. After rebooting, I get some complaints from Ghost 9 that it can't run the service but after that, I rename the pqv2i.old to pqv2i.sys and reboot and all works normally.

I don't use Ghost all the time so I get irritated when Ghost 9 loads as a service when I'm benchmarking etc so I have greated a batchfile called noghost.bat which runs 'sc stop "Norton Ghost"' and 'taskkill /im ghosttray.exe'.

Sometimes you have to run it 3 times before the task tray icon disappears.

I also have a batchfile called reghost.bat which reinstates ghost 9 on the task bar.

I don't know what the final answer is but I have this workaround so I can take it in my stride, fortunately it doesn't happen too often. If it pisses me off I might just not load the service at startup and use reghost.bat when I want to do a backup.

I hope this helps.

Daryl

The downloaded PQV2i.sys file was an older version, and didn't work (same BSOD).  I can't tell you which version number, since I've deleted the file (I still have the ZIP file, however....).

I sent the problem description to Symantec, and they replied with the "change the NOEXECUTE=OPTIN to NOEXECUTE = OPTOUT in Boot.ini file" fix.

From experiences noted on this board and others, that may not work.
I'll try reinstalling it again after work.  The sad part is, I really don't need the Systemworks programs, except for Ghost, which is what causes the problem.  

Daryl and D. Webb, the post by John (reply #43 on 25 Jul 2005 at 23:41) indicates that the BSOD issue only occurs if he “has scheduled backups and incrementals”.  Do you also schedule backups in Ghost 9.0?  If yes, can you avoid the BSOD issue by disabling the schedule?

I received a reply from Symantec Technical Support to my inquiry regarding the Pqv2i.sys file referenced in the Symantec Knowledge Base document “Blue-screen error messages appear after installing V2i Protector 2.0 or Drive Image 7.0” (ID 2004076514991962).  Symantec says:

• “The document you asked is applicable to Drive Image 7.0 only.  It is not applicable with Norton Ghost 9.0.”
  

Yes, I have always had scheduled backups.  They have been working correctly since February.  The installation/re-installation of Systemworks (including Ghost) did not correct the problem.  I assume that uninstalling and re-installing would delete any scheduled backups.

I will try the fix that Symantec Tech support suggested, but I have little confidence that it will clear up the problem.

This seems to be a problem that Symantec has been aware of since at least January 2005, if previous posts to this and other forums are to be taken at face value.  I hope that Symantec will devote some additional resources to solving this problem, before somebody takes action against them for selling a defective product, like has previously happened against McAfee.

I'm still puzzled as to why this problem suddenly popped up on my machine, as its configuration has been quite static for months.

I tried the "Boot.ini /NOEXECUTE=OPTOUT" fix that Symantec Techsupport suggested.  No luck; same Blue Screen!
I uninstalled it yet again.
I reported it to Symantec;  Let's see how responsive they are.

Thanks for the updates.

Did you see Ron Miller's post re 2 copies of PQ2Vi.sys in his C: drive?

Yes.  I read all of the posts in this forum and others  and checked out possible solutions prior to posting.  No extra copies of the PQV2i.sys file was found.  If you do a Google search on PQV2i.sys, it can be seen that there have been similar problems with this version of the product (Drive Image).  I'll be patient with Symantec Techhelp for a bit, at least to document that I've tried to resolve the problem.

I'm the guy who started this thread back in February.  Everything you see in my first post is still happening.  I only get the BSOD after my second reboot after backing up my partition that contains my O/S.  Two Symantec techies had me try several things and then they suddenly quit contacting me.

This is what I do now.  I use Ghost 9 to backup all my partitions except the one with my O/S.  I don't use the scheduler as I manually invoke each one.  Since I do this over a couple of hours or so I either watch a movie or do other chores around the house.  When I'm done I get out my Ghost 2003 boot CD and backup my O/S partition in DOS.  Then I get back into Win XP and do a backup of my O/S partition using Ghost 9.  I do two reboots so the BSOD can run its course.

Until Symantec fixes the problem I have a system that works.  I don't get the BSOD under any other circumstances.  In fact, Ghost 9 is the only software on my PC that generates a BSOD.  Frankly, I believe that Symantec's products wrap themselves up too much into the O/S and that is what causes this BSOD and many other problems that occur.

Pleonasm wrote on Jul 26^th, 2005 at 1:40pm:

Daryl and D. Webb, the post by John (reply #43 on 25 Jul 2005 at 23:41) indicates that the BSOD issue only occurs if he “has scheduled backups and incrementals”.  Do you also schedule backups in Ghost 9.0?  If yes, can you avoid the BSOD issue by disabling the schedule?

No, I don't use the scheduled backup feature. And I get the BSOD anyway whether I use Ghost 9 or not. This is because you load pqv2i.sys anyway. I don't get the BSOD every time and it doesn't seem to matter if I use ghost or not. (I would uninstall it if it happened every time)

Daryl

I've used Acronis TI as well. Without a problem. However any potential user should check the Acronis TI forum if they want to see reports of TI bugs. It's frightening.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=65

The lesson of the story is this:  not all image backup products – whether Ghost 2003, Ghost 9.0 or True Image 8.0 – work in all PC configurations.  Therefore, in my opinion, the user has a responsibility to assess and to ensure a proper ‘fit’ between the application and the environment in which it is being used.

It is also logically false to infer that all products produced by a software company are flawed because of one’s own limited personal experience with a single product.

Well, I tried what Synmantec Techhelp suggested, with the same BSOD results.  I reinstalled Systemworks without Ghost, and it works just fine.  I think I'll keep it that way, and am seeing if Symantec will give me either an older  or newer (Ghost 10 is in pre-production...) version.  I'm not holding my breath either way.  I'll probably just do some manual backups, until I upgrade the whole package next year.  I'm disappointed with Ghost, but I'm happy with the rest of the package.  Since it cost me a net $0.00 the past 2 upgrades (w/ rebates), I don't feel too bad about ditching Ghost for awhile.  It's still frustating to have a program work flawlessly for 6 months, then suddenly quit working.

Thanks for the help!

wrote on Aug 2^nd, 2005 at 9:12pm:

"... I reinstalled Systemworks without Ghost, and it works just fine..."

Since you are already halfway there, for no more than "grins and giggles" you might try the technique described in the URL below:

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1121983189;start=0#0

[glb]El Pescador[/glb]

I started this thread over 6 months and have come to only one conclusion.  Symantec is unable or unwilling to help with the BSOD problem.  So after 10 months of Ghost 9 BSODs I did the sane thing - I uninstalled it and went back to Ghost 2003.  The DOS backups take no longer than the hot WinXP backups and I don't get anymore BSODs.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.  Ghost 2003 rules!


wrote on Feb 8^th, 2005 at 12:53am:

FYI, I am still using Ghost 2003. With no problems. Some here like Ghost 9, but it is really Drive Image, which Symantec bought from PowerQuest, and all my faith, from dozens of (successfully) restored images, is in Ghost (not Drive Image). I heard Symantec is going to market the original Ghost (with networking support enabled) to corporate clients and jack up the price.

Tom, it would be your best interest to read the recent review (August, 2005) of Acronis True Image 8.0 found at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1847470,00.asp:

• "...when we tried to restore single files using the Explore Image feature, which creates a mapped drive that points to the image files, we found our Word and PowerPoint files were corrupted and could not be opened. Text files, however, worked well. Acronis acknowledged the problem and fixed it during our testing."
  

Files were corrupted?  Good grief!

It is nice to know that Acronis responds to a request from PC Magazine quickly and efficiently.  Would the company respond to a typical user in the same manner?

Pleo's link may now be

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1847469,00.asp

Make sure you see the Acronis forum. It's enlightening.

I've read all five pages.  I guess I'm lucky.  My problem with the pqv2i.sys file was just the opposite.  Even though a search proved that it was in the Windows\system32\drivers folder, right where it's supposed to be (Windows XP Pro OS), Ghost 9.0 could not find it, and therefore would not do a backup.  At least that probably prevented the BSOD!  I have bought Ghost 2003 on eBay, and am anxiously awaiting its arrival.

I have a Toshiba laptop. I encountered a problem with TCP & had to rebuild the OS (WinXP SP2). Although I had NSW 2005, I had never used Norton Ghost. In fact I disabled it since it used to give me messages saying unable to connefct to service agent.

Anyway. I decided to start using it. I felt SO LUCKY when the day after taking my first bsackup, I had a BSOD and was able to recover successfully.

Now I realise that in fact Ghost is the problem. But I like the software so I want to coninue.

It has taken me 2 weeks to realise what the problem is because the BSOD went by so quick I couldn't read it. How do I freeze it? In the end I videod it and read it back on the TV.

What I can't understand is that immediately after a restore (the latest I have available), I can reboot successfully. Therefafter, I get the BSOD every time. So, I leave the machine running all the time (which I don't like), and when things get screwed up / I need to reboot, I get the BSOD, restore, and I can get going again. Now, I shall take a backup immediately before rebooting & hopefully lose nothing.

I see that Norton Ghost 2003 is supposed to be on my 2005 CD. Would I be better installing & using that?

Thanks

Reffolds

Interesting detective work--and work-around!


Quote:

It has taken me 2 weeks to realise what the problem is because the BSOD went by so quick I couldn't read it. How do I freeze it?

You may have your system set to *reboot on errors*--I think that is the default setting for WinXP.

I've read the reasoning is that most *problems* encountered in Windows *disappear* by rebooting the system--thus this setting reduces the number of *tech-support* inquires--because many do not try rebooting as a first choice for trouble-shooting!

To change that behavior:

Right click *My Computer*, select *Properties*
Click on the *Advanced* tab
Select *Startup and Recovery* *Settings*
Un-check *Automatic restart* under *System failure*

Nightowl, many thanks. There is so much to learn / understand about WinXP.

I have now deleted file VSNAP.IDX and set up my backups to manual backup, and I am only going to do full standalone backups in future. Hopefully I will then be able to shutdown my machine and reboot without the BSOD

I read somewhere that it was believed that deleting the VSAMP.IDX files prevented the BSOD's.  Could you please share your source of information on this?

I'm new to this forum and i've read every post on this thread and tried all the suggestions but still had the BSOD with NG 9.0 as all of you have. I have found a fix for it.

My obversation:

BSOD occurs as a result of the service Norton Ghost disappearing from the services applet.

My Solution:

Uninstall NG 9.0 DO NOT REBOOT when asked.
Reinstall NG 9.0 DO NOT REBOOT when asked.
Open the Services applet in the control panel administrator tools and find the service Norton Ghost open the properties and set it to DISABLE. Reboot your computer.
After you reboot you will receive a msg about NG not being able to run because the service is disabled just click ok and open the services applet again. Change the Norton Ghost service to MANUAL save and start the service the x will disappear in the icon and NG will run fine at this point. Next open the service applet again and set the service to AUTOMATIC save changes and reboot. Problem fixed.

Let me know if this works for you. It worked on all 5 systems i was having the issue on.

Darwin

Now that sounds interesting. Looking forward to replies from those with the BSOD problem.

Brian wrote on Oct 17^th, 2005 at 4:51am:

Now that sounds interesting. Looking forward to replies from those with the BSOD problem.

Hehe, me too!  I did talk with Symantec and informed them of my findings as well.  For any of you who do not know Symantec has a 60-day return policy on thier software.  If you are within the 60-days from purchase send it back and get Norton Ghost 10.0 instead.  Until then, Hope this works for you.

Darwin, I'm surprised. Where are the replies?

Yeah I check ever day or two but haven't seen one singe post! You'd think that with all the issues discussed we'd heard from someone by now.  All 5 systems I ran this procedure on are still fully functional and doing backups without a hiccup.

Darwin, have you been able to confirm (through your own testing) that Ghost 10.0 solves the BSOD issue?

No I have not received the upgraded 10.0 as of yet. Should be here this week.  However my previous post fixed the 9.0 issue.

Darwin, can you pinpoint the common factor with your five computers that led to the Ghost service disappearing?

The service disappearing issue is a bug in the 9.0 software according to Symantec.  It is suppose to be fixed in 10.0 but again according to Symantec they have been unable to resolve the issue in 9.0

I still can't beleive there has not been more posts on this thread though!!

Darwin wrote on Oct 23^rd, 2005 at 4:43pm:

The service disappearing issue is a bug in the 9.0 software according to Symantec.  It is suppose to be fixed in 10.0 but again according to Symantec they have been unable to resolve the issue in 9.0

Darwin, the BSOD problem is obviously rare. Any theories on why it happened on 5 of your computers?

Yes. I discovered it was the bios revision on each of these motherboards. A simple flash did not fix the issues i had to actually replace the bios on each one of these motherboards to fix the problem correctly.

My new - Aug 05 - dual core system started sponaneously rebooting, blue screening, etc. No apparent changes after system was built and running stabily for several months- just suddenly started happening - interestingly running Norton GoBack seemed to help, but then the automatic updates (SWP 2005? or Spyware Doctor) seemed to cause it to reappear.
GeForce 6600 GT video card - PCIX.
Abit AW8Max with latest flash 14(?) and updated Nvidia drivers
I believed I had it down to Ghost - by turning off the tray icon, but then it still continues only less frequently.
I'm going to try the the fix listed here. I agree with all that's been said about Ghost 2003 - it worked and it worked well.
I'm always wondering if the problem is some poorly written software that doesn't properly mult-thread - which a dual cpu will find out and crash upon sooner or later..
Thanks to all who have posted here.!

Hi,

To Resolve BSOD issue with Win XP SP2  DEP is the main issue here
Edit Boot.ini and change the NoExecute=Optin to NoExecute=AlwaysOff

Thsi can happen if the pagefile.sys is set on a different Partion ( it should be on the Local Drive

Make sure that the Virtual Memory for Xp OS is said to be on that drive itself

Cheers
Manikandan

wrote on Dec 15^th, 2005 at 10:09am:

Hi, To Resolve BSOD issue with Win XP SP2  DEP is the main issue here Edit Boot.ini and change the NoExecute=Optin to NoExecute=AlwaysOff Thsi can happen if the pagefile.sys is set on a different Partion ( it should be on the Local Drive Make sure that the Virtual Memory for Xp OS is said to be on that drive itself Cheers Manikandan

Has this been provened to work to get rid of the BSOD?  I think my main problem was not having the pagefile on the same partition as my OS.  I didn't know that DEP could be shut off for everything.  It is a pain.

Don't waste your time on a bloated program like Ghost. PQ Drive Image was flawless. Acronis True Image 8 & 9 is amazing. With great tech support.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/
Check it out for yourself!

I have solved the problem with PQV2i.sys by removing StyleXP.
Even the last bit of it in the registry.
I scanned the registry with RegSeeker and it still found 44 traces of StyleXP.
After a reboot Ghost 9 worked smoothley.
I hope it works for you too.
Good Luck from OPI

StyleXP messed up a lot of stuff for me too.

Darwin wrote on Oct 17^th, 2005 at 4:28am:

I'm new to this forum and i've read every post on this thread and tried all the suggestions but still had the BSOD with NG 9.0 as all of you have. I have found a fix for it. My obversation: BSOD occurs as a result of the service Norton Ghost disappearing from the services applet. My Solution: Uninstall NG 9.0 DO NOT REBOOT when asked. Reinstall NG 9.0 DO NOT REBOOT when asked. Open the Services applet in the control panel administrator tools and find the service Norton Ghost open the properties and set it to DISABLE. Reboot your computer. After you reboot you will receive a msg about NG not being able to run because the service is disabled just click ok and open the services applet again. Change the Norton Ghost service to MANUAL save and start the service the x will disappear in the icon and NG will run fine at this point. Next open the service applet again and set the service to AUTOMATIC save changes and reboot. Problem fixed. Let me know if this works for you. It worked on all 5 systems i was having the issue on. Darwin

This works! Apart from the following...

Once you've reinstalled NG 9.0 and disabled the service you need to rename \windows\system32\drivers\PQV2i.sys to something else then reboot. After the reboot and the msg then rename the file back to it's orginal name before starting the service Manually as described above... good luck...!

texdawg wrote on Feb 7^th, 2005 at 7:58pm:

I’m running WinXP Pro / SP2 on my PC. A few weeks ago I introduced a subject concerning system restart problems after running certain backups on my PC using Norton Ghost 9.  I’ve since upgraded to Ghost 9.02 and my problem continues to persist. Background – I have 2 hard drives on my system.  My first drive has two partitions, c:\ and e:\.  My second hard drive has 6 partitions, d:\, f:\, i:\, j:\, k:\ and l:\.  My PC is dual boot.  I have Win98SE on drive #1, c:\ partition and WinXP Pro / SP2 on drive #2, d:\ partition.  I’ve been running this configuration since January 30, 2002.  I use WinXP Pro about 99% of the time and the remainder I use Win98SE. I had been using Norton Ghost 2002 and then Ghost 2003 until Symantec came out with Ghost 9.  Ghost 9 is Symantec’s adaptation of Powerquest’s Drive Image product.  I installed Ghost 9 on my PC back in November 2004. I can comfortably back up any of my partitions on either of my drives with no problems except for when I do a backup of my d:\ partition which houses my WinXP Pro OS.  Initially I was having reboot problems after backup up my d:\ partition because of some unknown error that was being created by Ghost 9.  I turned off “Automatically restart” under System Failure so I could generate a BSOD to get some idea of my problem.  Sure enough I now get a BSOD and it says it was caused by a driver named pqv2i.sys.  The error message I get is PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA.  I hit my reset button to reboot and I don’t get the error again until I back up my d:\ partition again. Attempting to do some research before sending this note I did find some clues.  Pqv2i.sys is a driver used by Ghost 9 and it was brought over from Drive Image.  I discovered that pqv2i.sys also had (has) a BSOD problem in the past.  The problem further seems to be related to a file created on each partition named vsnap.idx.  Temporarily deleting this file supposedly before rebooting prevents the BSOD problem albeit a poor workaround.  What is more interesting is that once you back up a partition and reboot Ghost 9 starts some process to run which triggers pqv2i.sys and it executes during either shutdown, startup or both.  On my PC this process somehow goes awry and creates the aforementioned BSOD. In reference to the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA there are two causes to this problem.  (1) Bad memory on the MOBO or video card or (2) shoddy software.  I believe my problem is the latter as I can pinpoint it to Ghost 9’s pqv2i.sys driver.   Where do I go from here?

Hi.

I resolved this issue changing the Norton Ghost service from automatic to manual. The service is then started by the GhostTray application so there is no chance for the service to be started at startup so the BSOD symptom disappears.

I have Windows 2000 with SP5.

Regards.