Hi Gurus!
A newbie question:
Is it possible to ghost-image a laptop hard disk to an external SATA hard disk attached via the cardbus?
ie, create a bootdisk/bootcd to boot to dos, and somehow getting ghost 2003 to recognize the external SATA hard drive in order to create a ghost image of the laptop's internal hard disk (or a partition) onto the external disk.

I have been searching the web for some discussions on this but to no success, so I'm beginning to think it can't be done.

Thanks very much.

wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2005 at 1:34am:

"... A newbie question: Is it possible to ghost-image a laptop hard disk to an external SATA hard disk attached via the cardbus? ie, create a bootdisk/bootcd to boot to dos, and somehow getting ghost 2003 to recognize the external SATA hard drive in order to create a ghost image of the laptop's internal hard disk (or a partition) onto the external disk..."

CLICK HERE to view comments about external SATA HDD enclosures.  I have no genuine knowledge - but a very strong gut feeling - that the very concept of a cardbus will prove to be the roadblock, irrespective of the mode of communication.  You will just have to try it and see.

The really weird - but eminently functional - Metal Gear Box 780SAU2 enclosure has dual USB 2.0/SATA 150 capability, but uses a unique bridge chipset inside to host an IDE HDD.  Since 80GB-to-160GB IDE HDDs are going for $20-to-$40 USD after MIR these days, you could trick one out for way under $100.  The only drawback is that the DOS-based operations of Ghost 2003 are restricted to the USB mode.

On the other hand, if you already have decided to go SATA - as I have - then to merely prove the concept before making a major outlay, try this trick:

(1)  borrow any style or kind of external HDD enclosure kit;

(2)  with the top cover temporarily removed, simply shunt the existing data cable aside and attach the distal end of a SATA 150 cable to the SATA HDD before mounting the HDD in the enclosure;

(3)  attach the 4-pin MOLEX connector from the enclosure power supply to the legacy connector on the SATA HDD (if no legacy connector is available, use a 4-pin MOLEX to 15-pin SATA power adapter);

(4)  attach the proximal end of the SATA 150 to the SATA cardbus; and

(5)  power up the external enclosure kit prior to booting the laptop.

In the case of my desktop PCs, they will boot off the external HDDs - via a SATA cable port adapter - as long as there is no competitor in the boot sequence.

[glb]El Pescador[/glb]

Thanks, El Pescador.  I know what you mean.

Initially, like you, I was thinking that the cardbus is going to be a roadblock, but I found that the cardbus is essentially identical to PCI, ie, a bandwidth of 132MB/sec.
See here:
http://www.pcmcia.org/papers/new_bus.htm#caper

Considering that a USB 2 connection is at 60 MB/s,  so a USB 2 would be more of a bottleneck than cardbus.

[Got this number from your referenced earlier post:
USB 2.0 = 480 Mbps (megaBITS per second)=60 MB/s (megaBYTES per second) ]

So, I would like to go SATA, like you. But I haven't actually bought anything SATA yet, until I find out that I can use it for ghosting.  :)