Howdy!

I have a 7.8GB ghost image spanned into 4 files on a WIN-PW bootable dual layer DVD.

the disc boots, starts ghost, and begins the restoral perfectly until it gets to the end of the first .GHO and wants the next .GHS file.  It stops, and askes for the location of each subsequent file.

FILE.GHO
FILE001.GHS
FILE002.GHS
FILE003.GHS

My command line is: 

ghost32 -clone,mode=restore,src=D:\FILE.GHO,dst=1 -sure -span -rb

I have tried -dlist=D to tell it to look at the D: Drive, but that was of no help.

I did note when I hit enter instead of BROWSE, it was looking for FILE0001.GHS (There's an extra zero in there).

Any ideas as to what's going on here?

Thank you!

@ Mike Patterson

Welcome to Radified Forums!


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Any ideas as to what's going on here?

I'll take a stab at it--but, haven't come across your particular problem before...


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I did note when I hit enter instead of BROWSE, it was looking for FILE0001.GHS (There's an extra zero in there)

I think that's a strong clue!

When creating a Ghost image file, if the data is greater than a single file can hold, the data has to be spanned across additional spanned file(s), creating a single image file set.  When you set up the image creation, you can use up to 8 characters in the initial image name and Ghost will tack on a *.gho* to the end of that name.

If you use more than 5 characters in the initial file name, when Ghost creates the additional spanned files (.ghs), it will automatically reserve the last three characters of a 8 character name and over-write the name with *001* and leaving the initial 5 characters of the initial file name intact, and will increment that number by 1 for each additional spanned file that is created in this particular spanned file set.  If you have exactly 5 characters in the name, then all five characters will be retained in each of the additional spanned files--but still 8 characters in length.  And, if you have fewer than 5 characters in the initial file name, then Ghost will add additional zeros to the name so the final spanned file names are 8 characters in length.

So, the default behavior of Ghost is to create an 8 character name for all the spanned files in an image file set.  The initial *.gho* file can be any number of characters up to 8 and Ghost will not care about that.  I suspect that means that Ghost always looks for that same pattern in the image file set when it looks for the next spanned image file--i.e. an 8 character name--with the first 5 characters matching the initial *.gho* file name, and zeroes in any position if the file name is less than 5 characters.


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FILE.GHO FILE001.GHS FILE002.GHS FILE003.GHS

So, if you change the file names to the following, Ghost would probably move onto the next spanned file without prompting:


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FILE.GHO FILE0001.GHS FILE0002.GHS FILE0003.GHS

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My command line is:  ghost32 -clone,mode=restore,src=D:\FILE.GHO,dst=1 -sure -span -rb

I think the command switch *-span* is of no value in a *restore* procedure--it only works when creating a Ghost image, and you run out of space on the initial destination, Ghost then prompts you for the next location for completing the image creation--this function is *automatic* if Ghost is writing spanned image files to multiple optical discs and is not needed there either.

And, because Ghost32 only runs under a Windows OS, what happens when it gets to the *-rb* (re-boot) switch when running from a *command window*--does it simply shut down the command window--or does it re-boot the whole system?  I know it re-boots the whole system when you're running in pure DOS--but, I have no idea what effect that command has in a Windows command window!

You're exactly right.  Would've posted sooner, but left for the day after starting the test.  After I posted this on Friday, I went back and tried something similar - I changed the filenames to have 5 characters in them so that they were all consistent.

FILE-.GHO
FILE-001.GHS
FILE-002.GHS
FILE-003.GHS

It worked like a charm!

As for the -RB, it does indeed reboot.

I take my ghost image directly after a SysPrep.  Once I boot from DVD, it applies my image, reboots, lets windows run through the "configuring" stage, reboots again, finishes up the config, and presents me with a login.

Thanks for the reply NightOwl!

@ Mike Patterson

Thanks for the feedback--in the past, there have been a number of posts regarding Ghost's failure to automatically find and use the next spanned file--never caught that Ghost was looking for an eight character spanned file name!--this has finally brought an explanation to light--good question!--good observation--and answer!

It is also important to only use the first five positions to name the image. The last three will always be replaced by the sequence number.

abcdefgh.gho will get the auto named spans abcde001.ghs, abcde002.ghs and so on.

Not a big deal until you name one image abcdefgh and the next abcdeijk ... ;) ... !