Hello,

This is my first post. I am sorry if this problem was already discussed but I couldn't find any suitable solution.

I have my C: drive with 18 GB.
I have experience with an older version of ghost ( I think 2001 ) and I was able to do the following with it.
I want to make an image of the hard-disk ( that will be 5 DVDs) . I want the first DVD to be bootable and to load ghost from DOS.
With ghost 2001 it was very simple: I restarted my computer and he did all the burning job ( on 2 cds for win2000 os ) . The result was as expected : bootable cd , no need for extra work with nero ( ghost did all the job).

So , the question is how can I make an image of my C: drive on the DVDs (5) with Ghost 10  as simple as with the older ghost.

Thank you

LE: I see that ghost is making images with extension .v2i and the older one with .gho

It's very easy with Ghost 10.

You don't need to make a bootable DVD or CD with Ghost 10 on it because your install CD *is* the bootable cd.  Just boot from the CD (called Emergency Recovery CD in the documentation) and when prompted, insert your first DVD to restore.

You should test the boot CD before you actually need it in an emergency.  Restore a small folder.

Many people create Ghost 10 backup images onto an external USB2 hard drive, and then use Nero or some other software to burn the file chunks to DVD.  This method seems to be more reliable than using Ghost's direct to DVD.  Ghost is supposed to write directly to DVD, but sometimes it has problems and this workaround is common.  Plus you have a "hot restore" available with your external USB2 hard drive without having to feed multiple DVDs.

Thank you. I will try this method and I will come back if something goes wrong.

If you do decide to write the backup image files to an external USB2 hard drive first, the setting I use for Ghost 10 for DVD splits is 4500.  4700 mbytes/1024 = about 4500.

John. wrote on Oct 31^st, 2006 at 5:41pm:

If you do decide to write the backup image files to an external USB2 hard drive first, the setting I use for Ghost 10 for DVD splits is 4500.  4700 mbytes/1024 = about 4500.

Ghost4me,

My maths are different.

4700000000 bytes = 4590000 KB = 4482 MB

I don't think 4500 MB will fit on a DVD. Who is correct?

Brian and creatorul,

Sorry, my mistake.  I just re-checked my settings in Ghost 10 and it is 4400 (not 4500).

It's a little confusing because if you look at one of the 4400 chunks using Windows Explorer, it shows a file size of 4,505,600 kb.  However if you take 4,505,600 x 1.024 = 4,613,734 bytes.  Bottom line though is that I know 4400 setting will fit on a single layer DVD.  (I think you can make it slightly larger than 4400 but I haven't tried to squeeze it any higher.)

I think technically, the way it is computed is:

4.7 Gigabytes  / 1024 = 4,589.8437 megabytes

4,589.8437 megabytes / 1024 = 4,482,269 kilobytes

(I'm not sure what the overhead or trailer bytes are needed for dvd single layer burning is on top of that.)

According to Nero, a DVD will hold 4483 MB. At least that's what is says on the status bar.

John. wrote on Oct 31^st, 2006 at 5:02pm:

It's very easy with Ghost 10. You don't need to make a bootable DVD or CD with Ghost 10 on it because your install CD *is* the bootable cd.  Just boot from the CD (called Emergency Recovery CD in the documentation) and when prompted, insert your first DVD to restore. You should test the boot CD before you actually need it in an emergency.  Restore a small folder. Many people create Ghost 10 backup images onto an external USB2 hard drive, and then use Nero or some other software to burn the file chunks to DVD.  This method seems to be more reliable than using Ghost's direct to DVD.  Ghost is supposed to write directly to DVD, but sometimes it has problems and this workaround is common.  Plus you have a "hot restore" available with your external USB2 hard drive without having to feed multiple DVDs.

How can I make backup to one folder? I am making the backup from windows , and I can only choose a HDD. (I have to hit advanced if I want to make 4500 mb files splits)
Isn't normal to make the image from DOS? ( My old ghost made C: image only from dOS)
Is the extension .v2i the good one ? because the old version did .gho files.

Thank you

Quote:

How can I make backup to one folder? I am making the backup from windows , and I can only choose a HDD. (I have to hit advanced if I want to make 4500 mb files splits)

Again, sorry about the bad split number.  It should be 4400 if creating backing up to another hard drive before copying to a DVD.  (If you're creating backing image to an external hard drive and don't plan to later copy to DVD's, you don't need to enter any splitting.)  Ghost will put all splits in the same folder you choose.

You don't need to enter advanced if you're creating a backup image directly to DVD.  


Quote:

Isn't normal to make the image from DOS? ( My old ghost made C: image only from dOS)

You're thinking of the older version, Ghost 2003.  Beginning with Ghost 9 the images are made from within Windows XP (or Windows 2000).  No need to go to DOS.


Quote:

Is the extension .v2i the good one ? because the old version did .gho files.

Yes, .v2i is the Ghost 9 and Ghost 10 extension.  The older Ghost 2003 version did .gho files.

Brian wrote on Oct 31^st, 2006 at 9:30pm:

According to Nero, a DVD will hold 4483 MB. At least that's what is says on the status bar.

Brian, what split number do you use?  Maybe I could change from 4400 to a larger one?

Quote:

My DVD says it can hold 4.7GB, but I can only fit 4.4GB on the disc. Why?   The problem is that computers and DVD drives and its media count the numbers differently. Computers count according to a binary system (base 2). The creators of DVD standards decided to count bytes in a decimal system (like a human counts). A DVD labeled for 4.7GB capacity actually only holds 4.39GB in computer terms. Total storage capacity may be even less on DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs, because these discs require formatting before or during burning, and the format takes up space as well. . . . In computer terms: 1GB = 1 gigabyte = 1,073,741,824 bytes In DVD terms: 1GB = 1 gigabyte = 1,000,000,000 bytes

Source:  http://www.imation.com/support/products/dvd_media.html#04

John. wrote on Oct 31^st, 2006 at 5:02pm:

You should test the boot CD before you actually need it in an emergency.  Restore a small folder.

Thank you for your replies.
When I asked about how to back-up just one folder I ment what you said in this quote. How to back-up and restore a small folder just for test ?

Creatorul, with Ghost 10, you can’t backup a single folder – but, you can restore a single folder.

See page 81+ in the Norton Ghost 10.0 User’s Manual for instructions.

John. wrote on Nov 1^st, 2006 at 8:38am:

Brian, what split number do you use?

I've used 4482 MB and it does fit on a DVD. I don't split. My C: drive image is only 3.5 GB and I have a games partition image that is 9 GB. Ghost 9/10 is the only imaging software that will allow splitting after image creation. So if you have a 50 GB backup image as a single file and you decide you would like it on DVD, this can be done without re-imaging. Do you know any other imaging software that can split at a later time?

Thanks for your answers

I have one more problem. I backed-up my C: and from 18 GB he made 10 GB with no compression selected.
The second problem: I boot from the original cd, no problems. When I have to choose the recovery image , I have to eject the CD with Ghost and insert my dvd with the image. If I do this then he prompts me to insert Ghost CD.
What can I do ?

Thank you

You'll find that when you are restoring from a backup image on DVD's or CD's that Ghost will ask you do do a lot of swapping of them back and forth.  That's normal (but annoying).  If you have a separate DVD drive from the CD drive, that helps some.

Did you backup directly to DVD or to a different hard drive first?

Also, I usually select normal compression.  Never had a problem with that and tends to make the backup image files smaller.

I selected standard compression . I hope that wouldn't be a problem .
I made the images on my hdd and the burned them on DVD ,as you suggested .
That isn't a problem if it request swapping , but it would be a problem if he need both the cd and the image DVD at the same time :) .
A simple question: what should I burn on dvds . I have the following files : BOGDAN.sv2i  C_Drive001.v2i  C_Drive001_s01.v2i  C_Drive001_s02.v2i
I think BOGDAN.sv2i  contains informations about the recovery and should be on the first dvd ,  or should I copy it on each dvd ? He is small ( 3 KB).


Thank you all for your answers
especially Ghost4me for all your support and fast answers ;)
Great forum

Standard compression is good.  I read in one of your earlier posts you said you used no compression which makes the image files bigger.

Even if you have a CD drive as well as an additional DVD drive, you will still get prompts from switching DVD's.  Part of the reason is that the final directory of what is on the DVD's is (I think) on the last DVD.  So Ghost seems to want to check the directory (last DVD) and then look in other DVD's for the restore.  The effect is that Ghost will ask for 1st DVD, then last DVD, then first DVD and back and forth several times.  If you are patient enough it will eventually work.

That's why many backup to an external USB2 drive which is physically separate from the pc, and then periodically copy the split images to DVD's which are really cheap now.  That is what I do and the DVD's are a 2nd layer of backup protection failure.  Better yet is to keep the DVD's at some other location so if someone steals your pc (or you have a fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, etc.) and everything in the office, you still have a backup.

Glad to help.  There are many good experts that frequent this forum and post frequently.  Just by reading their comments I have learned a lot.

creatorul wrote on Nov 1^st, 2006 at 4:32pm:

A simple question: what should I burn on dvds . I have the following files : BOGDAN.sv2i  C_Drive001.v2i  C_Drive001_s01.v2i  C_Drive001_s02.v2i I think BOGDAN.sv2i  contains informations about the recovery and should be on the first dvd ,  or should I copy

You're correct.  You really only need the *.v2i files.  I'm not really sure what the sv2i file is for.  Maybe Brian or someone else knows?

The .SV2I file "should" also be copied onto the first DVD disc in the set, according to the Norton Ghost 9.0 User’s Guide (pages 36-37).