I want to make a self-installing ghost image that can be burnt to DVD or other optical media. An image that can automatically restore without user intervention.

I came across some information that this can be scripted, with batch files, etc. How do I get to do this?

I need this. Pliz help

create a ghost 2003 boot floppy.

boot computer.

leave floppy in drive.

follow instructions to make a bootable dvd.

And?

And?

And?

That, as far as it goes, will result in a Ghost boot DVD that will boot either to a dos prompt or to Ghost.
Then the user must navigate through Ghost to pick the file to restore and the place to restore it TO.

Hey, that's cool for experienced Ghost users, but for a complete novice, it could be somewhere between difficult and impossible.  Definitely, NOT an automatic restore.

In the autoexec.bat file on the boot DVD there would need to be the Ghost.exe file followed by the necessary switches to do the restore automatically.
Which, means that same info would have to be already programmed into the boot floppy, from which the DVD was made.

That's not my way of running a Ghost restore, so I've never personally done it, but that does seem to be the way that it would have to be done.

Also, I'd think that to set up the restore command line, you'd also have to know the exact name of the backup image file that's going to be restored.
When Ghost 2003 makes a backup to a DVD, it assigned its own file name for the backup image.
At least, it always does for me.

I hope there's someone here that's already done this, who could give a more comprehensive tutorial on how to set it up.

happy Memorial Day!

Hey, those who are still interested in this idea. This can be done with NightOwl's Roost guide to Bootable CD/DVD without floppy.

Its quite fun and very cool. Its just a matter of time and patience. I experienced a few issues, like incompatible drivers. But there are good guys here on the forum who are much willing to assist anybody.

The topic:
Help:Bootable CD/DVD without floppy errors
its all about what I went through

By-the-way it  takes two guides to make this work:

NightOwl's Guide to Creating Bootable CD/DVDs
http://nightowl.radified.com/bootcd/bootcdintro.html

One step recovery using Symantec Ghost
http://www.esnips.com/web/kaviteshsingh/
But here you don't take everything; just the section "EDITING THE START-UP FILE TO AUTOMATE RECOVERY"

also check out Symantec's site for command-line switches. Its better to download the ghost-ref-guides:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/on-technology.nsf/docid/1998082612540625

@ esco

Thanks for sharing the results of your efforts.  Good to hear of *success*!

See here for the companion thread to this report:  Help: Bootable CD/DVD without Floppy errors?

I already made a ghost image can be restore automatically without any intervention, which mean:
Just put the CD or DVD in dvd-rom and that’s it, it'll restore automatically without pushing any buttons.
The problem is, my English is so bad, how could I explain it to u.

@ GranDMasteR


Quote:

The problem is, my English is so bad, how could I explain it to u.

Post the contents of your *config.sys* and *autoexec.bat* files (open those boot files with Notepad--copy and paste to the reply box here on the forum).

And post a list of the boot files in the hidden boot sector of your bootable optical disc.

I suspect the DOS command lines are in English--and we should be able to see what the steps are.  And we can then ask questions, if needed!

OK, here it is

config.sys

Code:

device=oakcdrom.sys /d:GMzyzoom lastdrive=z

autoexec.bat

Code:

@ECHO OFF mscdex.exe /d:GMzyzoom /l:x /m:16 /v X:\ghost.bat

I don't know what u mean

Quote:

And post a list of the boot files in the hidden boot sector of your bootable optical disc.

so I think u meant the files within bootfile.bif

Code:

autoexec.bat command.com config.sys io.sys mouse.com mouse.ini mscdex.exe msdos.sys oakcdrom.sys

and the files in the main cd are:
ghost.bat
ghost.exe
xxxxxxx.GHO

ghost.bat

Code:

X:\ghost.exe -clone,mode=pload,src=X:\xxxxxxx.GHO:1,dst=1:1 -sure

above will restore the image to the first HDD - First Partition which mean C partition.

of course you can change it to whatever partition or HDD you want.

And I am ready for any queries  ;)

@ NightOwl

So, What is your opinion?

@ GranDMasteR

Great post--looks complete and straight forward!


Quote:

so I think u meant the files within bootfile.bif

You are correct.

To create the bootable optical disc--what software are you using?  Are there any tricky spots that need clarification on how to do it?

I worked on this for 3 days
There are no tricky spots, it’s all clear
I used two programs to get it worked
MagicISO, http://www.magiciso.com
WinImage, http://www.winimage.com

By the way, I made another 1, I put the file ghost.bat within boot file, which mean two files remain in the main cd
ghost.exe
xxxxxxx.GHO

U can use whatever version of ghost.exe
And we can take image instead of restore by using this in ghost.bat

Code:

X:\ghost.exe -clone,mode=pdump,src=1:1,dst=D:\xxxxxxx.gho -z9 -split=700 -sure

Of course we can play with switches to change anything.

:)

@ GranDMasteR


Quote:

I worked on this for 3 days

There is a *learning curve*--it takes time to understand how to use the Ghost command line correctly--and how to use those programs to create the bootable optical disc--but, with examples like yours, it should be easy for anyone truly interested in doing this!