[quote author=Pleonasm  link=1170849092/15#17 date=1171381570]"... We don’t know with certainty yet, but:  (1) if Ghost 12 doesn’t include Ghost 2003 (DOS)/Ghost 8.2 (Windows PE) as early reports indicate; if (2) the Ghost component of Norton Save & Restore 2.0 likewise excludes Ghost 2003/Ghost 8.2; and if (3) Norton SystemWorks Premier {i.e., the current version without a year designation} will now include Norton Save & Restore 2.0, then it seems to follow that licenses for Ghost 2003/Ghost 8.2 will essentially become completely unavailable.

With Ghost 12 and Norton Save & Restore 2.0 due to be launched by the end of April, we could be just 90 days away from the permanent disappearance of Ghost 2003/Ghost 8.2 as a purchase option for users seeking an image backup utility.  If that is the case, then I think this forum should highlight the situation so that users who wish to acquire Ghost 2003/Ghost 8.2 are able to do so while the opportunity still exists..."[/quote]
[glb]LAST CHANCE LAGNIAPPE ?: Norton Ghost 2003 CD included inside Norton Ghost 10.0 Retail Box :o[/glb]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/El_Pescador/Bund22107.jpg

CLICK HERE to view FREE offer on bundle shown above - after $70 Mail-In Rebate (MIR).

CLICK HERE to download $50 MIR form.

CLICK HERE to download $20 MIR upgrade form. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/El_Pescador/ExpireZone.jpg

EP :'(

I think, if the software *does* go away (altho we have yet to see), then it would become easier to download freely from the internet. Seems odd a company would protest downloading software they abandon (abandonware) and do not offer themselves.

Here seems to be the reason why Ghost 793 may disappear from newer versions of NG.

"the classic Ghost cloning client that our team makes was only included in "Ghost 9" and 10 in order to provide support for Windows 9x and NT4."

So, once the support to 9x and NT4 is stopped, GH793 may no longer be available to end users.

Rama

[glb]LAST CHANCE LAGNIAPPE ?: Norton Ghost 2003 CD included inside Norton Ghost 10.0 Retail Box :o[/glb]

[glb]LAST CHANCE LAGNIAPPE ?: Norton Ghost Ver 8.2 elements for WIN PE included on Norton Ghost 10.0 Installation CD :o[/glb]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/El_Pescador/BuyCom704.jpg

CLICK HERE to view FREE offer on Norton Ghost 2007 shown above - after $63 in Mail-In Rebates (MIRs).

CLICK HERE to download $43 MIR form.

CLICK HERE to download $20 MIR upgrade form. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/El_Pescador/ExpireZone.jpg

EP :'(

I can't remember where now, but recently someone sent me an ISO of a Ghost boot CD that had only two files on it,,,,,, ghost.exe and Mouse.com, and of course the system (boot) files.

Now ya'know, it don't get no simpler than that. ;) ;D ;D

Well anyway I ran the ghost.exe file and it came up as Ghost 2005.  A check showed it as build 1331 (or something like that)  Well, hey, it worked like a champ.  I guess I'll be using that from now on to replace my old build 793 version of Ghost.

So, take heart!  There's still life after 793!  ;) ;D ;D ;D

The Doctor 8-)

doc,

can you post a print-out or graphic of the statement from ghost where it states the version number?

so we know exactly what you're talking about.

we've never heard of a "ghost 2005" or "build 1331".

Rad wrote on Apr 1^st, 2007 at 6:48pm:

we've never heard of a "ghost 2005" or "build 1331".

1331 is the build number of the executables from GSS1.1 - in general, everything in the corporate builds has the same build number, since the Configuration Management process has a script to be able to construct the install sets completely from scratch, recompiling everything out of the source-control system.

1502 is the build number for the initial release of GSS2.0; we tend to skip to the nearest 100 or perhaps more when closing off a project to reserve build numbers for hotfixes to things.

Rad

I'm betting the *Header* line when the program boots says *Ghost 8.x* at the top--not Ghost 2005!

Nbree, can you confirm the suspicion that:

• Norton Ghost 12 will no longer include either Ghost 2003 or Ghost 8.2
  
• The Ghost component of Norton Save & Restore 2.0 will likewise not include either Ghost 2003 or Ghost 8.2
  
• The Ghost component of Norton SystemWorks Premier (i.e., the current version without a year designation) will likewise not include either Ghost 2003 or Ghost 8.2, because Norton Save & Restore 2.0 will be packaged with Norton SystemWorks Premier

If all three statements are true, it appears that licenses for Ghost 2003 and Ghost 8.2 will become completely unavailable for consumers at retail.  Under this circumstance, will there be any other means of purchasing a Ghost 2003 or Ghost 8.2 license from Symantec?

Quote:

Nbree, can you confirm the suspicion that:

Nope, I can't. I have no contact with anyone involved in any of those things. You guys will probably find out well before I will.

Rad checking in. Interesting info.

If (if) the dos-based version of Ghost is not longer available in future releases, it would seem Symantec wouldn't mind someone hosting their old (unsupported) software. Isn't that called abandonware?

Rad wrote on Apr 5^th, 2007 at 5:17pm:

Isn't that called abandonware?

Firstly, DOS-based Ghost is still available, since it's a key part of GSS. I don't like the fact that it's more expensive for individuals to buy any more than you do, but this still makes it about price as much as availability.

Secondly, there are brand protection issues involved. Norton and Symantec still exists as brands, Ghost still exists as a brand, and those things are arguably worth more than any product. The company hasn't always appreciated the Ghost brand and Symantec's trademark enforcement has been woeful at times, but it's still a valuable brand the company has an interest in defending.

Working to find a way to keep the LiveUpdates available from us for customers with 2003 licenses is something we can work on, and I can talk to management about that.

wrote on Apr 5^th, 2007 at 7:13pm:

"... DOS-based Ghost is still available, since it's a key part of GSS... there are brand protection issues involved. Norton and Symantec still exists as brands, Ghost still exists as a brand, and those things are arguably worth more than any product... Working to find a way to keep the LiveUpdates available from us for customers with 2003 licenses is something we can work on, and I can talk to management about that..."

Well, maintaining LiveUpdates for v2003 would certainly be a commendable first step, but there is a lesson to be learned about brand loyalty from the uproar suffered by the veritable worldwide giant of marketing - the Coca-Cola^TM Company.  Some years ago here in the southeastern USA (and maybe nationwide) the company announced the New Coke^TM supplanting the previous long-standing formula/flavor - and the buying public was outraged at the announcement and scornful of the new product.  So scornful in fact that when a version of the original formula was renamed Classic Coca-Cola^TM and placed back on the shelves as a complement to
New Coke^TM, before long the latter product disappeared from the market :o

Albeit there is no comparable public uproar in this case, nonetheless I would suggest pitching to the marketing group the notion of skeletonizing for home use a recent version of Symantec Ghost Solution Suite n.n - and then rebrand it for the consumer market as Legacy Norton Ghost or Classic Norton Ghost to essentially supplant Norton Ghost 2003 while distinguishing it from the PowerQuest Drive Image 7.n derivatives[smiley=thumbsup.gif]

EP :'(

Suggesting that I talk to our marketing folks sounds innocuous. However, given that it's a VP-level decision that I'd be seeking to overturn, and the VP in question is still in charge of us, it wouldn't be viewed as innocuous.

I suppose getting fired would make my life better, in that I wouldn't have constant stress-induced chest pain any more. But I don't think it'd be that great an outcome for the Ghost customers.

wrote on Apr 5^th, 2007 at 11:02pm:

in that I wouldn't have constant stress-induced chest pain any more.

nbree,

Well I hope it's not something that will require a visit to Green Lane for anything invasive. Keep well.

nbree


Quote:

I suppose getting fired would make my life better, in that I wouldn't have constant stress-induced chest pain any more.

Gotta love the corporate environment!  Does wonders for the *soul*!

NightOwl wrote on Apr 5^th, 2007 at 11:57pm:

Gotta love the corporate environment!  Does wonders for the *soul*!

Actually, working for Symantec has in the main been all-around pretty fantastic; our remoteness meant we basically kept on being a small start-up, but with some of the benefits that come from having corporate muscle. If you had shown me a book like Danger! Quicksand! in 2003 I wouldn't have recognised what it described.

`

nbree

So you were *just kidding* (at least to some extent) about the *chest pain*  ;) --well, that's a good thing!

Thanks for that link to *Danger! Quicksand*--I'm going to read that!

I can at least understand why Symantec might not want to sell Ghost Solution Suite 2.0 licenses to individual consumers, but what I still find surprising is Symantec’s decision to discontinue the sale of Ghost 2003 (as it increasingly appears to be the case).

Since enhancements to and support of Ghost 2003 have been discontinued, there is no cost to Symantec for making this product available for purchase as a download from their website.  In fact, each and every sale of Ghost 2003 would represent 100% profit.  From a business perspective, what’s the downside?

Pleonasm wrote on Apr 6^th, 2007 at 10:39am:

"... Since enhancements to and support of Ghost 2003 have been discontinued, there is no cost to Symantec for making this product available for purchase as a download from their website..."

Allow me to 'weasel' a wee bit from my previous notion back upstream, and propose that Symantec simply keep on calling the product Norton Ghost 2003 while reinstituting the LiveUpdate process so as to incorporate modernizing elements from the Symantec Ghost Solution Suite n.n series providing such does not hobble users of WIN 98SE, WIN Me, and WIN 2000/WIN 2000 Pro.

EP :'(

NightOwl wrote on Apr 6^th, 2007 at 8:51am:

So you were *just kidding* (at least to some extent) about the *chest pain*

Actually, I wasn't kidding about that. In 2004 things because less pleasant very fast; but that's not reflective of Symantec as a whole, just our site's particular situation.


Quote:

Thanks for that link to *Danger! Quicksand*--I'm going to read that!

I highly recommend it, although so far I've not put much of it into practice. I found out about that book from Kathy Sierra's blog, which is all about an attitude to software design that I am 100% behind - I hope she does eventually decide to keep writing it.

Although she mostly writes (wonderfully!) about software design, she describes some choice pieces of corporate insanity in a couple of entries, this one being one of my favourites.

I had the pleasure of hearing her speak at the Webstock conference last year, and she's as great a speaker as you'd imagine from reading the articles on her site.