Hi,


Been reading through the various posts and stickies, but haven't come across an answer. I'm using Ghost 8.3 and my system is as follows:

system:
Drive 1 (sata 250Gb): partition C - 60Gb (OS) and D (data)
Drive 2
Drive 3
Drive 4 (ide 58Gb) Backup

What I want to achieve, is to backup the OS (winXP) so that it can be easily restored from Boot Cd containing Ghost 8.3, when things are seriously messed up.
Besides this I also backup partition D, using Cobian Backup 7.

Ive tried out Ghost 8.3, but ain't quite sure I'm following the correct path. I want to be able to restore the OS from backup, after which it should boot normally from the restored image.

Is it possible to do this from a Partition->Image File backup?

Or must it be a Partition->Partition copy? In which case I should resize the OS partition to be no greater than the Backup partition?

Any help/clues/pointers welcome!

Thanks.
bob

bonkiebib


Quote:

I want to be able to restore the OS from backup, after which it should boot normally from the restored image.

If you are going to restore the partition to the original existing HDD that has it's original partitioning--then *Local >Partition >To Image* will back up the single OS partition when you select it.  And *Local > From Image > To Partition* will restore that partition to the selected location (OS partition) without effecting booting or other partitions.

But, if your HDD dies--and you want to use that single partition image to restore to a replacement HDD using *Local > From Image > To Partition*, it probably will not boot--a single partition image file normally will not contain the needed partition structure, including the Master Boot Record (MBR), that will allow for booting.  

(You might be able to restore that partition and use tools like the Recovery Console to *fix boot* and *fix MBR* to get booting back--don't know--I haven't tried that--or if you re-create the partition structure (using something like PartitionMagic), and set the partition as active that you're restoring to might also work--again--I have not tried that--should do experimenting first to be sure of your recovery path and plan!

I used the image of a *whole disk*--not a single partition, created the partition structure with PartitionMagic, and restored each partition manually one by one to their respective partitions--and this booted normally!)


Quote:

Or must it be a Partition->Partition copy? In which case I should resize the OS partition to be no greater than the Backup partition?

Could possibly work--and Ghost will probably *re-size* the destination partition to correctly hold the data from the source HDD--as long as the data can fit into the destination partition--but word of caution--sometimes if WinXP *sees* a duplicate OS that's *copied* to a HDD, and not stored within an image file--somehow WinXP's boot files and/or registry gets corrupted and booting will no longer be possible.  

However, I believe the corruption is more likely if you were doing a *Local > Disk > To Disk* copy rather than a *partition to partition* copy, and you leave the HDD copy hooked up along with the original HDD.

I would have a reliable backup *image* of the OS partition stored somewhere else to recover from if trying that recovery path, just in case corruption occurs!

Thanks for the reply!

OK, I'll go for the *Local >Partition >To Image*. Not too worried about the disk dying on me. Although you never know.

When it gets to having to restore the Image to a new disk and booting is the only problem, then either fixboot/fixmbr or UBCD wil get me back into the OS. And gonna dualboot again soon, so files will remain accessible.

Also thought that Disc>Disc would give problems for XP, having two OS's on the pc.

Won't image the whole disc, because it's 250Gb. Got XP on a 60Gb partition, which I should probably downsize anyway.

Thanks!

Re: "Not too worried about the disk dying on me."

I know that feeling. But that was before Murphy paid me a (unexpected) visit:

http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/diverse/murphy/murphy_e.html

here is a  useful link which got few tips about Ghost  either from
a bootable Cd or a bootable partition pressing F10 or F11 keys on
bootup. or Peer to peer cloning.

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=14127
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=14127&st=20

Regards Ben

NightOwl wrote on Aug 17^th, 2006 at 9:47am:

(You might be able to restore that partition and use tools like the Recovery Console to *fix boot* and *fix MBR* to get booting back--don't know--I haven't tried that--or if you re-create the partition structure (using something like PartitionMagic), and set the partition as active that you're restoring to might also work--again--I have not tried that--should do experimenting first to be sure of your recovery path and plan!

I'm also a new user and ran into the same problem. I read this post and tried setting the partition active with Partition Magic and it worked!

Everyone

This is the post that made me begin the new thread Restoring OS only image to new HDD.


Based on that discussion, it appears that the critical factors that will allow for proper booting of the OS, at least when using Ghost 2003, are that the OS partition image must be restored to what will be a  1.  primary partition, 2.   on the first seen HDD on the system, and  3.  to be sure the partition is set *active*.  

Depending on what steps one uses to restore an OS image file--if you create the partition *manually* with Fdisk or PartitionMagic--you have to set the partition *active* as a separate step.

If you let Ghost 2003 create the partition structure, Ghost appears to set the partition *active* for you, unless you restore *Local > Partition > From Image* to an existing partition--then Ghost 2003 will not *automatically* change the *status* of the partition to active--either you have to have already set that partition active previously--or you have to go in and do it manually with a partitioning tool after you have restored that image.