I just used Ghost 9.0 on my friend's HPa1000n PC.  I "imaged" his C: drive to an external hard drive.

I hope to perfectly understand the following.  Please comment:

A.  If his C: hard drive crashes (but does not need replacement), I'd just restore the Ghost image onto the C: drive.

B.  If his C: hard drive does need to be replaced, I can replace it with a same or larger drive and restore the image onto it.

C.  THIS IS MY MAIN CONCERN: If his whole-computer is stolen (or destroyed in a fire), I'll need to buy another a1000n computer.  Is this correct?
 C1 - If I buy another HP a1000n computer is success virtually assured or not necessarily.
 C2 - Can a different or similar computer be substituted; like an HP a2000n (for example)?  

I dont think you could transfer it to a completely different pc if the original was stolen. the activation process locks its self to your hard ware setup in your pc it can change a little bit and you can get by with out re activation or just simply calling but dont know about if the whole hardware setup has changed....
Im assuming your using XP operating system.. only way you could transfer it is if you ran sysprep before making image and were using similar system ( new computer replacing stolen one) to redeploy the image to ..  some one feel free to correct me if Im wrong..

Question A:  Correct.

Question B:  Correct.

Question C1:  Probably, but if your PC is lost or stolen, you are more likely to upgrade and purchase a newer PC model anyway (and so Question C2 would apply).

Question C2:  Not necessarily, since the software drivers, etc. on the original image are unlikely to match the new hardware.  You could, however, restore the application data files (e.g., “\My Documents\*.*”) from the old to the new PC without an issue.

My friend uses his computer in his auto-repair business.  He does not need a powerful computer.  He has a customer database program.  He does not have the original CD.  We are trying to protect against both a hard disk crash and a total loss of the computer (fire, theft, etc.)

So, if his computer were stolen, we would not be eager to buy a newer, more powerful computer.  In fact, I am considering buying another (spare) HP a1000n computer.  Therefore I am very interested in your expert opinion about whether this Ghost image would "work" on a replacement HP a1000n computer.  Of course we could buy one and "try it"...

cardinal23 wrote on Jan 5^th, 2006 at 4:02pm:

My friend uses his computer in his auto-repair business.  He does not need a powerful computer.  He has a customer database program.  He does not have the original CD.  We are trying to protect against both a hard disk crash and a total loss of the computer (fire, theft, etc.) So, if his computer were stolen, we would not be eager to buy a newer, more powerful computer.  In fact, I am considering buying another (spare) HP a1000n computer.  Therefore I am very interested in your expert opinion about whether this Ghost image would "work" on a replacement HP a1000n computer.  Of course we could buy one and "try it"...

Two identical computers, assuming you can buy another. The image would work.

- I'm assuming that all off-the-shelf a1000n's are identical
- I understand that I might have to call Microsoft about XP reactivation (on a replacement a1000n).
- In an earlier post (on this thread), nomak mentioned "sysprep".  I don't know what that is.
Thanks to all who have contributed to my understanding.
I walk away with this conclusion:
If friends's computer were stolen, we could buy another off-the-shelf HP a1000n and the Ghost image would (probably) work.  We would run into a (solvable) issue with XP activation.
Thank you.

cardinal23

Just my two cents worth--two *identical* computers--even if bought at the same time--may not truly be *identical*--the chances are greater if they are bought at the same time--but, I would never assume....the manufacturers are always *tweaking* their manufacturing process and components are under constant development--so the system may be *essentially* the same--but different.

One of my systems that I put together from individual components--the motherboard is version 1.01--when I do a BIOS update, I have to make sure I don't download the version 1.02 BIOS--the motherboard has the exact same name and model #, but several of the built-in chips (sound and network for examples)  are not the same!

The closer two systems are to being identical, the better the chance you can restore an image to the *twin* and have it work.  As mentioned before, you may have to call Microsoft and explain what you did to re-activate the OS--but, probably only if the re-activation is within a certain time period--I think within 90 days from the previous activation, or something like that.

Best recommendation--try it with the backup laptop to prove it works.

My critical data is *system* independent--all I have to do is install the OS, install the mission critical program(s), and the backed up database--and it will run on any system!

Thanks for your comments.  My friend suggested (related to NightOwls observations) that the system would "probably boot" but there might be problems with sound or network (for example) drivers.

One point of clarification: We are not looking to pirate software here.  Believe it or not, certain software vendors in the automotive business (and maybe other fields) don't provide CDs.  So, if  your system dies, you must go to the vendor and say "my system died, please reinstall the software."  This is a point of vulnerability that a Ghost image coculd provide insurance against.

If time and money were free, I would do the following tomorrow: I would locate a few HP a1000n computers.  I would buy them.  Then I would try restoring my Ghost image (created today) onto these "spare" computers.  Perhaps one of the 3 would work.  Perhaps some would half-work.

As far as the Microsoft activation is concerned, the worst case scenario there (I would think) is buying a fresh copy of XP-Home.

Those of you who have discussed this with me:  Please believe me when I tell you I am enormously appreciative of Radified.  Thank you so much.  David

Anybody else want to further offer their 2 cents on this topic, I'd be delighted to read it.  Regards.

Quote:

My critical data is *system* independent--all I have to do is install the OS, install the mission critical program(s), and the backed up database--and it will run on any system!

I think you should look at getting software that fits NightOwl's criteria. Seems more sensible than having a second computer that may never be used.

cardinal23


Quote:

- In an earlier post (on this thread), nomak mentioned "sysprep".  I don't know what that is.

I have no personal experience--but, some *sysprep* resources:

Google Search on *Sysprep*

Sysprep

How to use the Sysprep tool to automate successful deployment of Windows XP

Description of New Features in Sysprep for Windows XP

How to use Sysprep with Ghost

[Info] Ghost Sysprep

Using SYSPREP to Create XP Pro Images

Using Sysprep--Example of Steps

Creating a Sysprep Image Library for Virtual PC

Ghost is the king when it comes to recovering from crashed drives.  I think using a Ghost image to recover from a stolen computer is important.  For example, my Dell 8600 notebook uses a TravelStar drive.  I Ghost (clone) onto it periodically.  I would HOPE that if my entire computer were stolen, I could buy another Dell 8600 and shove the TravelStar in and be "back in business".  Based on the posts I've seen on this thread, the odds of success are "maybe".  So be it.  But it'd very comforting to think I am protected.

in the previous post I meant to write:
  Ghost (clone) onto a spare TravelStar periodically.

Question C2:  To elaborate upon the comments of NightOwl, the same model PC from the same manufacturer does not necessarily contain the same hardware.  However, in the case of HP/Compaq, there is typically a dash followed by an alphanumeric string at the end of the model number that further identifies the specific hardware configuration of the PC.  If the two PC match in terms of the both the model number as well as this qualifier designation, then the restoration of the Ghost 10 image from one ought to work well on the other.

Thank you.
(You guys are on board with me on this.  Right?)
I continue to seek a way to recover from a total loss of computer, instead of just a dead disk drive.  I am delighted that you can use ANY disk drive replacement (same drive, bigger drive, etc.) but I still long for a way to not be devastated by the total loss of my computer.

For example, if there was a way to do a backup of everything except those drivers and such (that are the source of the incompatibilities discussed herein), that would be real cool.  For gosh sakes, it's not unreasonable to want to be back in business right away if one's entire computer is lost.  Right?

I have learned a great deal here.  Thanks to all.

[glb]Case in point !!![/glb]
cardinal23 wrote on Jan 5^th, 2006 at 4:02pm:

"... We are trying to protect against both a hard disk crash and a total loss of the computer (fire, theft, etc.)..."

cardinal23 wrote on Jan 6^th, 2006 at 6:28pm:

"... I continue to seek a way to recover from a total loss of computer, instead of just a dead disk drive..."

Behold the site of a vanished condominium located at 182A Lakeview Drive along the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain south of Slidell, Louisiana.  A government wind gauge at the nearby NASA Michoud Assembly Facility registered 167 mph from the north immediately prior to its destruction during Hurricane Katrina.

Inside the condo was a Dell Dimension 8250 with a 60GB Maxtor IDE SLAVE HDD I installed for the owner to maintain frequent "disk-to-image" Norton Ghost 2003 Backup images of his MASTER HDD - all for naught, as it sadly turned out last August 29^th for the desktop PC simply disappeared.  In retrospect, my urgings to him on employing a portable external HDD in addition would have proved totally fruitless had he been so amenable.

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

EP :'(

I am overwhelmed by your moving post and continually lifetime-long-effected by the wrath of Katrina.

However, if he had a Ghost image (in another state, perhaps) and he purchased another Dell Dimension 8250, might he not have been able to (MAYBE) restore that image onto the new, replacement Dell Dimension 8250 ?

Of course, this is the exact topic of this post: If I ghost the drive in computer-model X, and buy another (same exact model) computer-model X, can I restore the image onto the new model X?

I've seen the whole gamet of responses from depends, probably, doubtfully - you get it.

So, if this poor soul had his Ghosted image safe somewhere, couldn't he have bought a new Dell Dimension 8250 and restore onto a drive in it?

People have been listening to me ask this over and over.  It's even getting on my nerves.  I leave the topic thinking "maybe".  

Enoguh.  Happy New Year.  My heart does go out to the Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katriina.  I wish them all well.  DF

Quote:

However, if he had a Ghost image (in another state, perhaps) and he purchased another Dell Dimension 8250, might he not have been able to (MAYBE) restore that image onto the new, replacement Dell Dimension 8250 ?

I believe he could . I've done it on a Gateway. Restore the image, then run a Repair Installation. I didn't use Sysprep.

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

Thank you Brian.  Now THAT'S a backup!  DF
(Cardinal23-me needs to learn more about Sysprep.)
Regards

nomak wrote on Jan 5^th, 2006 at 3:08pm:

I dont think you could transfer it to a completely different pc if the original was stolen. the activation process locks its self to your hard ware setup in your pc it can change a little bit and you can get by with out re activation or just simply calling but dont know about if the whole hardware setup has changed.... Im assuming your using XP operating system.. only way you could transfer it is if you ran sysprep before making image and were using similar system ( new computer replacing stolen one) to redeploy the image to ..  some one feel free to correct me if Im wrong..

Having read a (very) little about Sysprep, I think Nomak is really on to something.  It seems that Sysprep exists for the (sole) of doing the purpose this post has been struggling with - and Microsoft, I think, built it.  So this participatant thinks (until I learn otherwise) that Ghost + Sysprep covers your ^%$&# in the event your entire computer goes bye-bye.

Check out this reference in Post #5 provided earlier in this thread by NightOwl:
How to use Sysprep with Ghost
DF

Cardinal23, in my opinion, this thread is confusing two distinct issues.  The first is system imaging/restoring and the second is application moving.  Ghost 10 is an excellent solution for the former, but if you task is really to move applications from one PC to another, then a better choice is a tool such as PCmover by Laplink (http://www.laplink.com/).  The latter approach will overcome any problems surrounding hardware differences between the two PCs.  It does, however, assume that the source PC is functional.

Brian wrote on Jan 7^th, 2006 at 1:37am:

I believe he could . I've done it on a Gateway. Restore the image, then run a Repair Installation. I didn't use Sysprep. http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

I agree with Brian.  For an average small business that has some sort of "magic" software installed by vendor with no documentation and no recovery procedure, the intent seems to make the vendor "indispensible".  Or at least to take ALL of the pc technical support worries from the pc owner into the hands of the vendor.  In this thread's case, though, I think Cardinal's intent is to be able to recover himself without the handholding and expense of external vendors.

Sysprep may be technically the most advanced, most correct solution.  It has all the updates intact and forces a "mini-install-update" of XP when the user first boots the pc.  This appears to be what Dell and others use with their new pc's.  Works very nice.

However, it's not real practical for an average pc small business owner to keep a sysprep up to date.  Is he/she going to rerun sysprep every time there's a Microsoft automatic update?  If not, then it's not up to date.  And sysprep is not a non-technical procedure.

A better more practical solution is what Brian suggests:  Image the pc regularly, and then use the (offsite stored) image plus a XP repair installation in the event of a total failure.  Yes, you will have to re-update Microsoft automatic updates, but your business applications should still be functional.  A written procedure on all this is needed for the customer.

What Brian suggests is worth a test to verify if the business and recovery is that important.

Additionally, there are a lot of other steps needed to consider for full disaster planning in a small business:

Use standard brands of PC's (Dell, etc) and hopefully more than one which is identical.  Or use well known and available motherboards (Asus etc) so that a replacement when needed will be available.

Regularly replace/upgrade pc's on a regular (annual or bi-annual) basis.

Consider RAID, and other redudancies, if you require instant fallback.

Regularly test/verify your written disaster recovery procedure.

Try to list and prepare for all types of disasters you can imagine, and research other advice from the Internet.

Unfortunately, there is no magic "push this button" solution to what Cardinal23 wants.

Other opinions welcome here.

Although I'm confident that an image could be restored onto an "identical" computer (I now have the second of the Gateway computers - a present) I feel the software suggestion in Post #8 should be considered.

Cardinal23, note the discussion of hardware independence in the 'corporate' version of Ghost 10:


Quote:

Symantec LiveState Recovery Desktop Suite 6.0 combines the speed and reliability of disk-based, bare-metal Windows system recovery with revolutionary technologies for hardware-independent restoration. The result is unparalleled freedom to restore systems anytime to virtually any device. Administrators can now help dramatically minimize downtime for critical IT services by rapidly recovering entire systems to dissimilar hardware platforms or even to virtual environments.

Source:  http://sea.symantec.com/content/product.cfm?productid=32

The Symantec white paper "Breaking Through the Dissimilar Hardware Restore Challenge" (referenced on the same web page) will likely be of interest, too.

Pleo, now that's interesting.

NightOwl wrote on Jan 5^th, 2006 at 7:09pm:

My critical data is *system* independent--all I have to do is install the OS, install the mission critical program(s), and the backed up database--and it will run on any system!

OK, yes Brian you're right again:  Get documentation and procedures to restore the critical applications!  Then you can restore that anywhere.

For a simple approach that a non-computer-user might want to consider is just have a PC that matches the small business server and have that PC used as Cardinal23's home PC.  That separates the PC from the business and provides some protection.

But, yes, with my Office 2003 CD's and my data backup DVD's, I can get my spreadhseets working anywhere!  So simple. . .

It appears that Symantec has solved the problem of restoring an image from one PC to another that is based upon different hardware.  The following are excerpts from the Symantec whitepaper "Breaking Through the Dissimilar Hardware Restore Challenge."


Quote:

With the Restore Anyware Option for LiveState Recovery, it doesn’t matter anymore which hardware the downed device is going to be restored to. There is no more need for layering a restoration because of hardware incompatibilities found during the restoration process. The Restore Anyware technology understands how to replace all the critical system drivers during a routine restoration. It also launches Windows native plug-and-play capabilities to detect additional non-critical devices and peripherals. The result is a fully functioning computer system on whatever hardware is available at the time of the recovery. You can restore the system not only to new hardware, but to a virtual environment as well. The Restore Anyware Option enabling recovery to dissimilar physical computers LiveState Recovery offers the first image-based dissimilar hardware system recovery on the market. The Restore Anyware Option makes recovery to dissimilar hardware simple and reliable. Once the option is added to a LiveState Recovery installation, users are able to recover to completely different hardware. The most problematic elements of a system are handled easily. For example, with the Restore Anyware Option, you can recover a single-processor computer to a multi-processor computer. You can recover from SCSI to SATA or SAS storage. Along with these changes, the Restore Anyware Option enables recovery to different HAL, chipset, and kernel models. … Using the Restore Anyware Option When it runs, LiveState Recovery captures an entire system image called a “recovery point.” Preparing recovery points to be capable of hardware-independent restoration is simple. The option must be installed along with the LiveState Recovery agent, and it must be licensed. Once this is done, the user can proceed to take recovery points following a normal schedule. Recovery points that were captured before the Restore Anyware Option was installed and licensed will not give the user the option of restoring to dissimilar hardware, so the user must be sure that any recovery point they intend to be able to restore to dissimilar hardware has the Restore Anyware Option installed. Recovering with Restore Anyware When LiveState Recovery performs a bare metal restore, the SRD [Symantec Recovery Disk] loads the necessary storage, HAL, kernel, and network drivers upon boot into a Windows-based environment called WinPE. A user then selects the desired recovery point and the destination, and then selects the option to restore to dissimilar hardware. The recovery proceeds to restore the entire system to unallocated space on the selected hard drive(s). Near the end of the recovery, Restore Anyware will perform the retargeting process by automatically updating the storage, HAL, kernel, and other critical drivers for the system that was just restored. This process adds approximately 30 seconds to the recovery process. If these drivers or components are not already on the Symantec Recovery Disk CD, then the user will be prompted to supply them.

For a description of the Symantec LiveState™ Recovery Restore Anyware™ Option 6.0, see:
http://sea.symantec.com/content/product.cfm?productid=33

Pleonasm wrote on Jan 7^th, 2006 at 4:40pm:

It appears that Symantec has solved the problem of restoring an image from one PC to another that is based upon different hardware.  The following are excerpts from the Symantec whitepaper "Breaking Through the Dissimilar Hardware Restore Challenge." For a description of the Symantec LiveState™ Recovery Restore Anyware™ Option 6.0, see: http://sea.symantec.com/content/product.cfm?productid=33

Thanks Pleo for the info and links.  Yes, very interesting reading and for large corporation and datacenter, something like this is needed.  My only concern for home/small business is the price which is $495 for LiveState Recovery Option 6 and that is I assume on top of the base price.

Ghost4me, the current pricing of LiveState Recovery is indeed intended for the corporate environment.  Even so, it could still be quite applicable to the situation described by cardinal23.

If past is prologue, then we should expect to see the "restore anywhere" capability of LiveState Recovery migrate down into the Ghost home version (maybe next year?).

Personally, I think this is a truly an amazing innovation by Symantec that creates possibilities heretofore considered impossible.

Colleagues: Let's pretend:
My name is Cardinal23.  On Tuesday afternoon, I Ghosted my clients Windows XP HP a1000n PC's C: drive to an external USB drive.  (He took that external drive home with him.)

He loves that computer.  He likes the positions of the icons on his desktop.  He loves the many application configuration settings he's saved.  He loves that PC exactly as it is.  It took him a long time to tweak it to be "just right".  Furthermore, he lacks some installation disks (the vendor kept them!)

Amazingly, on Tuesday night. his shop was broken into and his HP a1000n computer was stolen (we're pretending).  I said "no problem".  We can buy another HP a1000n and bring the external drive from home back to the office.  I'll plug it in to the USB port.  I'll run the Ghost 9.0 recovery CD and restore the image.  When I'm done, you won't even notice anything has changed!

Then I thought: Am I right?  So I posted my STOLEN computer inquiry post here.  The response has been way cool.  Now I learn that this need has come to other folks' attention; so much so that Norton is now SELLING this solution (thank you Pheonasm).

And, as I'm sure some of you have inferred, my BIGGEST problem is the application that lacks the CD.  If I had a way to (legally) transfer the application that lacks the CDs, that would temporarily cool my jets.

But now that I know that Norton is selling this incredbly valuable (IMO) ability, I won't be happy without it.

When a business loses the computer of an employee, this is enormously disruptive (believe me).  I KNOW some of my clients would lay down $500.00 or so to insure (literally) that their prized assistant didn't have to rebuild their computer environment.   I am a lunatic about data backups, but I KNOW that how a computer is set up (icon positions, application settings, shortcut menus, missing CDs) are unbelievable important to some businesses.

There is a whole nother level of backup between "I can fix your crashed hard drive" to "I can reappear your vanished PC".

Radified forum:  T H A N K - Y O U.  You guys are so cool.  DF

Don't forget to give us your assessment of the software. It really is exciting.

cardinal23 wrote on Jan 7^th, 2006 at 8:58pm:

But now that I know that Norton is selling this incredbly valuable (IMO) ability, I won't be happy without it.

I'm not going to disparage the Norton LiveState or the RestoreAnywhere option.

I will say though that using both these options likely requires a PC consultant to 1) analyze the failure 2) effect the restore procedure.  It may be a great option (at a great price).

However, there is a free capability provided by Microsoft that does the same thing.

Here is a link to several of many websites that show how to restore an imaged hard drive on a new computer.  After all, this happens in the home/home office quite often:  your hard drive dies, your motherboard dies, your power supply fries everything. etc. etc.  So Microsoft provides the capability to restore your (Ghost) disk image to a dissimilar PC.

http://michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824125

http://www.google.com/search?q=changing+motherboard+xp

Just to give credit where credit is due, Brian first mentioned this in post #16.

Thanks Brian.

Just to add another thought.  First, I haven't ever used the Symantec LiveState software, so I don't know personally of its capabilities, only what I read about it.

I believe though that LiveState is designed for a company with a IT support staff, a situation like this:  The company may have for example 500 or more PC's across multiple departments, all supported by a IT department and tech support staff.

Mangement of, updating of, configuration of, backing up of, recovering from these 500 pc's is the IT's job (among others). In this type of scenario, anything to help manage recoveries (as well as push installs) is of great help.  Often the IT department develops a "golden" image just the way they want it configured (think of Dell and a specific model).  A LiveState push capability from the golden-copy is needed, as well as a restore.

Departments (users) often never backup their own pc's.  Just a fact of life.  So you need a LiveState or enterprise backup capability.  And you need a way to push/manage replacement or restoration of saved backups.

I think this is where LiveState (Powerquest had a similar capability before Symantec) comes in.

It makes sense to be able to do a LiveState RestoreAnywhere capability that doesn't take all day.  Otherwise your IT staff is spending valuable time on something that could be automated.

The Microsoft changing-motherboards or changing-pc's approach is an individual approach not automated.  (I bet there is some automation methods; I'm just not aware of them.)

So if you have just one pc or only a few pc's you're trying to protect, then Symantec's LiveState could be an overkill.  After all if a user is spending just $60 for Ghost, he/she is in a different ball park than LiveState.  In that case a manual XP Repair-install can work as well.

Hoping that others will give their experiences and opinions too.  This forum is about the only one I know of that regularly shares/talks of different approaches to backup, recovery, and strategies.  Thanks to all!

If there is a better mousetrap, please share.

Cardinal23, concerning your comment:  "If I had a way to (legally) transfer the application that lacks the CDs, that would temporarily cool my jets."  Recall that one answer for doing this is the use of a tool such as PCmover by Laplink (http://www.laplink.com/).

Cardinal23, if you do purchase and use the LiveState Recovery 6.0 Restore Anywhere Option solution, please do post the results of your efforts.

Ghost4me, I goin' "on-the-record" here to predict that later this year when Ghost 11 is released, there will be two versions offered:  a "standard" version, and a more expensive "Pro" version.  The latter will have the "restore anywhere" capability.

Pleonasm: You wrote:

Quote:

Cardinal23, if you do purchase and use the LiveState Recovery 6.0 Restore Anywhere Option solution, please do post the results of your efforts.

I will definitely do that.  I won't, however, be buying it right away.

You also wrote:

Quote:

Cardinal23, concerning your comment:  "If I had a way to (legally) transfer the application that lacks the CDs, that would temporarily cool my jets."  Recall that one answer for doing this is the use of a tool such as PCmover by Laplink (http://www.laplink.com/).

I'll check it out.  
Thanks so much.

Somewhat unrelated:
A few times, over the last few days, I've posted something and gotten this:

Quote:

500 - Radified Internal Server Error An error occured while accessing this file or directory. This is most likely due to a permissions problem on a CGI script, especially if you received this error when attempting to excecute a CGI script. Make sure your file is set 'chmod 755', or user everything, group and world read-executable. If you feel you have reached this in error, please contact us and we will investigate. Radified Home

I then look at the thread and the post is there (as if no error occurred.)

The article “Servers Travel Back in Time with Symantec” describes a real-world test of the “Restore Anywhere” capability of LiveState Recovery (a.k.a. ‘corporate Ghost 10’):
  http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1876514,00.asp

Another approach to migrating an image of one PC to a another PC with a dissimilar hardware configuration is as follows.

• Step A:  Create a Ghost 10 image of PC #1 (the 'source' PC).
  
• Step B:  Install VMware Workstation (US$199; http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/) on PC #2 (the ‘destination’ PC, which may have a different hardware configuration than PC #1), thereby creating a virtual machine.
  
• Step C:  Restore the image from Step A onto the virtual machine created in Step B.
  
• Step D:  Run the virtual machine from Step C on PC #2 to duplicate the functionality of PC #1.

Although I have not personally tested this approach, based on everything that I have read by both Symantec and VMware, it should work well.

Pleonasm: Thanks!  This is really great.
I have 2 questions:
1.  Can one use Ghost 9.0 - or only 10.0?
2.  I own Microsoft Virtual PC, a competitor to VM.  Any thoughts as to whether Virtual PC would work too?  Of course, I need to test it, and report back - I can't do that right now.
THANK YOU,
David

Cardinal23, I’m still new to the world of VMware and virtual machines, but the idea is quite exciting.

I am unfamiliar with the Microsoft Virtual PC product, and so can’t comment on its use with Ghost 9/Ghost 10.

For important additional information concerning VMware and Ghost 9/Ghost 10, see the thread “Restore Ghost Image to a Virtual Machine” on this forum at:
http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1135017392

Pleonasm: I'm a late arrival to the Ghost party.  It had never occurred to me that you COULDN'T restore an image created on computer A to computer B.  I just figured "hey, Ghost.  That's cool.  Back up EVERYTHING.  If my computer's stolen, I'm golden."  Then I tuned into reality (courtesy of Radified.com.)

But, it appears that the thing I was naive about is coming into view.  That's really cool - I mean, some people don't even try to do decent backups.  Believe me.  I think it's wonderful (very wonderful, in fact) that a conscientious person can have this level of protection.  Such protection is quite liberating.  David

One more thing: Virtual Machine is SO DAMNED COOL.  You have to try it.  You can have a complete Windows 98 machine running in a window on your XP machine.  You use the actual Win98 CDs to set it up.  You can then totally trash that installation (spyware, whatever) without harming at all the host (real) Windows 98 machine.  I use it for testing compatability of the SW I develop but it's just an astounding piece of software - please try it.  I got it first as a 30-day trial from MS.  Then I got a full copy. Good luck.  Thanks - you've really done an amazing amount for this thread.  I will reference this thread repeatedly in my future that's for sure.  I may even print it out - but I need to think 'paperless'.

Hi all,

I've done the 'Ghost + XP Recover Install' three times so far (on the same XP install!), and came out relatively unscathed each time.  Note the first move included moving from an AMD CPU to an Intel, so a complete driver install was required (the mainboard died on the AMD :( ).  You will definately need to re-activate XP, plus install fresh drivers as needed.

From my own observations, I'd suggest doing this operation no more than twice to one image set (especially if hardware is radically changing each time, such as my situation was).  I was never quite happy with the third transfer, and I eventually pulled out another disk and started from scratch to good result.

Note this was using Ghost '03 for the three transfers.  I'm unable to run that version on the current system, but my testing of Ghost 9 on two other PCs (an HP L2000 'Livestrong' notebook and a Dell XPS gen 3 in SATA-RAID boot) make me think it would be possible with that version as well.

I hope this helps people,
-Timothy

Cardinal23, have you tried to restore a Ghost 9/Ghost 10 image onto the Microsoft Virtual PC (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx)?  If so, please post your observations and insights.

Cardinal23, I forgot to mention that you can both ‘print’ and be ‘paperless’ simultaneously:  use a virtual PDF printer, such as pdfFactory Pro (see www.FinePrint.com) which I personally use and recommend.

Additionally, the VMware P2V Assistant may be a product that could assist in migrating one PC to another.


Quote:

VMware P2V Assistant is an enterprise-class migration tool that transforms an image of an existing physical system into a VMware virtual machine. This easy-to-use market-proven tool enables fast and reliable physical to virtual machine migration for heterogeneous Windows systems ranging from Windows NT 4 to Windows Server 2003.

Source:  http://www.vmware.com/products/p2v/

Interestingly, the Symantec article “Ghost compatibility between computers that have different hardware” (Document ID 1998120509305125) says:


Quote:

In most cases, hardware compatibility between the source and destination computers is not a problem with a Ghost image. Normally, devices that cause these problems will be those that need drivers installed. These include video cards, sound cards, modems, network interfaces, or other similar devices. If they are different on the destination computer than they are on the source computer, most versions of Windows automatically detect this difference and make the appropriate changes. If the devices are not automatically detected by Windows and there appears to be a conflict, uninstall the conflicting devices and restart the computer. Windows should now automatically detect the appropriate hardware.

Source:
  http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/docid/1998120509305125&src=w

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!  Thanks again, Pheonasm.  If Symantec is correct, this is great news, and what I (naively) assumed in the very beginning.  Thanks for staying with this and notifying the thread about this.  David

The Microsoft article How to Move a Windows XP Installation to Different Hardware will be of interest to readers of this thread.

The prior link is to the article as English with some  German(?) mixed in.  I never found an all English version.  df

cardinal23 wrote on Apr 25^th, 2006 at 3:50pm:

(The notion of 'droppong' a drive into another machine still intrigues me and has been addressd quite completely in this article.)

I'll provide details soon but I've restored an image from a Dell Optiplex to three different computers. A Dell T450, a Dell L667 and a Gateway P4 1.3 mHZ. The OS and programs worked just like the original computer. It can be done.

Brian

I'm impressed--and waiting for your report!

See

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1146045354;start=0#0

[edit]Edited 4/4/2009 by NightOwl--above link no longer works--here's the updated link:

Restoring an image to a different computer

[/edit]

Added a link in the guide to this thread, in reference to restoring an image to/from a *different* computer .. at the bottom of this page:

http://ghost.radified.com/ghost_3.htm

Readers of this thread may also be interested in:  Universal Imaging Utility.

Hi all,

What Symantec Ghost Solution Suite?  How does it differ from Norton Ghost?

I started this thread to learn about restoring an image to a different computer (because the original computer was STOLEN.)  Am I correct that Symantec Ghost Solution Suite does this?

In summary: What simply is Symantec Ghost Solution Suite  and how does it differ from Norton Ghost.  Thank you

I don't know if you could use the Ghost image from one setup and use it on a different setup.

I have successfully activated XP Home SP2 on a different machine than the original. Same OEM key. The only thing they had in common was they both have AMD processors; one is an Athlon Xp3000+ with VIA chipset, the other is an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core with nVidia chipset.

I've read that If it has been MORE than a few months, it is more likely to succeed.

My theory is XP Home OEM may have more leeway. I've been told that you can do it maybe 2 or 3 times before failure.

In my Windows 98 days I have done the arduous task of moving a hard drive form one machine to a totally different PC. Requires the Win98 CD to udate the drivers durring the found new hardware wizard.

In XP, I Don't know. I think XP would lock you out. Maybe I'll test it some time  :<). I have old drives I like to test on.
I just install an OS and go to town seeing how far I can push it before a crash.

If it crashes, oh well. I just wipe the drive and install the NORMAL drive.

It's been a long time since I posted this question and many, many replies have been posted.  

Has a particular procedure emerged?
Can I restore a Ghost image to a different computer?
Just today, a client's computer died (probably a motherbard problem).  He has a Ghost image but we'll need a new computer.

How can I (can I?) restore this Ghost image onto the new computer?
I guess I should read these posts again, more carefully - but I'm taking a lazy approach.
Has anyone done this lately?
Sorry for my laziness.

Cardinal23, it may or not may not assist you in your current circumstances, but I can report that I have restored a backup image to dissimilar hardware - namely, to a virtual machine (VMware Workstation 6.0) with hardware characteristics different from the PC upon which the image was based.  I used the “hardware independent restore” capability of ShadowProtect Dekstop 3.0, and it does in fact work.  I believe that Symantec’s Backup Exec System Recovery (aka the ‘corporate’ version of Norton Ghost 12) has similar functionality, too.

Please post your experiences in this thread, describing how you approached and solved your problem.

Pleonasm wrote on Jan 10^th, 2008 at 3:35pm:

but I can report that I have restored a backup image to dissimilar hardware - namely, to a virtual machine (VMware Workstation 6.0) with hardware characteristics different from the PC upon which the image was based.  I used the “hardware independent restore” capability of ShadowProtect Dekstop 3.0, and it does in fact work.

I don't want to use Symantec’s Backup Exec System Recovery.
Can you tell me a bit about ShadowProtect Dekstop 3.0?  What is that?  Is that a competitor to Norton Ghost?

Thank you.

Cardinal23, please see this thread for a discussion of ShadowProtect Desktop.

Personally, I have switched to ShadowProtect Desktop myself, and no longer use Norton Ghost.

Sorry to revive this old thread, but a have a similar but slightly different question.

First, let me explain that I used Ghost 2003 since 2004 to backup up to 6 PCs at my home (i'm beginning to get tired of this home administrator job). I came handy a few times when kids messed up their PCs or I wanted to replace drives for bigger ones.  

I assumed that my documents would be safe even if the system died completely as I would recover the drive contents from ghost image and read the drive contents from within another system. I used to do that in Win95/98 environment.  Now, after reading this thread (all 5 pages), it occurred to me that it may be impossible within XP as the user documents/data is password protected and the outside access would be blocked. I guess I need to test it more and research the Ghost and XP Recover Install to new hardware route.

Did anyone try accessing user documents from restored drive in another XP system?

If you aren't worried about others reading your documents, you could put them in a shared folder right before you save a ghost image.

Just a thought. I think you could read any user files with ghost explorer if you are a super user/administrator.

Maybe I'll try sometime.


Which OS you using, Win2k, XP Pro or Home? Just curious.

I like to deliberately test stuff like this. :)

Ed, kd6aaj

kd6aaj wrote on Jan 29^th, 2008 at 4:47pm:

I think you could read any user files with ghost explorer if you are a super user/administrator.

Just as a general Windows thing, Administrators can take ownership of whatever they like and reset their ACLs with abandon, so documents are always readable in Windows.

You can read any files in an image with Ghost Explorer, full stop. ACLs on files in images aren't respected - there's no real way to correlate the security context outside with the security context inside the image to make them meaningful, and you can only get an image by having administrative powers in the first place.

Where things get difficult is with EFS-encrypted files - those are a different deal. Getting access to them - even for simple operations like putting them on USB keys and move them between machines - is hard without doing all kinds of stuff, and inside images the same protection works because it's impossible to get the encryption keys.

So the question is what did the original poster mean by "password protected" - which is hard to guess. Did he mean just normal windows ACLs and separate user accounts, or did he mean EFS encryption? If the former, it's fine - if the latter, recovery is by design much harder.

Thanks for the replies.
I didn't think of Ghost Explorer as I never used it before. I need to learn this.
BTW, by password protection, I meant the user passwords on the XP home welcome screen.  However, an user with admin privileges can restrict access to documents from other users (also admins).

I have been using Ghost 8.2 for about 4 years now in an environment with 1500 computers.  Because I work with the government we do not know what kind of computers we will get in the next shipment (lowest bidder) so we create a "gold" image and when the new computer comes in be it a DELL, IBM or HP we load our image and then use the OEM disk that come with the new pc to load any new drivers ie sound, video or nick card.  the only "problem" is that the new drive has to be either the same size and the one we imaged or larger.

Leo

Are you using command line switches to over-ride Ghost's default behavior?  

Usually, Ghost will allow an image to be placed on a larger, same, or smaller HDD as long as the data fits--unless you over-ride Ghost's image creation process and force it to do an *image all* or *sector-by-sector* image creation that includes all the *unused space* as well as the data on the source HDD!

That would force Ghost to restore to only the same or larger sized HDD.

Perhaps the process of creating your *gold* image forces that result????

A case study in performing a hardware independent restore…


Quote:

The miracle-working utility was StorageCraft's ShadowProtect Desktop, a drive-imaging program that backs up your system by making an "image" of your hard disk in a single file that you can store anywhere, and then restore to your system in case of disaster. One of this program's unique features is Hardware-Independent Restore, which means you can take a backed-up image of a Windows system that uses one kind of hard disk controller and restore it to a new computer that uses a completely different hard disk controller. I wanted to use this feature to transfer my highly-customized Windows XP system from an older machine that uses an ATAPI hard disk to a shiny new system using a SATA hard disk in the high-performance AHCI mode. I knew from experience that you can't add the AHCI drivers to an existing Windows XP system--they have to be added during initial installation. StorageCraft said that its Hardware-Independent Restore could do the impossible: It could take an image of my old ATAPI-based system, inject the AHCI drivers needed for my new system, and copy the altered system to my new machine. The company was right. I booted from ShadowProtect's emergency-boot CD, fired up the Hardware-Independent Restore option, and got my old system up and running again on my new machine in less than an hour. I had to install the new motherboard's network, sound, and a few other drivers, but for the first time, I didn't have to reinstall all my software and customize the system. ShadowProtect Desktop saved me days of work installing and customizing a dozen applications.

Source:  ShadowProtect Desktop and Roxio BackOnTrack:  One's Killer, One's Deadly