I recently purchased the new Norton Save & Restore to be used for a small business client of mine.  I will be conducting more testing in the future, but here are some initial comments:

1. The Norton S&R cd has the cd-volume-name of NSR11.0.  From that I am guessing that Ghost 10.0 is going to become Norton S&R 11.0 in the future.  Of course I could be wrong here.

2. It should be mandatory for a user to run the "Driver Validation" from the startup cd.  It looks like it has been updated.  Hopefully it includes new SATA and other updates (I don't have SATA drives myself so I can't verify).

3. I tested the Recovery Environment CD to see if Symantec had fixed their USB2 drive detection and conflict problems.  Sad to say, no they haven't.  My external USB2 drive was given it's sticky drive letter of K, not the next sequential one.

NightOwl, you may be right that Norton is trying to be *cute* here.  Whether it's intentional or not, I'm not happy with what they haven't done!  :(  That is, they haven't fixed it yet.

4. The data-file backups, while kept separate from the image backups, appear to be in a compressed Ghost format (I haven't tested this yet).  

I am concerned about this from a theoretical standpoint.  I prefer and recommend to create redundant backup approaches, and believe that file backups should be either natural file format duplicates or common zip format backups.  If a proprietary format fails, you're stuck. (Don't keep all your eggs in one basket.)

5. There's a folder on the CD called GOBACK.  Maybe Norton Save & Restore is really a combo package of Ghost 10.0 and Goback.  However, I also found GOBACK on the Ghost 10 RE cd, so who knows what it means.

Stay tuned.

stick-i-fied

John. wrote on Apr 13^th, 2006 at 4:23pm:

I prefer and recommend to create redundant backup approaches, and believe that file backups should be either natural file format duplicates or common zip format backups.  If a proprietary format fails, you're stuck. (Don't keep all your eggs in one basket.)

I prefer natural file format. I like to see that it is identical.

Concerning the format used by Norton Save & Restore for its file backup, recall that the product is capable of saving multiple versions of the same file.  For this reason, a pure “natural format” approach would not fit well.

Nonetheless, I’m in agreement with Ghos4me and Brian:  it is comforting to be able to do simple file/folder comparisons (e.g., using FolderMatch) to verify the integrity of a duplicate set of files.

Ghost4me, concerning the comment “Ghost 10.0 is going to become Norton S&R 11.0 in the future,” note that CNET says “Symantec intends to keep Norton Ghost a separate product on the market.”  I hope that CNET is correct.

Pleonasm wrote on Apr 14^th, 2006 at 10:23am:

Ghost4me, concerning the comment “Ghost 10.0 is going to become Norton S&R 11.0 in the future,” note that CNET says “Symantec intends to keep Norton Ghost a separate product on the market.”  I hope that CNET is correct.

I hope CNET is correct too.  I was just passing on what I thought was a Symantec Freudian slip with their cd-volume-name.

This is so much more fun then anserwing stupid questions on the phones that i always get.

The GoBack map in the NSR and Ghost 10.0 CD's are there so that if you install Ghost and have GoBack it will add a few things to the GoBack so it dissables when you make a backup.
Only works with GoBack 4.02 and onwards. A version everyone gets after Livupdate the 4.00 version.

they will stop using the name Ghost for the normal User and is going for the name "Norton Save & Restore" for the normal user.

Ghost 10.0 and NSR are using the technology V2I to be abel to ghost while windows is still running. You can stll recover old file formats using the legacy option.


OBS!!! NSR is ONLY supported on XP machines and that due to the fact microsoft will cansel the support for 98, 2000, ME at the end of June. (forgot exact date)

Ninjin wrote on Apr 19^th, 2006 at 7:05am:

OBS!!! NSR is ONLY supported on XP machines and that due to the fact microsoft will cansel the support for 98, 2000, ME at the end of June. (forgot exact date)

AFAIK, only for 98 and ME. I've not seen an announcement for Win 2000.

Ninjin wrote on Apr 19^th, 2006 at 7:05am:

They will stop using the name Ghost for the normal User and is going for the name "Norton Save & Restore" for the normal user.

Pleonasm,

If Ninjin's statement is true, then looks like CNET was mistaken.  My hunch is that Symantec is trying to compete with all the free software that is being included with USB2 hard drives from Maxtor, Seagate, and Western Digital.  In order to compete with the one-button backup for everyone software, they had to dumb-down Ghost to make it appeal to the masses.

I also just noticed in testing Save & Restore, that it can be invoked automatically by pushing the one-button backup button on a Maxtor drive--that should give us a big clue as to what the marketing approach and direction from Symantec is.

Ghost4me, note that Ghost 10 has always had the Maxtor "one button" backup feature as described here.

The fact that Norton Save & Restore is priced exactly the same as Ghost does tend to suggest that the former may supersede the latter.

Question:  During the installation of Norton Save & Restore, is it possible to choose which components of the package you want to install?  In other words, could a user of NSR only install the Ghost functionality and omit the file backup capabilities?

Pleonasm wrote on Apr 20^th, 2006 at 3:16pm:

Question:  During the installation of Norton Save & Restore, is it possible to choose which components of the package you want to install?  In other words, could a user of NSR only install the Ghost functionality and omit the file backup capabilities?

No.  No.

Sorry, no options in the install.  You don't have to  define data backup schemes, so if you don't, then in that respect it is essentially like Ghost 10.0.  I settled on traditional data backups, so Norton S&R appears to work exactly like Ghost 10 from my experiences so far.

John. wrote on Apr 20^th, 2006 at 4:15pm:

No.  No. Sorry, no options in the install.  You don't have to  define data backup schemes, so if you don't, then in that respect it is essentially like Ghost 10.0.  I settled on traditional data backups, so Norton S&R appears to work exactly like Ghost 10 from my experiences so far.

By working exactly as Ghost 10, does that mean that it has the issue I raised in
http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1135436995;start=0#0.

Howard Kaikow wrote on Apr 21^st, 2006 at 4:00am:

By working exactly as Ghost 10, does that mean that it has the issue I raised in http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1135436995;start=0#0.

I don't know.  I am only using the full independent image backup feature at this time.

Ghost4me, the Norton Save & Restore User Guide (page 25) says "Norton Save and Restore can restore backup images created using Norton Ghost 10.0, Norton Ghost 9.0, and Norton Ghost 2003."

Can you confirm that Norton Save & Restore includes Ghost 2003?  Does it also include Ghost 8.2 – with the capability to both create as well as restore .GHO images?  (Recall that the version of Ghost 8.2 shipped with Ghost 9 only allowed the user to restore – but not create – an image.)

It contains Ghost 8.2.0.1115 on the Recovery CD, same  as Ghost 10 Recovery CD (8.2.0.1115).

Ghost4me, thank you for confirming that Ghost 8.2 is included with Norton Save & Restore.  Is Ghost 2003 likewise included?

Ghost4me

Have you checked to see if the Ghost32 v8.2.0.1115 on the Recovery CD is capable of both creating Ghost 8 images as well as restoring images--or is it *crippled* like the version in Ghost 9.x's Recovery Disk and does not allow for image creation?

Pleonasm


Quote:

"Norton Save and Restore can restore backup images created using Norton Ghost 10.0, Norton Ghost 9.0, and Norton Ghost 2003."

Ghost32 v8.xx is compatible with Ghost 2003 images--so restoring ability of a Ghost 2003 image would be available through Ghost32 v8.xx without Ghost 2003 being part of the package.

NightOwl, I understand that Ghost 8.2 is capable of restoring .GHO images created by Ghost 2003.  Nonetheless, from a marketing viewpoint, I was interested in whether Ghost 2003 is actually included with Norton Save & Restore.

Ghost4me, I understand from your prior post (Reply #13) that the Ghost 8.2 file included with Norton Save & Restore has the same version number as that provided with Ghost 10.  To clarify the issue, however, can you try to create an image using Ghost 8.2 supplied with Norton Save & Restore?

NightOwl and Pleonasm,

I just ran a test with Norton Save & Restore by CREATING a backup image with the recovery CD and Ghost 8.2.  I created a partition image of my d: partition and put the image on a separate physical drive ( e: ).  650 MB/min 6 gb compressed to 3.0 gb.

This is the same test I performed with Ghost 10 recovery CD previously:
http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1141403118;start=7#7

Can either of you explain to me what the interest is in the Ghost 8 version?  Wouldn't it be simpler to just purchase Ghost 8.2 if that is the version you wanted?  Or are you looking for two-for -- Both Ghost 10/S&R as well as 8.2?

I guess the one scenario advantage I can see for using the 8.2 CREATE capability, is if you had a unbootable (but readable) hard drive and you want to CREATE an offline backup prior to repairing it.  With Ghost 10 or S&R you can't do that, but with the Recovery CD you can.

John. wrote on Apr 24^th, 2006 at 5:51pm:

"... Can either of you explain to me what the interest is in the Ghost 8 version?  Wouldn't it be simpler to just purchase Ghost 8.2 if that is the version you wanted?..."

Symantec has been releasing utility software bundles containing Norton Ghost 10.0 which a number of vendors have been selling for anywhere from $9.99 USD to FREE (after MIR while disregarding sales taxes and/or shipping - CLICK HERE for an example) lately.  I use the Ghost 10.0 CD to concoct a BartPE-XPE CD for mimicking Ghost 2003 without sweating DOS-related aggravation with external USB HDDs.  I doubt that I could get such a bargain on Ghost 8.2 even if I was able to locate a seller.

EP :'(

Ghost4me


Quote:

I guess the one scenario advantage I can see for using the 8.2 CREATE capability, is if you had a unbootable (but readable) hard drive and you want to CREATE an offline backup prior to repairing it.  With Ghost 10 or S&R you can't do that, but with the Recovery CD you can.

At least for me, you *hit the nail on the head*!  It's more options--better options--when a system is no longer functioning properly!

Ghost4me, to the best of my knowledge, a user can’t purchase a single license for Ghost 8.2 – it is only sold in expensive multi-user packs by Symantec for the corporate environment.  So, the presence of a fully functional Ghost 8.2 bundled with Norton Save & Restore or Ghost 10 is (practically speaking) the only way for an individual to acquire a license.

Beyond the comments already offered by NightOwl, I would add that the use of Ghost 8.2 provides application redundancy for an image backup strategy.  Personally, I use Ghost 10 as my primary image backup solution, but about once a month I create a .GHO image backup with Ghost 8.2.

Finally, consider that the use of Ghost 8.2 through the Ghost 10 recovery environment CD allows a user to create and save an image of a “factory fresh” PC before any applications are installed.  Obviously, this objective could not be done with Ghost 10.

P.S.:  Does Norton Save & Restore also include a copy of Ghost 2003?

Pleonasm wrote on Apr 25^th, 2006 at 10:56am:

Does Norton Save & Restore also include a copy of Ghost 2003?

It appears to be the same as Ghost 10 cd.  Look in your \i386\shell\ghost folder of your Ghost 10 cd.  In S&R are the same two files:  ghostexp.exe (2003.0.0.739) and restoreghost.exe (8.2.0.0.1115).

Ghost4me


Quote:

It appears to be the same as Ghost 10 cd.

But, Ghost 10 comes with a separate installation CD that is Ghost 2003.  It was included with Ghost 10 packages because those folks who still are using Win98se or WinMe can not use Ghost 10 that requires WinXP.

So, I think Pleonasm is trying to find out if that separate installation CD is still being included.

With the *official* support for Win98 and WinMe by Microsoft set to expire this summer, I suspect other companies are going to *abandon* most of their programs for those OS's as well.

By the way, *ghostexp.exe (2003.0.0.739)* is *Ghost Explorer*.

As a matter of marketing, I am curious whether or not Symantec has started the process of discontinuing the distribution of Ghost 2003 so as to motivate the migration of users to the Ghost 10/LiveState Recovery technology.

If Ghost 2003 is absent from Norton Save & Restore – Symantec’s most recent product launch – then it suggests that Ghost 2003 will also be omitted from Norton SystemWorks 2007 Premier and Ghost 11.  Additionally, it may also indicate that Ghost 8.2 will suffer the same fate as Ghost 2003 in the not too distant future.

Ghost4me, the Ghost 2003 application – if present in the Norton Save & Restore product – should be reflected in the existence of a Ghost.exe file dated 17 DEC 2003 (1,031,428 bytes).  The application file might possibly also be named "F2506_ghost.exe".

NightOwl wrote on Apr 25^th, 2006 at 12:57pm:

So, I think Pleonasm is trying to find out if that separate installation CD is still being included.

Ok, now I understand the question.  Sorry.  Save & Restore come with only the SR cd.  no Ghost 2003 cd.

Compare the System Requirements for Ghost 10vs. Norton Save & Restore , which contains no mention of Ghost 2003.

Pleonasm wrote on Apr 25^th, 2006 at 1:49pm:

As a matter of marketing, I am curious whether or not Symantec has started the process of discontinuing the distribution of Ghost 2003 so as to motivate the migration of users to the Ghost 10/LiveState Recovery technology. If Ghost 2003 is absent from Norton Save & Restore – Symantec’s most recent product launch – then it suggests that Ghost 2003 will also be omitted from Norton SystemWorks 2007 Premier and Ghost 11.  Additionally, it may also indicate that Ghost 8.2 will suffer the same fate as Ghost 2003 in the not too distant future.

Here is just my own personal opinion, so take it for what it is worth:  Consider that the life of a pc is about 4 years.  2003 + 4 = 2007.  Why would Symantec continue to support something that is at the end of its life cycle?  Also, many of the Ghost 2003 problems I have seen posted deal with issues of getting USB drivers and new SATA and other chipsets and motherboards to work with Ghost 2003.

Trying to keep supporting fewer and fewer legacy pc's probably just doesn't make sense.  They can barely provide tech support for their current product (Ghost 10)!

Life cycle decisions are a part of any smart business planning, whether we agree with them or not.

According to Symantec's own website, the requirements (read into that:  target audience) for S&R are:

Windows® XP Home/XP Pro/XP Media Center Edition

For search engines to better find this thread:

http://www.google.com/search?q=norton+save+restore