After reading stories on the net regarding installation problems when installing Ghost10, I decided to try using the Symantec Recovery Environment on the install CD to create an image of my hard drive.  After plugging in my Iomega 160GB USB2.0 external hard drive, I restarted the computer and booted from the CD to the Recovery Environment.  It took approximately 4 minutes.  Once there, I selected Restore Ghost Legacy Image, which brought up Ghost8.2.  I then clicked Local-Disc-To Image and proceeded to backup my entire C: drive to the external drive.  The image was created successfully and passed the Integrity check.  Next, I proceeded to attempt a Restore of the just created image.  This was done up until the final step of an actual Restore. Everything seemed fine.  Of course, the acid test will be an actual Restore of the image file.  I am interested in any comments regarding the viability of this procedure for creating and restoring image files.  My system is a Dell Dimension 8400 with P4 3.0ghz with 1GB of ram and a 160GB SATA hard drive running XP Home.  Thanks for a very informative forum!

Grizzly,

I'm really pleased you posted as you have discovered something that I and maybe all here didn't know. In Ghost 9 the imaging function of Ghost 8.2 is disabled. You can only restore. I never bothered to look at Ghost 8.2 from the Ghost 10 RE because I assumed it would be the same. I checked and it isn't. Imaging is available.

I think this change in Ghost 8.2 usage will provoke a lot of discussion. For example, you can image a newly installed OS before installing any apps including Ghost 10.

Grizzly, your computer is almost the same as mine. Why don't you now install Ghost 10 and make some Ghost 10 images.

Grizzly


Quote:

Once there, I selected Restore Ghost Legacy Image, which brought up Ghost8.2.  I then clicked Local-Disc-To Image and proceeded to backup my entire C: drive to the external drive.  The image was created successfully and passed the Integrity check.

That's extremely interesting!  On my Ghost 9.x installation CD, when booted to the *Recovery Environment*, the above mentioned copy of Ghost 8.2 is also present--but all functions except *Restore* and *Integrity Check* are crippled (*disabled*)--so no image creation is allowed or possible!

Notice that the above *quoted* function says only *Restore*!

Very interesting if Symantec did not cripple Ghost 8.2 on the Ghost 10.x installation CD!


Quote:

I am interested in any comments regarding the viability of this procedure for creating and restoring image files.

Based on your description of what you have done--sounds *very* viable!!!!

Any other Ghost 10'ers--can you verify the ability to create Ghost 8.2 backup images?!!!!

Brian

You usually have *extra* HDD's and images around--can you confirm that the Ghost 8.2 on the Ghost 10 installation CD will actually create and restore an image without difficulties.

We crossed over. See above.

In the spirit of "provoking a lot of discussion," consider this:  the corporate version of Ghost 2003 (i.e., Ghost 8.2) runs under Windows and creates an image using "hot imaging" – not unlike Ghost 10!

(Will wonders never cease?)

NightOwl,

I successfully restored the image with Ghost 8.2 after adding a few text files to that partition so I could see that the restored partition was different.

[Rad comment]: Now, *there's* a trooper!  :)

Brian, I had a "live chat" with Symantec Technical Support some time ago, in which they implied that Ghost 8.2 on the Ghost 10 recovery environment CD could create images.  At the time, I dismissed the comment, thinking that it was simply an ill-informed statement by Symantec, given what NightOwl had previously posted about Ghost 8.2 on the Ghost 9 recovery environment CD.

Based on your experimentation, I see now that Symantec was indeed correct:  Ghost 8.2 on the Ghost 10 recovery environment CD can both create as well as restore Ghost 2003 format images.  That could be a very handy piece of information, and – to some extent – mitigates the absence of a Ghost 10 plug-in for BartPE.

Question:  Brian, does Ghost 8.2 in the recovery environment recognize external USB hard disk drives?  FireWire hard disk drives?  DVD discs?

Brian

Did you see this in Pleonasm's last post:


Quote:

That could be a very handy piece of information, and – to some extent – mitigates the absence of a Ghost 10 plug-in for BartPE.

Yikes!!!!!  Can the Ghost 8.2 on the Ghost 10 CD be used to create a Bart PE using the Ghost 8.x plug in!!!!!

Here is where the *crippled* Ghost 8.2 is on the Ghost 9.x Recovery CD:

X:\I386\START\ADVANCED\EN\RESTOREGHOST.EXE

Where is it on the Ghost 10 CD?

Thanks for your comments on this post.  Brian, I am still leery of installing Ghost 10.   I'm no computer geek by any means, and subscribe to the theory of it it ain't broke don't fiddle with it!   I had actually installed Ghost 2003 from the Ghost10 package after reading of user problems with the Ghost10 installation, and had previously made a Ghost 2003 image from the Windows interface.  After reading that the Ghost10 Recovery Environment would allow one to restore images from older versions of Ghost, I just decided on a whim to see if it could also create them.      Pleonasm, my external USB 2.0 external hard drive seemed to be recognized just fine in the Recovery Environment.

[Rad comment]: Re: "decided on a whim". What a stroke of luck .. for all of us.

Grizzly,

This is really a great find.  :o

NightOwl, Brian, Pleo, and others -- there was one question some time ago about whether or not a NTFS external USB2 hard drive contains the drive letter in the DiskID signature:

Erase DiskID on external USB drive

I don't think the question was ever answered.  But from I saw in my testing today, I would say YES.  I booted from the Ghost 10 RE CD, and invoked Ghost 8.2 which is essentially the Windows version of Ghost, as I understand it.  

I checked the Ghost 8.2 option to recover and opened the window to look for .GHO images.  All my local drive letters (c, d, e, g) were present and my external usb drive (k) was also present.  Note, that f was not present because I no longer have an f partition; and g wasn't assigned f by default.

The Windows Pre-environment is loaded prior to Ghost 8.2.  My Windows XP Pro Registry is NOT loaded.  My opinion is that no drives are opened.

So the answer (in my opinion) is that DiskID, stored physically on the drive, contains a signature plus a drive letter.  Otherwise, how else would Windows PE or Ghost 8.2 know the correct one?

Grizzly, move to the head of the class.

wrote on Mar 5^th, 2006 at 5:29pm:

Brian, I am still leery of installing Ghost 10.

Grizzly, you are famous.

What I'd do is create a Ghost 8.2 image then install Ghost 10. If you don't like Ghost 10 it can be uninstalled and if that doesn't work properly you could restore your image.

I think you will like Ghost 10.

Pleo,
John has answered the question re external HD's. Writing to DVD's is crippled but I'm sure restoring from DVD's would be OK.

NightOwl,
i386\Shell\Ghost contains restoreghost.exe and ghostexp.exe as well as other files. I extracted both files, renamed restoreghost.exe to ghost32.exe and put both in the Files folder of the BartPE plugin. I opened ghost.inf and deleted these lines
files\ghostsrv.exe=a,,3
files\ghostcdr.dll=a,,3
I then built a BartPE CD and the Ghost 8.2 plugin works fine and I created an image.
The practical value of this I'll leave to others.

We still need a BartPE plugin for Ghost 10 because Ghost 8.2 doesn't allow one to restore a Ghost 10 image stored on an external HD if that HD can't be seen from the RE.

wrote on Mar 5^th, 2006 at 5:29pm:

there was one question some time ago about whether or not a NTFS external USB2 hard drive contains the drive letter in the DiskID signature.

John,

Have a think about Method #2.

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/partsigs.htm

In my Registry under \DosDevices\ I have all my drive letters including the external HD even though it's not connected. It's beyond my understanding but what do you make of it?

Brian wrote on Mar 5^th, 2006 at 6:02pm:

Have a think about Method #2. http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/partsigs.htm In my Registry under \DosDevices\ I have all my drive letters including the external HD even though it's not connected. It's beyond my understanding but what do you make of it?

I think that XP remembers (in the registry) all drive letters that it has ever used.  When I looked at mine, I saw several I hadn't used in ages.  In your
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
do you see drive letters for devices like usb card readers?

I don't know the full answer.  Maybe Dan will be able to comment.  I think method #2 is just to clear the drive letters in XP so the next time you boot, you take what's available.  For example, in my case, I think if I cleared the key and data values, my cdrom would not show up as r: at the next boot, which is what I have had it for ages.

I don't think that WinPE is loading the hives or registry of XP.  How could it know?  Suppose you had multiple boot partitions?  Which registry would WinPE load?

I've tried several times searching for information about the format and contents of DiskID.  Google and Microsoft searching and I can't find anything.  

(I'll gladly move to the back of the class if someone can find it!  :)  )

As you know I wasn't suggesting using Method #2, just looking at the Registry. Every drive letter I've ever used for external HD's and cards is in that Registry page.

WinPE only looks at the active partition so no problem if you are multi-booting.

To all

Just to clarify--the Ghost 8.2 version on on the Recovery CD is the 32-bit version (ghost32.exe), and is not the DOS version (ghost.exe).  So it must run under Windows or WinPE, and can not run under DOS.

When run from WinPE, the OS (usually C:\) partition is not active and you can image the OS partition--whereas if you were running ghost32.exe under regular Windows--then I'm not sure you can image the currently active OS partition.

NightOwl wrote on Mar 5^th, 2006 at 6:29pm:

--whereas if you were running ghost32.exe under regular Windows--then I'm not sure you can image the currently active OS partition.

That is correct. You can't.

Brian wrote on Mar 5^th, 2006 at 6:19pm:

WinPE only looks at the active partition so no problem if you are multi-booting.

Brian, good point.  I hadn't thought of that.  So maybe WinPE does examine the registry from the active partition to reconcile hard drive letters and create assignments?  I guess it's possible.

What do you think?

It seems like WinPE controls everything, not Ghost 10 from what I see.

The Ghost 10 User Guide is interesting in section 10 (of the Software License Agreement). Additional Uses and Restrictions, which states that Symantec uses software licenses from Microsoft.  I assume that's WinPE and it says later that there is a "time-out feature that will automatically reboot the computer after twenty-four hours of continuous use."  I guess that's to prevent you from using WinPE forever.

wrote on Mar 5^th, 2006 at 6:49pm:

What do you think?

Beyond me. I hope Dan will answer.



wrote on Mar 5^th, 2006 at 6:49pm:

automatically reboot the computer after twenty-four hours of continuous use."  I guess that's to prevent you from using WinPE forever.

That's correct but BartPE has got around this limitation.

NightOwl, your point is well-taken:  “if you were running ghost32.exe under regular Windows--then I'm not sure you can image the currently active OS partition.”  It is, however, an empirical question.  As a resident Ghost 2003 guru on the forum, do you feel motivated to run a test and report back the results?

Pleonasm wrote on Mar 6^th, 2006 at 9:37am:

NightOwl, your point is well-taken:  “if you were running ghost32.exe under regular Windows--then I'm not sure you can image the currently active OS partition.”  It is, however, an empirical question.  As a resident Ghost 2003 guru on the forum, do you feel motivated to run a test and report back the results?

Pleo and NightOwl, as I understand it, ghost 8.2 is NOT running under regular Windows in the sense I think you asked it.  It is running under WinPE.  The currently active OS partition is WinPE. So you couldn't image that (virtual) one.  But every other partition is fair game.

WinPE starts from the CD, creates a ramdrive in memory and loads Windows PE into memory and the ramdrive.  There are three drives open:
z: ms-ramdrive
s: cd-rom
x: ghost

Based on the prior posts in this thread, it appears that the Ghost 10 recovery environment CD provides a potentially superior method to both create and restore ‘Ghost 2003’-format images.  Since a user needs to reboot into another operating environment anyway to use Ghost 2003, why not boot into the WinPE environment of Ghost 10 rather than DOS?  Doing so seems to deliver access to the corporate Ghost 8.2 utility which has all the functionality of Ghost 2003 under DOS supplemented with the capability of accessing a broad range of external storage devices that can otherwise be problematical to use in DOS.  (I am assuming, of course, that a license for Ghost 10 has been acquired.)

Theoretically, I don’t see any disadvantage to substituting the use of corporate Ghost 8.2 in the Ghost 10 recovery environment for Ghost 2003 under DOS – and, there is the ancillary benefit of supporting a wide range of storage devices.  Correct?

Is there any reason not to recommend such an approach to those who visit this forum in the future?

Should the Radified Guide to Norton Ghost be updated to include this important insight?  (Of course, the phrase “DOS is our tripod” will need to be updated to read “WinPE is our tripod”  ;).)

Pleonasm


Quote:

“if you were running ghost32.exe under regular Windows--then I'm not sure you can image the currently active OS partition.”  It is, however, an empirical question.  As a resident Ghost 2003 guru on the forum, do you feel motivated to run a test and report back the results?

Actually, Brian answered that question in his reply #17 above!

NightOwl wrote on Mar 6^th, 2006 at 10:28am:

Pleonasm Actually, Brian answered that question in his reply #17 above!

I can be wrong, but I would state again:  It's like saying that ghost under BartPE can't create an image of the active OS partition, i.e. BartPE.  

The active OS partition is the one created on the fly from the cd and (as I understand it) you can't image your on-the-fly WinPE, just like you can't image BartPE using Ghost.

(always willing to be corrected of course.)

NightOwl, it’s “my bad,” :o I must confess.

I didn’t notice Brian’s Reply #17 until after I posted Reply #20.  It is just another case of using "more words than are required to express an idea" . . . .

For information on the compatibility of Ghost 8.2 with optical/USB/FireWire storage devices, see Symantec's article (Document ID 2003081215321125):  Symantec Ghost 8.2 compatibility with CD/DVD-R/RW drives.

I just booted from my Ghost 10 RE CD.

I invoked Ghost 8.2 and I created an image of my NTFS c: active OS partition onto my external USB2 NTFS hard drive.

Ghost 8.2 was able to navigate to a folder of my choice on my NTFS USB2 hard drive to choose an target folder for the image.  I created a backup image.  I just now looked at it (after rebooting back to XP) and see that it contains a Ghost82.gho file plus Ghost001.ghs Ghost002.ghs, Ghost003.ghs, and Ghost004.ghs files (each about 2 gb in size except the last one)

Followup:

I just double clicked on the .GHO file and XP invoked the old Ghost Explorer program.  After loading the backup image I noticed that it contained disk 1 (BOTH partitions) not just my c: boot os partition.  Guess I did a full disk image backup, instead of a partition image backup.

Anyway, I selected a folder from the backup (which I had renamed on my original hard drive) and successfully restored it!

Ghost4me.John


Quote:

I invoked Ghost 8.2 and I created an image of my NTFS c: active OS partition onto my external USB2 NTFS hard drive.

I agree--this makes sense.

Are we misunderstanding each other?  What I meant above in reply #16, is that you can not boot to your *NTFS c: active OS partition*, launch from there the *Ghost 8.2* that you have successfully used from the WinPE, and now create a Ghost image of the OS partition that you are running the *Ghost 8.2* from--it can only be done from the WinPE.

But, you can create Ghost images of all other partitions on your system while booted to your WinXP partition and using the Ghost 8.2 under Windows.

NightOwl, my fault.  You're right, we were saying the same thing.  

I thought from reply #16 you were saying that Ghost 8.2 (when started from WinPE) could not image c: drive.  Actually the %systembootdrive when running under WinPE is x: .  So you cannot image x: but you can image anything else.

So (please don't take this the wrong way anyone),

What does Ghost 2003 give you that WinPE/Ghost 8.2 doesn't?

Ghost4me.John


Quote:

What does Ghost 2003 give you that WinPE/Ghost 8.2 doesn't?

Well, there are two versions of Ghost 8.2--DOS only *ghost.exe* and Windows only *ghost32.exe*.

It's that second version you are getting when you launch from the Recovery CD.

Ghost 2003 only comes in the DOS version--*ghost.exe* (yup--the same .exe name!)--you get a Windows interface to launch Ghost 2003 from, if you install it, but it still has to close down Windows, re-boot to DOS, create the image, and then re-boot to Windows.

Ghost32.exe is far more *powerful* than Ghost 2003--Ghost 8.2 is the previous *Corporate* version of Ghost--and if you can run it from WinPE--you now have Ghost 2003 on *steroids*  ;) !

Ghost 2003 will not run in the WinPE environment.

Assuming one wanted to backup/copy/image from a non-hot environment, then it seems to me that using the WinPE/Ghost 8.2 CD (from Ghost 10) gives another option.  I know there has been a lot of discussion as to whether or not hot-imaging is as reliable as standalone-imaging, via DOS or WinPE or BartPE.

Plus the WinPE environment is probably more up to date supporting more current motherboards, USB devices, and SATA drives, etc.  Of course if you've already purchased Ghost 2003, then Ghost 10 is an additional cost to consider.

NightOwl, the question that Ghost4me asks in Reply #31 is essentially the same question that I posed in Reply #22:


Quote:

Theoretically, I don’t see any disadvantage to substituting the use of corporate Ghost 8.2 in the Ghost 10 recovery environment for Ghost 2003 under DOS – and, there is the ancillary benefit of supporting a wide range of storage devices.  Correct?   Is there any reason not to recommend such an approach to those who visit this forum in the future?

Question #1:  For those users who have already invested in a Ghost 10 license but prefer the 'Ghost 2003' approach, why would anyone continue to use Ghost 2003 in DOS when Ghost 8.2 is available in either Windows XP (for imaging non-active partitions) or in the WinPE/Ghost 10 recovery environment (for imaging all partitions)?

Question #2:  Since a user needs to reboot into another operating environment anyway to use Ghost 2003, why not boot into the WinPE environment of Ghost 10 rather than DOS?  Doing so seems to deliver access to the corporate Ghost 8.2 utility which has all the functionality of Ghost 2003 under DOS supplemented with the capability of accessing a broad range of external storage devices that can otherwise be problematical to use in DOS.  For example, using Ghost 8.2, one could circumvent the need for the Panasonic Universal USB driver (etc.) - correct?

What do you think?

I've found an interesting way to image WinXP without using the Ghost 10 RE. It's faster as you don't have to wait for the RE to load.

From  i386\Shell\Ghost I extracted restoreghost.exe and renamed it ghost32.exe but the rename probably wasn't necessary. I have two WinXP partitions and I put ghost32.exe in a data partition seen by both OS. I ran ghost32.exe and imaged (and verified the image) my other WinXP partition which is a hidden partition . To image my main WinXP I just need to boot to the other WinXP and run ghost32.exe.

Just another bit of trivia to add to our list.

Pleonasm


Quote:

Question #1: ... why would anyone continue to use Ghost 2003 in DOS when Ghost 8.2 is available in either Windows XP (for imaging non-active partitions) or in the WinPE/Ghost 10 recovery environment (for imaging all partitions)?

Well, firstly--nobody knew about this until one day ago!!!--Ghost 8.2 (the Windows 32 bit version that works under Windows or WinPE rather than DOS--which Ghost 2003 does not) should satisfy anyone who prefers the DOS Ghost 2003 concept of imaging the OS partition when the OS is not *hot* and active when booted to WinPE.


Quote:

Question #2:  ... why not boot into the WinPE environment of Ghost 10 rather than DOS?  ...  For example, using Ghost 8.2, one could circumvent the need for the Panasonic Universal USB driver (etc.) - correct?

Correct!  Again answer to question #1 applies to question #2!


Quote:

What do you think?

I'm in the process of ordering Ghost 10.x  ;) !!!!!

Do you have the stand alone Ghost 10.x--or is your Ghost 10 from the Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier suite?  

(Edited 3/7/2006 at 7:50 am:  )

Anyone--

Does the Premier suite have the *Recovery Disk* with the Ghost 8.2 program on it?

The two files mentioned in Reply #12 can be added to the Ghost 9 CD (using UltraISO) to allow Ghost 8.2 image creation. SATA and NIC drivers can be added to the Ghost 9 CD as well.

Brian


Quote:

The two files mentioned in Reply #12 can be added to the Ghost 9 CD (using UltraISO) to allow Ghost 8.2 image creation.

I was wondering if that might not be the case--I've recently learned how to add RAID drivers to the WinPE that is part of the WinXP installation CD--I've not yet tried an actual installation from the re-compiled CD--but I have booted to its Recovery Console successfully--and my RAID system was recognized without using the F6 to add HDD drivers not present on the original installation CD.

I used an outline of how to slipstream, for instance SP2 to a SP1 installation CD, and then re-burn the files back to a CD.  Using UltraISO to extract the boot image (I presume this is WinPE!) from the original installation CD, and then using it as the boot image to burn the changed files from the slipstreaming onto a new CD.

I presume it's a similar process--you know, Rad is willing to host *guides* created by others--might want to consider such a thing.

For those interested in learning more about Ghost 8.2, see the available Symantec documentation at http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/enterprise/products/symghost/symghost_8/manuals.html.

Quote:

The two files mentioned in Reply #12 can be added to the Ghost 9 CD (using UltraISO) to allow Ghost 8.2 image creation.

Why would anyone need to do this? One reason could be if your Ghost 10 RE has a problem seeing your drives. Ghost 9 RE is more forgiving.

From the Ghost 10 CD navigate to i386\Shell\Ghost. Copy restoreghost.exe and ghostexp.exe to a folder on your HD.

Start UltraISO and place the Ghost 9 CD in the CD drive. Click Tools, Make CD/DVD Image. “Make” a Standard ISO to a folder on your HD. Remove the CD and double click the .ISO file you have just created. In the left upper pane click the I386\START\ADVANCED\EN\ folder. In the right upper pane you will see 3 files. Drag restoreghost.exe and ghostexp.exe from your HD folder to the right upper pane and overwrite the two files present. Click File, Save. Put a blank CD in the CD drive. Click Tools, Burn CD/DVD image, Burn.

Test your new CD.

Quote:

Does the Premier suite have the *Recovery Disk* with the Ghost 8.2 program on it?

My mate says, "Yes". I'd confirm this however.

NightOwl, to answer your question in Reply #36 (and to confirm Brian's response in Reply #41), yes:  the retail boxed version of Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier includes the Symantec Recovery Disk (CD) which has the full Ghost 8.2 application.  I would assume that the downloaded version of NSW 2006 Premier is the same, but I cannot verify that assertion.

I have successfully used Ghost 8.2 in the WinPE/Ghost 10 recovery environment to generate and verify Partition-to-Image backups of an internal hard disk drive, created onto an external NTFS-formatted hard disk drive connected via FireWire.  Ghost 8.2 had no difficulty recognizing or using the NTFS/FireWire external drive.

NightOwl, have you purchased a copy of Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier?  If so, what are your impressions of Ghost 10 and Ghost 8.2?

Pleonasm


Quote:

have you purchased a copy of Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier?

Yes I have--it's in the *mail*, and I'm waiting for its delivery.

I'm not ignoring you--but it will take a bit of time before I have played with it--so, be patient--I'll report back as I get my *feet wet*  ;) !

My intention is to try out the Ghost 8.2 first--install Ghost 10 later.  (I'm specifically going to be trying to see if I can *break* Ghost 10's ability to track the USB HDD's being plugged and unplugged with other USB memory devices-I'm curious about that one!)

NightOwl, I am now interjecting the use of Ghost 8.2 into my backup strategy.  My intention is use Ghost 8.2 from the WinPE/Ghost 10 recovery environment to create Partition-to-Image backups onto an external NTFS/FireWire hard disk drive on a monthly basis (while continuing to use Ghost 10 as the primary tool on a weekly basis).

Since redundancy is the core attribute of a solid backup strategy, using Ghost 8.2 together with Ghost 10 will provide redundancy across applications – something that I had been lacking.

Ghost 8.2 works well.  In comparison to Ghost 10, the major shortcomings – from my perspective – are that you need to exit WinXP and boot into WinPE (a slow process), and that you can’t schedule unattended backup and verify operations.  Both of these negatively impact productivity and increase the “hassle” factor, but every tool or approach has both advantages and disadvantages.

I know this has been answered (so I apologize), but here it goes:

Does Ghost 10 include the ghost32.exe (and library files) needed for Ghost in BartPE? If not, how can I obtain a copy that will work with BartPE?

I have the 2003 version (doesn't include Ghost32.exe) and would like to use BartPE to Ghost via Network connection.

scott3415


Quote:

Does Ghost 10 include the ghost32.exe (and library files) needed for Ghost in BartPE?

From Brian's reply #35 in this thread:


Quote:

From  i386\Shell\Ghost I extracted restoreghost.exe and renamed it ghost32.exe but the rename probably wasn't necessary.

The *restoreghost.exe* is *ghost32.exe* on Ghost 10's Recovery Disk.

But I'm not sure what *library files* are asked for by BartPE--I have not played yet with BartPE--maybe someone who has (like Brian) can help with that answer.

You can confirm that RESTOREGHOST.EXE is in fact GHOST32.EXE by right-clicking the file in Windows Explorer, selecting Properties, and examining the items (e.g., File Version, Internal Name) listed in the Version tab.

From the Properties of restoreghost.exe

Company:                Symantec Corporation
File Version:            8.2.0.1115
Internal Name:        Ghost32
Language:               English (United States)
Original File name:  Ghost32.exe
Product Name:        Symantec Ghost
Product Version:      8.2.0.1115

Ghost 8 plugin (same procedure for Ghost 8.2)


Quote:

Ghost v8.0 Ghost32 (version 8.0!) is certified to run on Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE). But it also works on BartPE. Ghost32 is not free, buy it from Symantec. To activate support for CD or DVD write, you also need to enabled the "ASPI" plugin. Before you can use the plugin you must copy some files to the plugin directory. Install and activate ghost as described in the ghost installation manual. Then copy the following files from programs files\symantec\ghost into the plugin\ghost8\files directory: ghost32.exe, ghostexp.exe, ghostsrv.exe, ghostcdr.dll

See

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1141588748;start=#12

So you can get by with only 2 of the 4 files.

Brian,

Has anyone used a Corporate Version of Ghost (Solution Suite, etc) with BartPE or Reatogo? I purchased the 9.0 Ghost product, and have it working successfully. However, i'm concerned about the licensing aspect. I'm deploying the image to new hardware (w/o Ghost client) and never using Ghost again (unless there is a hw issue). According to Symantec, I will need a Ghost 9.0 license for every machine that I deploy an image to. At $60.00 a shot, wouldn't it be more economical to use the Ghost Solution Suite executable, which MSRP's at $28.00 per license. What are peoples thoughts on licensing for the corporate environment?

scott3415


Quote:

wouldn't it be more economical to use the Ghost Solution Suite executable, which MSRP's at $28.00 per license

I think the minimum # of licenses is 10, and as the # goes up, there are additional price breaks for higher quantities.

Nightowl,

You're exactly correct, and the $28.00 was ballpark for the 10-100 licenses. Which only validates my point, Ghost Solution Suite is more economical. However, I cannot see any way to use this product in a PE environment. The only plugins (I see) are 8.0 and 9.0, which I've been told are thier Consumer Desktop products. Ghost Solutions Suite (let's call it "GSS" for simplicity) is more an enterprise product. I know the Ghost32.exe is NOT included with GSS. Anyone had experience using the GSS in a PE environment?

Scott3415, what are you seeking to accomplish through the use of BartPE in conjunction with Ghost?  If the objective is to perform image backups over a network, you may wish to explore the LiveState Recovery suite of products by Symantec, which are essentially the ‘corporate’ version of Ghost 10.

Please post the results of your research.

Thanks for the pointer.

Basically, I'm trying to deploy the image once the new hardware arrives AT THE LOWEST LICENSE COST.

Initially, the idea of performing this over the network was attractive. But I think deploying an image contained on an external HD would be more efficient.

Could they have any more products? (sarcasm) There are 6 levels of LiveState Recovery & 101 ways to use the Ghost products. I will take a look at the LiveState option.

Scott3415, have you considered any of the free image backup products, such as DriveImage XML?

P.S.:  I have no experience with this tool, and so can't recommend it.

NightOwl wrote on Mar 5^th, 2006 at 6:29pm:

"... the Ghost 8.2 version on on the Recovery CD is the 32-bit version (ghost32.exe), and is not the DOS version (ghost.exe).  So it must run under Windows or WinPE, and can not run under DOS..."

CLICK HERE to discover how "yours truly" is considering a rather inexpensive way to procure a Symantec Norton Ghost 10.0 license in order to use Ghost 8.2 in easing his previously unyielding reliance on Ghost 2003.

CLICK HERE to discover a rather inexpensive way to procure the Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2006 for Windows suite (I am reasonably confident this is not the 'NSW 2006 Basic Edition' - but I am not altogether certain).

EP :'(

El_Pescador

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that the reference for Norton SystemWorks 2006 is the *basic* version--it has to say *Premier* in order to have Ghost included--which it does not--and the product description also does not mention Ghost!

NightOwl wrote on Mar 19^th, 2006 at 11:14pm:

"... I'm pretty sure that the reference for Norton SystemWorks 2006 is the *basic* version--it has to say *Premier* in order to have Ghost included--which it does not--and the product description also does not mention Ghost!..."

By omitting the word 'Premier', I was stating that Ghost was not included in the NSW 2006 for Windows suite; instead, I was trying to distinguish it from the 'Basic Edition' (see illustration below).  Regrettably, Outpost.com did not display a Symantec Product Number for the item in question, but my suspicion remains that it is not Norton SystemWorks 2006 Basic Edition by Symantec - 337018.

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

EP :'(

El_Pescador

So, there are three versions of Norton SystemWorks 2006!!!  Well, that sure makes it easier to keep things straight  ;) !

So, what's the difference between the *basic* and the (?)*regular*--as opposed to the *premier*--what is not included in the *basic* version.

NightOwl wrote on Mar 20^th, 2006 at 9:49am:

"... what's the difference between the *basic* and the (?)*regular*--as opposed to the *premier*--what is not included in the *basic* version..."

'Basic Edition' seems to lack Norton Antivirus 2006 for one thing; since many users already employ NAV as a "stand-alone" - not to mention those users of Norton Internet Security 2006 - this may be a good idea for Symantec (check out URL below).

http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/system_performance/nswbasic2006/index.html

EP :'(

El_Pescador wrote on Mar 19^th, 2006 at 8:56pm:

"... "yours truly" is considering a rather inexpensive way to procure a Symantec Norton Ghost 10.0 license in order to use Ghost 8.2 in easing his previously unyielding reliance on Ghost 2003..."

Well, it seems there are all kinds of developments hereabouts: (1) received the Norton Ghost 10.0 CD and I can readily see all my drives with no problem when booting from it - moreover, no problem in performing Ghost 8.2 Integrity Checks anywhere in My Computer; (2) incredibly enough, made a viable ReatogoPE CD on my first attempt (figured on making a bushel basket full of "coasters" before I could pull it off); after booting from the ReatogoPE CD in Drive D: (CD-ROM), Ghost 8.2 was successfully invoked by opening RESTOREGHOST.EXE which was previously copied from the Ghost 10.0 CD to a scratch CD-R now mounted in Drive E: (DVD burner); (3) regrettably, booting with the ReatogoPE CD in Drive D: I am unable to view Virtual Drives C:, F: and G: which reside on my Maxtor 120GB SATA MASTER HDD (previously seen by Ghost 2003 as Drive 2) albeit Ghost 8.2 easily performs Integrity Checks on those drives that are visible - sounds like I need to figure out how to attach SATA HDD drivers to the ReatogoPE CD; and (4) whereas I have a new licensed copy of Ghost 10.0 (several, in fact), how do I go about integrating RESTOREGHOST.EXE (aka GHOST32.EXE) and GHOSTEXP.EXE into a ReatogoPE CD.

EP :'(

El_Pescador wrote on Mar 24^th, 2006 at 12:14pm:

Well, it seems there are all kinds of developments hereabouts: (1) received the Norton Ghost 10.0 CD

EP, welcome to the dark side. Well sort of.




Quote:

sounds like I need to figure out how to attach SATA HDD drivers to the ReatogoPE CD

To do this you can either run autoDriver from the reatogo_autoDriver folder (in plugin folder) or copy your SATA floppy to a folder on your HD and put this folder in the SCSIAdapter folder (reatogo-25-6a\drivers\SCSIAdapter)



Quote:

how do I go about integrating RESTOREGHOST.EXE (aka GHOST32.EXE) and GHOSTEXP.EXE into a ReatogoPE CD.

Download the ordinary BartPE prog to get the Ghost 8.* plugin.

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Put this plugin in the Reatogo plugin folder and read the enclosed ghost.htm. Then modify by

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1141588748;start=#12


I'm looking forward to your lively comments.


PS  For general information. You only need to download Reatogo once. Further changes are made from the Reatogo folders on your HD.

Brian wrote on Mar 24^th, 2006 at 2:29pm:

"... EP, welcome to the dark side. Well sort of..."

All of this is incredibly fascinating to me, and I would love to be able to jump right into the fray.

Regrettably, for the next few days I have rented - at considerable expense - some very exotic power tools to either grind or scarify the concrete floor of our Hurricane Katrina inundated 'slab-on-grade' residence to remove those remnants of hardwood parquet and adhesive that did not yield to the power chipper-hammer previously employed.  Will check back in from time to time.

EP :'(

El_Pescador wrote on Mar 24^th, 2006 at 12:14pm:

"... regrettably, booting with the ReatogoPE CD in Drive D: I am unable to view Virtual Drives C:, F: and G: which reside on my Maxtor 120GB SATA MASTER HDD (previously seen by Ghost 2003 as Drive 2) albeit Ghost 8.2 easily performs Integrity Checks on those drives that are visible - sounds like I need to figure out how to attach SATA HDD drivers to the ReatogoPE CD..."

Brian wrote on Mar 24^th, 2006 at 2:29pm:

"... To do this you can run AutoDriver from the reatogo_autoDriver folder (in plugin folder)..."

Back home once more, and finally had a little free time to use AutoDriver for revealing the partitions on my SATA MASTER HDD when booting up with a ReatogoPE CD.

EP :'(

I have updated the guide to reference this thread, indicating that both Ghost 10 & Norton Save & Restore include a copy of Ghost v8.2 which can be used to both create & restore images.

My text:

Update: 21.Nov.2006 - Good news! It appears Norton Save & Restore *does* come with Ghost v8.2, which is the corporate version of the original Ghost software, which will allow you to both create and restore images using this software. And this version is not crippled as is the version that comes with Ghost 9. See this thread for details:

Using Ghost 10 CD [including N S&R] to Create and Restore Ghost images

Is this info accurate?

Rad


Quote:

which is the corporate version of the original Ghost software, which will allow you to both create and restore images using this software

It is as stated above, but it is the *32-bit* version of Ghost 8.xx that can only be run under a Windows OS--can not run from DOS!

Thanks.

What liabilities does that introduce? [edit'ed post to delete stupid things i wrote]

Rad


Quote:

since it is hot-imaging, is there any reason to use it over normal ghost 10?

*Ghost32.exe* (aka *RESTOREGHOST.EXE* on the Recovery Disk) does not allow for *hot-imaging*!  

If you are running it under your regular Windows OS, you are not able to create an image that includes your active OS partition (that's what Ghost 9 and 10 + Norton Save & Restore can do!)--and you can not restore your OS partition from within Windows (which is also true of Ghost 9 and 10--you have to boot the Recovery Disk to the Recovery Environment!).  You can image all other partitions and other HDD's--but not the active OS partition.

But, if you are running it from the Ghost Recovery Disk, then it acts like DOS Ghost because the OS is not active--you have booted from the CD to the WinPE based Recovery Environment--and now you can image the whole HDD including the OS partition--the advantage of this is *ghost32.exe* takes advantage of all the *Windows* based drivers for USB, Firewire, and networking that's built into the WinPE Recovery Environment--so you do not have to struggle trying to make some of the *cranky* DOS drivers work like can happen when using Ghost 2003 in DOS!!!

Suh_weet!

Thanks for the clarification.

Seems better than regular Ghost (v2003) .. in that respect.

Rad

The biggest (only?) down side--it takes a looooooong time for the Recovery Disk to load!

How long we talking? 2 minutes? 3?

Rad

Actually--maybe 4 or 5!  I often go get a cup of coffee!  Never actually timed it though!

NightOwl wrote on Nov 21^st, 2006 at 3:27pm:

"... The biggest (only?) down side--it takes a looooooong time for the Recovery Disk to load!..."

I have never created a pure BartPE CD, so I cannot comment.  However, I have created several Reatogo-X-PE CDs representing the two latest generations and it takes a looooooong time for them to load, too!

EP :'(

well, seeing that it can save a week's-work worth of headaches, re-installing everything, i'd say it's worth it.

Brian wrote on Mar 5^th, 2006 at 5:50pm:

Pleo, John has answered the question re external HD's. Writing to DVD's is crippled but I'm sure restoring from DVD's would be OK.

My copy of save & restore advises that cd/dve writing is unavailable and refers me to the symantec ghost reference guide to enable it.  Is that a blind alley to a crippled function, or is there some way of enabling it?  If not, can I write the backup in 4.5GB chunks to a hard drive and copy the chunks to dvd's, and then restore from those dvd's to follow the above suggestion?

Tommytiko wrote on Jan 14^th, 2007 at 4:11pm:

"... My copy of save & restore advises that cd/dve writing is unavailable and refers me to the symantec ghost reference guide to enable it.  Is that a blind alley to a crippled function, or is there some way of enabling it?..."

The answer is twofold when taking either the BartPE or Reatogo-X-PE route: (1) both ghostcdr.dll and ghostsrv.exe can readily be incorporated in a practical fashion into either CD; but (2) regrettably, I was never able to realize a manner in which to legitimately obtain ghostcdr.dll and ghostsrv.exe through Symantec channels.

EP :'(

Tommytiko, yes – using Ghost in Norton Save & Restore, you can specify a recovery point split size below the storage capacity of a DVD disc, and then after the backup is complete, burn the recovery point segments onto DVD discs.  These discs may be used for a restore operation.

I recommend that you run a “verify” operation from the recovery environment on the DVD discs you create in this way, to confirm that all works as expected.

Thanks for the replies.

Does anybody have a manual for ghost 8.2?  For example, what is the significance of the choice between .gho files and raw and image files when making a backup from dos?  And what are the segments in spanned images and how can their size be controlled?

For a list of Ghost manuals, enter "Manual" and check the "Include PDFs" box using this search page:
    http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/support/knowledge_base.jsp?pid=52023

Hello,

I had just read this thread last week and quickly ordered a copy of Norton Ghost 10.0. It arrived today, but it seems to be different from that discussed here; i.e. no "Ghost 8.2".

I live in Germany and the boxed copy that I received is the German version.

My question is two-fold:

1) Is there a functionality difference between 8.0 and 8.2?
2) Is the Germany version of Ghost 10 somehow crippled in comparison to the American version (which is the version I assume many of you are using)?

On the recovery CD under [drive letter]:\I386\SHELL\GHOST there is a file "RESTOREGHOST.EXE", which, when executed, indicates that it is version 8.0 of ghost32.exe (under Windows, if one looks at the file properties, the version is shown as 8.0.0.984). It's the name that concerns me, since it matches what others here have said is the name of the 32-bit version that ships with Ghost 9...

However, It did allow me to create an image using the Recovery disk. So maybe all is well and my question is academic. I haven't yet tried to restore the image, which I'll do shortly.

Thanks for the discussion! Having a 32-bit Ghost which will run under a PE environment supporting more devices is really really nice.

Thanks

wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2007 at 9:14am:

"... It did allow me to create an image using the Recovery disk.  So maybe all is well and my question is academic..."

The 'RESTOREGHOST.EXE' file in Norton Ghost 9 can only restore legacy images, but not create
them.  However, the version of said file (aka GHOST32.EXE) included with the Norton Ghost 10 available in the US can both create and restore.  So, it sounds as if all is well for you (although you should be advised that optical drives are not supported in the Ver 8.2 PE mode in any case).

EP :'(

Thanks for the reply El_Pescador.

I have run my "RESTOREGHOST.EXE" through its paces and it seems identical to what is called "ghost32.exe" in the US: It can create and restore images, there is no optical drive support.

So, what I can contribute to this thread is: The German market Ghost 10 ships with a ghost32.exe ver. 8.0.0.984 renamed as RESTOREGHOST.EXE which is functionally equivalent (I think) to the American market ghost32.exe ver. 8.2 that ships with Ghost 10.

The German RESTOREGHOST.EXE from Ghost 10 works great with BartPE!

I won't be retiring my trusty Ghost 2003 boot disks just yet, but this is a great find.

Thanks to Grizzly for making the original discovery.

Cheers,
GhostUserD

[quote author=GhostUserD  link=1141588748/75#83 date=1170449889]"... The German RESTOREGHOST.EXE from Ghost 10 works great with BartPE!..."[/quote]
The thread below reveals my thoughts on the BartPE/Reatogo-X-PE concept:

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1144041767;start=0#0

While working with a deteriorating Compaq PC, I found that a Reatogo-X-PE CD with Ver 8.2 secured a functional "disk-to-image" Backup after a Norton Ghost 2003 Backup attempt was riddled with errror messages leaving me to regard Ver 8.2 as the most robust product in the Ghost lineage whether "cold-imaging" or "hot-imaging".

EP :'(

thanks for the input GhostUserD. our german friends will be glad to hear the news.

Hey guys

Very good thread!  :)

This thread "seems" to say that while one can create a cold-image (via booting from Ghost 10 into recovery mode), it must be saved to a hard drive. Saving it directly to DVD is not an option.

Is there any work-a-round the notice:

“Ghost 8.2 Corporate Edition”
“CD/DVD functionality is currently unavailable. See the Ghost Reference Guide to enable it.”

B.

BodyAndSpirit wrote on Dec 23^rd, 2007 at 11:51pm:

"... Is there any work-a-round the notice: 'Ghost 8.2 Corporate Edition' 'CD/DVD functionality is currently unavailable. See the Ghost Reference Guide to enable it.'..."

Not inside the the retail consumer realm of Norton Ghost, but the corporate-oriented Symantec Ghost Solution Suite series does so quite handily if you can sweet-talk a vendor into selling you a minimum of five 'seats'.

El Pescador

Thanks El Pescador

I was afraid that would be the answer. :'(

B.