I "upgraded" my Ghost 9 to 10 today and at this point am wishing I hadn't.

Install went fine, everything looks great but as soon as I try to do a backup the system locks up completely. Hard reset is required to get it back. It only gets as far as "calclating time remaining", a Windows DLL (SVCHOST) asks to connect to the net (doesn't matter if I allow or block) and everything locks tight.

System is XP Pro SP2, all updates. NOD32 antivirus, LookNStop firewall.

Thanks for any ideas. Glad I remembered this board of Ghost experts...

Updates, things I've tried:

killing all running programs
setting performance to slow
starting from main icon and from tray icon
reinstalling ghost 10

Same thing :(

Personally I've never had problems going from Ghost 9 to 10 on several PC's; of course that doesn't help you.

What partition are you backing up, and to where?  Try a simple test like from one internal hard drive to another internal hard drive if that's possible, or internal partition to external USB2 hard drive (ntfs).

Anything in the system log?  (My computer/right click/manage/event viewer/look in app and system log)

I was trying to go from one HD to another, C: to E:, identical drives.

Nothing in the log.

In the end (so far) my system got so hosed, I suppose from all the hard resets, that Windows devided it needed to be reactivated. I used Ghost 9 and restored back to before I ever put 10 in the drive.

If anyone has any good ideas I'll reinstall it but I feel there's some sort of major conflict. Of course symantec support is pretty much non-existant.

Quote:

I was trying to go from one HD to another, C: to E:, identical drives.

Were you trying to create a backup-image-file of c drive?  Or were you trying to Copy-drive (clone)?

The fact that you had to reactivate suggests to me that you weren't taking a backup image (Chapter 5 of Ghost 10 manual), but instead were trying to copy-drive (chapter 12 of Ghost 10 manual).  Or that something in your hardware configuration changed.

Creating backup images is what I personally recommend unless you are trying to install a larger hard drive to replace your c: drive.  Backup images are smaller, and you can keep last n generations for extra safety.

However, given where I think you are now:
1. run chkdsk c: /f and chkdsk d: /f etc on all drives
2. Look for c:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Utility\partinnt.exe and run that program which will check for partition errors.  Check both drives for partition errors.

No, it was a regular backup. Absolutely nothing was changed in the hardware. I'm thinking registry corruption due to 10 or 15 hard reboots from locked up state.

I feel that partition errors are a bit unlikely since I used Ghost 9 an hour before to create a full backup, then used it afterwards to restore (and turned on all error checking in the restore).

Are there any know incompatibilities with 10 that didn't exist with 9?

wreckwriter wrote on Jul 8^th, 2006 at 6:46pm:

Are there any know incompatibilities with 10 that didn't exist with 9?

None that I know of.  I've used 9 and then 10 on several PC's.

Did you run the partition-info utility?  Wonder if it showed anything.

Maybe Brian or someone else with lots of Ghost 9/10 experience can suggest something.  Anyone?

I didn't yet. Have not reinstalled 10 yet. To be honest I'm kinda looking to see if I get any ideas that seem hopeful. Last install was a borderline nightmare.

Can I run that off the cd maybe? I'll check.

Symantec PartitionInfo 8.0 -- Windows NT/2000 Version
Date Generated:  07/08/06  20:05:12
Copyright (c)1994-2004, Symantec Corporation
Permission is granted for this utility to be freely copied so long
as it is not modified in any way.  All other rights are reserved.

Symantec, makers of Norton PartitionMagic(r), Drive Image(tm), and DriveCopy(tm), can be reached at:
   Voice:  801-437-8900
   Fax:  801-226-8941
   Web site:  http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/

General System Information:
   Total Physical Memory (bytes):  2,146,938,880
   Used Physical Memory: (bytes):  509,411,328
   Maximum Page File Size: (bytes):  4,294,967,295
   Current Page File Size: (bytes):  0



===========================================================================================================
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 1:    9729 Cylinders,  255 Heads,  63 Sectors/Track
System              PartSect  # Boot BCyl Head Sect  FS    ECyl Head Sect    StartSect     NumSects
===========================================================================================================
                          0  0  80     0    1    1  07    1023  254   63           63  156,296,322
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
 Actual values are:
       0  0  80      0    1    1  07   9728  254   63        63 156296322

===========================================================================================================
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2:    9729 Cylinders,  255 Heads,  63 Sectors/Track
System              PartSect  # Boot BCyl Head Sect  FS    ECyl Head Sect    StartSect     NumSects
===========================================================================================================
                          0  1  00     0    1    1  07    1023  254   63           63  145,484,577
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
 Actual values are:
       0  1  00      0    1    1  07   9055  254   63        63 145484577
                          0  2  00  1023    0    1  07    1023  254   63  145,484,640   10,811,745
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
 Actual values are:
       0  2  00   9056    0    1  07   9728  254   63 145484640  10811745



===========================================================================================================
Partition Information for Disk 1:    76,316.6 Megabytes
Volume         PartType    Status    Size MB    PartSect  #   StartSect  TotalSects
===========================================================================================================
C:             NTFS        Pri,Boot 76,316.6           0  0          63 156,296,322


===========================================================================================================
Partition Information for Disk 2:    76,316.6 Megabytes
Volume         PartType    Status    Size MB    PartSect  #   StartSect  TotalSects
===========================================================================================================
E:             NTFS        Pri      71,037.4           0  1          63 145,484,577
F:             NTFS        Pri       5,279.2           0  2 145,484,640  10,811,745


===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive C:   (Drive: 1, Starting sector: 63, Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump:                   EB 52 90
2. OEM Name:               NTFS    
3. Bytes per Sector:       512
4. Sectors per Cluster:    8
5. Reserved Sectors:       0
6. Number of FATs:         0
7. Root Dir Entries:       0
8. Total Sectors:          0
9. Media Descriptor:       0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT:        0
11. Sectors per Track:      63  (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads:        255  (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors:         63  (0x3F)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB):  0  (0x0)
15. Unused:                 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors:     156296321
17. MFT Start Cluster:      786432
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 9767516
19. Clusters per FRS:       246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number:          0x24201469201443E8
22. Checksum:               0  (0x0)
23. Boot Signature:         0xAA55

===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive E:   (Drive: 2, Starting sector: 63, Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump:                   EB 52 90
2. OEM Name:               NTFS    
3. Bytes per Sector:       512
4. Sectors per Cluster:    8
5. Reserved Sectors:       0
6. Number of FATs:         0
7. Root Dir Entries:       0
8. Total Sectors:          0
9. Media Descriptor:       0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT:        0
11. Sectors per Track:      63  (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads:        255  (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors:         63  (0x3F)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB):  0  (0x0)
15. Unused:                 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors:     145484576
17. MFT Start Cluster:      786432
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 4753231
19. Clusters per FRS:       246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number:          0x50142C17142C0318
22. Checksum:               0  (0x0)
23. Boot Signature:         0xAA55

===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive F:   (Drive: 2, Starting sector: 145,484,640, Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump:                   EB 52 90
2. OEM Name:               NTFS    
3. Bytes per Sector:       512
4. Sectors per Cluster:    8
5. Reserved Sectors:       0
6. Number of FATs:         0
7. Root Dir Entries:       0
8. Total Sectors:          0
9. Media Descriptor:       0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT:        0
11. Sectors per Track:      63  (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads:        255  (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors:         145484640  (0x8ABEB60)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB):  0  (0x0)
15. Unused:                 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors:     10811744
17. MFT Start Cluster:      384111
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 392779
19. Clusters per FRS:       246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number:          0x10B80DCCB80DB170
22. Checksum:               0  (0x0)
23. Boot Signature:         0xAA55

Symantec PartitionInfo 8.0 -- Windows NT/2000 Version
Date Generated:  07/08/06  20:05:31
Copyright (c)1994-2004, Symantec Corporation
Permission is granted for this utility to be freely copied so long
as it is not modified in any way.  All other rights are reserved.

Symantec, makers of Norton PartitionMagic(r), Drive Image(tm), and DriveCopy(tm), can be reached at:
   Voice:  801-437-8900
   Fax:  801-226-8941
   Web site:  http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/

General System Information:
   Total Physical Memory (bytes):  2,146,938,880
   Used Physical Memory: (bytes):  509,755,392
   Maximum Page File Size: (bytes):  4,294,967,295
   Current Page File Size: (bytes):  0



===========================================================================================================
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 1:    9729 Cylinders,  255 Heads,  63 Sectors/Track
System              PartSect  # Boot BCyl Head Sect  FS    ECyl Head Sect    StartSect     NumSects
===========================================================================================================
                          0  0  80     0    1    1  07    1023  254   63           63  156,296,322
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
 Actual values are:
       0  0  80      0    1    1  07   9728  254   63        63 156296322

===========================================================================================================
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2:    9729 Cylinders,  255 Heads,  63 Sectors/Track
System              PartSect  # Boot BCyl Head Sect  FS    ECyl Head Sect    StartSect     NumSects
===========================================================================================================
                          0  1  00     0    1    1  07    1023  254   63           63  145,484,577
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
 Actual values are:
       0  1  00      0    1    1  07   9055  254   63        63 145484577
                          0  2  00  1023    0    1  07    1023  254   63  145,484,640   10,811,745
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
 Actual values are:
       0  2  00   9056    0    1  07   9728  254   63 145484640  10811745



===========================================================================================================
Partition Information for Disk 1:    76,316.6 Megabytes
Volume         PartType    Status    Size MB    PartSect  #   StartSect  TotalSects
===========================================================================================================
C:             NTFS        Pri,Boot 76,316.6           0  0          63 156,296,322


===========================================================================================================
Partition Information for Disk 2:    76,316.6 Megabytes
Volume         PartType    Status    Size MB    PartSect  #   StartSect  TotalSects
===========================================================================================================
E:             NTFS        Pri      71,037.4           0  1          63 145,484,577
F:             NTFS        Pri       5,279.2           0  2 145,484,640  10,811,745


===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive C:   (Drive: 1, Starting sector: 63, Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump:                   EB 52 90
2. OEM Name:               NTFS    
3. Bytes per Sector:       512
4. Sectors per Cluster:    8
5. Reserved Sectors:       0
6. Number of FATs:         0
7. Root Dir Entries:       0
8. Total Sectors:          0
9. Media Descriptor:       0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT:        0
11. Sectors per Track:      63  (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads:        255  (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors:         63  (0x3F)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB):  0  (0x0)
15. Unused:                 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors:     156296321
17. MFT Start Cluster:      786432
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 9767516
19. Clusters per FRS:       246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number:          0x24201469201443E8
22. Checksum:               0  (0x0)
23. Boot Signature:         0xAA55

===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive E:   (Drive: 2, Starting sector: 63, Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump:                   EB 52 90
2. OEM Name:               NTFS    
3. Bytes per Sector:       512
4. Sectors per Cluster:    8
5. Reserved Sectors:       0
6. Number of FATs:         0
7. Root Dir Entries:       0
8. Total Sectors:          0
9. Media Descriptor:       0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT:        0
11. Sectors per Track:      63  (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads:        255  (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors:         63  (0x3F)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB):  0  (0x0)
15. Unused:                 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors:     145484576
17. MFT Start Cluster:      786432
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 4753231
19. Clusters per FRS:       246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number:          0x50142C17142C0318
22. Checksum:               0  (0x0)
23. Boot Signature:         0xAA55

===========================================================================================================
Boot Record for drive F:   (Drive: 2, Starting sector: 145,484,640, Type: NTFS)
===========================================================================================================
1. Jump:                   EB 52 90
2. OEM Name:               NTFS    
3. Bytes per Sector:       512
4. Sectors per Cluster:    8
5. Reserved Sectors:       0
6. Number of FATs:         0
7. Root Dir Entries:       0
8. Total Sectors:          0
9. Media Descriptor:       0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT:        0
11. Sectors per Track:      63  (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads:        255  (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors:         145484640  (0x8ABEB60)
14. Total Sectors (>32MB):  0  (0x0)
15. Unused:                 0x80008000
16. Total NTFS Sectors:     10811744
17. MFT Start Cluster:      384111
18. MFT Mirror Start Clust: 392779
19. Clusters per FRS:       246
20. Clusters per Index Blk: 1
21. Serial Number:          0x10B80DCCB80DB170
22. Checksum:               0  (0x0)
23. Boot Signature:         0xAA55

woops, didn't realize the copy to clipboard function took both drive's info. Sorry for the double post. Bottom line, both drives showed no errors.

wreckwriter


Quote:

I'm thinking registry corruption due to 10 or 15 hard reboots from locked up state.

I'd vote for that myself.


Quote:

a Windows DLL (SVCHOST) asks to connect to the net (doesn't matter if I allow or block) and everything locks tight

Why does every program now *have to access the Internet* when it runs?!  I installed a Microsoft keyboard's software--and my firewall catches it wanting to *phone home* 2-3 times per week!

But, maybe that's a clue--if you were to re-install Ghost 10, I would first disconnect from the Internet, stop my firewall, and antivirus from automatically loading upon next re-boot, and then re-boot.

Now see if the system locks when you attempt the Ghost 10 operation.

Being as you can use your Ghost 9 system backup to recover easily (that's what Ghost is for isn't it?!), you can experiment at will to see what's causing the problem.


Quote:

Are there any know incompatibilities with 10 that didn't exist with 9?

Haven't seen any like this one reported here.

NightOwl wrote on Jul 8^th, 2006 at 7:10pm:

wreckwriter I'd vote for that myself. Why does every program now *have to access the Internet* when it runs?!  I installed a Microsoft keyboard's software--and my firewall catches it wanting to *phone home* 2-3 times per week! But, maybe that's a clue--if you were to re-install Ghost 10, I would first disconnect from the Internet, stop my firewall, and antivirus from automatically loading upon next re-boot, and then re-boot. Now see if the system locks when you attempt the Ghost 10 operation. Being as you can use your Ghost 9 system backup to recover easily (that's what Ghost is for isn't it?!), you can experiment at will to see what's causing the problem. Haven't seen any like this one reported here.

I'm always the first one to get the really goofy problems nobody has ever seen before :)

That's a thought,  but it would seem that if that were the issue either authorizing it or blocking it would have done it. I tried both as well as tried with firewall, AV and all other security stuff turned off. It activated ok so Ghost is able to phone home.

Ok, here's some things to consider:

1. I noticed from your printout that your secondary disk has two primary partitions.  Normally, there is one primary partition, (E: in your case), and then an extended partition, containing one or more logical paritions.

While it's not dis-allowed to have two primary partitions on a physical hard drive, that's not the norm.

2. Were you trying to create your backup on e: or f:?  I would vote for trying again to e: which is the first primary partition.

3. To fix that you would have to use Disk Management to delete the f: partition, then create an extended partition, then a logical one inside it.

4. Have you checked that you have the latest motherboard bios updates for your pc?  also, do you have IDE or SATA drives?

5. I usually defrag my partitions before taking a backup.  Two popular defrag programs are Raxco's PerfectDisk, and Execusoft Disk Keeper, both good.

http://www.diskeeper.com/

http://www.raxco.com/

It was to E. F is only my page file.  

I use Diskeeper Pro, latest version, I defrag both drives before every backup and did so today as well.

Drives are IDE, Seagate 80 G Baracudas, both the same. Board is an Abit VT7,  few years old, latest bios.

That all sounds almost perfect to me.  I admit that I'm stumped.

The only other thing that comes to mind is that I think there is a LiveUpdate to Ghost 10, so run the update check after installing, if you ever try to install Ghost 10 again.  I'm assuming you have all the .NET updates.

You've created a folder in your E: drive, such as e:\Ghost for the backup images, correct?

Only live updates is to "symantec security settings".  yes to the other stuff.

wreckwriter,

Is this what you have done?

Uninstall Ghost 9,
install Ghost 10,
problems,
uninstall Ghost 10,
install Ghost 10,
problems,
restored a Ghost 9 image,
everything OK.

I'd try installing Ghost 10 again because your last install wasn't onto a "Ghost 10 free" drive. If it doesn't work then you have a good Ghost 9 image to restore. Ask for a refund. I don't think you have lost anything if it doesn't work. I prefer Ghost 9.

After I uninstalled 10 I ran JV16 to clean the registry so it SHOULD have been Ghost free, at least for the most part but yea, your timeline is accurate.

I plan to try again today, gotta cut the grass first but then I plan to do some more research and retry. I would really like to have the new functionality.

thanks for all the replies, if you think of anything else, please post it up. Any and all ideas welcome :)

Since you only have your paging file on f: partition, I would change that.
1. Change XP to put pagefile on c: or e:
2. Reboot
3. Verify there is nothing else on f:
4. Use Disk Management to delete f: partition
5. Create Extended partition
6. Create Logical partition
7. Change xp to not use c: or e: and use f: (or whatever the new drive letter is).
8. Reboot

One thing I was wondering: in the readme is list a known issue as "not intergrated with Microsoft volume shadow copy service" (or similar). Could this relate?

As for .net, I believe I have 2.0, not 1.1. Not sure how to check though.

John. wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 8:11am:

Since you only have your paging file on f: partition, I would change that. 1. Change XP to put pagefile on c: or e: 2. Reboot 3. Verify there is nothing else on f: 4. Use Disk Management to delete f: partition 5. Create Extended partition 6. Create Logical partition 7. Change xp to not use c: or e: and use f: (or whatever the new drive letter is). 8. Reboot

The downside of that is if I start messing with the partitions on drive 2 I risk losing my one good backup.....

I believe that is just a warning or note that if you have other software that uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service or requires that the service be started there is a conflict.  (I think it was Pleonasm that pointed out that Ghost does NOT use VSC service.)

I've never seen a discussion as to what Ghost uses to keep trace of system/sector activity during the "hot" backup.

You're not overclocking or anything like that are you?  A complete hardware lockup doing heavy internal disk-to-disk i/o just made me think of that.  I assume one is master, the other is slave, or both cable select.  Can't think of anything else.

wreckwriter wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 8:22am:

The downside of that is if I start messing with the partitions on drive 2 I risk losing my one good backup.....

OK, didn't realize that.  I thought you said only paging file. Better to be cautious!

In that case, put your new Ghost 10 backup in a separate folder on f:

Minor overclock on video card but I tried setting it back to stock.

E is where my backup lives, F is page file. Those 2 drives are on second disk. First disk is XP.

Sorry, meant to say put Ghost 10 backup on separate folder on e:.

Everything else looks fine.  Run a chkdsk e: /f and chkdsk c: /f before the backup.

Good luck.  

Ghost 10 backup was going in seperate folder, default for it.

I'm not going to risk messing with partitions, always a bit of risk there. If 10 can't deal with a perfectly legitimate partition scheme then I don't want it anyway. I just don't believe this is the issue as Ghost 9 didn't blink at it.

wreckwriter wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 9:27am:

Ghost 10 backup was going in seperate folder, default for it.

Sounds good to me.  I don't remember that there is a "default" folder for Ghost 10 backups.  I think you have to choose the drive letter.  I would create a new folder first with Windows Explorer on e: and then start Ghost 10 and tell Ghost 10 to backup to that one.

wreckwriter wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 9:27am:

I'm not going to risk messing with partitions, always a bit of risk there. If 10 can't deal with a perfectly legitimate partition scheme then I don't want it anyway. I just don't believe this is the issue as Ghost 9 didn't blink at it.

Windows 98 will not allow more than one active primary partition per drive, but that's no longer an issue with XP; it's just uncommon.

I agree with your logic.  I was only looking for unusual things in your disk/partition layouts.

It doesn't have a default drive but it does have a default directory it wants to create (Ghost 10 backups or similar).

I feel like this is a software conflict, just can't figure out what....

wreckwriter


Quote:

E is where my backup lives, F is page file. Those 2 drives are on second disk. First disk is XP.

This may be another possible clue--your pagefile setup is *non-standard* from Windows default--if you are generating an error condition while using Ghost 10, and you have your system setup to *automatically* record that error state to a *memory dump file* (you probably did not set this up--it's a Windows *default*)--and your pagefile is not setup to receive that error log--maybe Windows is freezing because that log is getting lost in limbo.

This is a good discussion about WinXP's pagefile settings:  Virtual Memory in Windows XP

To review your *automatic* error reporting settings, go here:  Right click *My Computer* and select *Properties*.  Go to the *Advanced* tab, select the *Settings* button under *Startup and Recovery*.

Down in the *System Failure* box is the *Write debugging information*.  I believe the default is *Small memory dump (64 KB)*, and there is a default path for where the dump file is saved to--that apparently is in the page file on you C:\ drive.

I personally have my pagefile manually set to another HDD partition, but I have set the *Write debugging information* to *(none)*.

And I also uncheck the box *Automatically restart* so if an error message is generated, Windows--rather than automatically re-booting (re-booting will fix most (80-90 % I've seen stated elsewear--so the default is to automatically re-boot--avoids many customer support service calls about errors!) error states, will display the error message so you can see possible clue(s) as to the problem--although these error messages are often uncomprehensible.

Just another thought on trouble shooting.

Wreckwriter, NightOwl's observation has considerable merit.  Another user on this forum previously reported difficulties with Ghost 10 when the pagefile was in a non-standard location.

I actually have 2, 1 GB on C:, 4 on F:. This corresponds with the referenced page where it says "If you do put the file elsewhere, you should leave a small amount on C: ", except mine is larger than he recommends.

In the section "How big should the page file be?" he says that my sizing is based on a fallacy, 2 actually. Hmmmm.... You guys all trust that this guy knows his stuff?

OK, have set my pagefile to be dynamic 100-4096, on C, and have set the dump to none and unchecked auto reboot.

wreckwriter


Quote:

You guys all trust that this guy knows his stuff?

Pretty knowledgeable guy--he supports his statements with what sounds like good reasoning.

At least for troubleshooting, you might want to let Windows manage the pagefile--see if it helps--otherwise, set it up using *best practice* based on that above link.

NightOwl wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 10:54am:

wreckwriter Pretty knowledgeable guy--he supports his statements with what sounds like good reasoning. At least for troubleshooting, you might want to let Windows manage the pagefile--see if it helps--otherwise, set it up using *best practice* based on that above link.

Well, its now "best practice". I think I'll try it this way first and see what happens.

Will be doing this:

setting all security stuff to not auto-start
uninstall Ghost 9
do a reg clean with JV16 to remove left-overs
reboot
install Ghost 10
pray :)

How's that sound?

wreckwriter


Quote:

How's that sound?

Like a *plan*!

I'm not a current Ghost 10 user, so you need to answer this question--in order to use Ghost 10, do you have to have Internet access and *register* (activate?) it before you can use the program?

If that's the case, you do not want to disable your firewall and antivirus until after you have activated Ghost 10, then unplug from the Internet, then deactivate the firewall and antivirus, then re-boot so those items are not loaded.

Now do your *testing*!  Don't reconnect to the Internet until you have re-activated your firewall and antivirus.  

Safety first!

Same result, immediate hard lockup. I think I'm done with this software. I only wish there were a decent option so I could be done with Symantec completely. Acronis is even buggier than Ghost (9 that is).

wreckwriter wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 10:58am:

Well, its now "best practice". I think I'll try it this way first and see what happens. Will be doing this: setting all security stuff to not auto-start uninstall Ghost 9 do a reg clean with JV16 to remove left-overs reboot install Ghost 10 pray :) How's that sound?

Additionally, AFTER you install Ghost 10, run LiveUpdate to see if there are any Ghost updates.  If so, apply them.  Then take the backup.

FYI, I haven't had my XP pagefile on c: in a long time.  Never had a problem.  Right now it's on d: and custom size of 1534 megabytes min and max (I have 1gb physical memory).  But leaving on c: is ok.

Its nothing simple, it has to be a major conflict. i don't want it bad enough to keep screwing with it at this point. Its not worth 2 full days of my time and yours.

I really appreciate you guys' efforts.

wreckwriter wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 11:34am:

Same result, immediate hard lockup. I think I'm done with this software. I only wish there were a decent option so I could be done with Symantec completely. Acronis is even buggier than Ghost (9 that is).

Must be something unique about your hardware would be my final guess.  After all, it's a hardware lockup, not an XP error etc.

Don't blame you for wanting to give up though.  You could run chkdsk c: /r and chkdsk f: /r.  Actually, now that you don't have the paging file on f: anymore, you could delete/redefine the f: partition.

Also, Ghost 10 has that slider bar for performance, which you can slide back to slower.  Also did you choose normal compression?  

Everything still points back to hardware though or reaction under stress and heavy i/o.  If it were my PC (and I hadn't given up yet), I would shut down my PC, disconnect and reconnect the cables to both hard drives as one other long shot.

Sorry for your bad experiences.  :(

I really appreciate your time but this system has been rock solid for a long time now, I'm just not willing to screw with it for a program that's only going to give me a bit of extra functionality.

I tried the slider bar last night, no difference.

I'm reverting again and going for the refund. Thanks again!

Brian wrote on Jul 8^th, 2006 at 10:17pm:

Ask for a refund. I don't think you have lost anything if it doesn't work. I prefer Ghost 9.

As Brian noted, Ghost 9 and Ghost 10 are very close in terms of capabilities and features.  You haven't lost hardly anything by just continuing with Ghost 9.

Were you taking "full independent backups" with Ghost 10?  The main difference with Ghost 10 is their Recovery Points, but for myself I just use the full independent backups.

Additionally Ghost 10 has more drivers included for newer motherboards, SATA drive, USB2 drivers, etc.  If you were hell-bent on solving this (don't blame you if you're not), you can open an incident with Symantec LiveChat and request a newer iso image of Ghost 10.  They will (after some haggling) give you a id/password that will let you download a newer version of Ghost 10.  Don't know why they don't include it on their Knowledge Base or website.

wreckwriter wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 11:34am:

"... I think I'm done with this software. I only wish there were a decent option so I could be done with Symantec completely..."

CLICK HERE to view a very useful technique employing components of Norton Ghost 10.0 in creating and restoring backups without being involved in "hot-imaging".

EP :'(

El_Pescador wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 12:22pm:

CLICK HERE to view a very useful technique employing components of Norton Ghost 10.0 in creating and restoring backups without being involved in "hot-imaging". EP :'(

Thanks but I can't afford any new hardware and keeping Ghost 10 on my system seems counterproductive.

John. wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 11:55am:

As Brian noted, Ghost 9 and Ghost 10 are very close in terms of capabilities and features.  You haven't lost hardly anything by just continuing with Ghost 9. Were you taking "full independent backups" with Ghost 10?  The main difference with Ghost 10 is their Recovery Points, but for myself I just use the full independent backups. Additionally Ghost 10 has more drivers included for newer motherboards, SATA drive, USB2 drivers, etc.  If you were hell-bent on solving this (don't blame you if you're not), you can open an incident with Symantec LiveChat and request a newer iso image of Ghost 10.  They will (after some haggling) give you a id/password that will let you download a newer version of Ghost 10.  Don't know why they don't include it on their Knowledge Base or website.

what I wanted was the ability to do daily incremental backups  rather than having to do a complete drive image every time but while still retaining a disaster recovery capability.

At this point though I'll just continue doing the full image and will likely never again consider a Symantec product. The company has been going downhill for many years now and now that support is basically gone its no longer worth the risk. The worst thing that ever happened to backup software was when the bought out Powerquest.

Again, thanks for all the efforts!

Wreckwriter, I doubt this will help, but Ghost 10 appears to be the last "Ghost" version by Symantec.  They have renamed it to "Norton Save and Restore", which is basically Ghost 11, and includes file/folder backups as well as image backups.

Agree with you about their (lack of) support.

Agree with you about buying out Powerquest.  I was a big fan of many versions (I may have had them all, I can't remember) of Drive Image.  Also PartitionMagic from Powerquest is/was still a great product.

Info on Norton Save & Restore:
http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=general;action=display;num=1134841284

wreckwriter wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 12:31pm:

what I wanted was the ability to do daily incremental backups  rather than having to do a complete drive image every time but while still retaining a disaster recovery capability.

I do this with Ghost 9.

wreckwriter wrote on Jul 9^th, 2006 at 12:27pm:

"... I can't afford any new hardware and keeping Ghost 10 on my system seems counterproductive..."

The only hardware required is an optical "burner" (CD-RW or DVD-RW) of some kind to generate the BartPE-XPE (reatogo edition) CD to permit the ghost32.exe element of Norton Ghost 8.2 to function much like Norton Ghost 2003 but in the Windows Preinstalled Environment instead of being DOS-dependent. You have the option of using partitions within your MASTER HDD, a SLAVE HDD or an external HDD; Norton Ghost 10.0 does not contain the additional Ghost 8.2 elements that allow routing images to optical media.

EP :'(

Well, I searched all over the place for better solutions. I ended up trying Paragon backup. It worked well in Windows but their disaster recovery cd had no drivers for my RAID controller so it was pretty much useless.

In the end I went back to Ghost 9 and am safely backed up again. I really appreciate all the help I got here. You guys are truly THE source for Ghost help.