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Rad Community Technical Discussion Boards (Computer Hardware + PC Software) >> Norton Ghost 2003,  Ghost v8.x + Ghost Solution Suite (GSS) Discussion Board >> Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
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Message started by Cookie Jar on Mar 10th, 2014 at 9:15am

Title: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Cookie Jar on Mar 10th, 2014 at 9:15am
I have Ghost 2003, which I have been using on my 14 year old computer for many years backing up XPp using Ghost on a floppy.

I have now gotten a 6 year old PC (Core 2 Quad, SATA) with only Windows 7 installed on a single partition 1TB drive.  Besides making an image for recovery, I would also like to plunk my Windows 7 from the 1TB drive to a 250GB SSD which would then become my main drive, assuming its performance is as snappy as advertised.  Option A seems like a lot of trouble.  Option B would be nice.

A Option:
1.  Would Ghost 2003 be able to clone Windows 7 from a 1TB drive to a 250GB drive?

2.  I assume I would install Ghost 2003 in my 14 year old PC's hard drive, somehow upgrade to build 789 and then build 793 so it would work with SATA drives.

3. Could I then make a bootable CD with Ghost on it, or would I still use floppies on a USB floppy drive on the newer system?

4.  What's the 100MB SRP about?

5.  What's dsp all about?

B Option:
1.  Is there a friendly outboard image/restore program that would do the above job as quickly as Ghost, that you would recommend instead?  I don't like cluttering up my hard drive with programs and would prefer a bootable CD/DVD with the program on it.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on Mar 10th, 2014 at 10:26am
@ Cookie Jar

How much Free Space is on the 1 TB HD?

You need to maintain 2048 sector alignment when copying/restoring to the SSD.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=554

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Cookie Jar on Mar 10th, 2014 at 11:45am
The 1TB unpartitioned drive was loaded by the dealer with Windows 7 platinum, as well as the usual drivers, Adobe Acrobat, DVD burner software (Nero, Lightscribe and Cyberlink Power DVD) as well as AVG anti-virus.
There's 31.9GB of space used (931GB free) -  0% fragmentation.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on Mar 10th, 2014 at 3:16pm
@ Cookie Jar


Cookie Jar wrote on Mar 10th, 2014 at 9:15am:
What's the 100MB SRP about?


Do you see this partition in Disk Management?

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on Mar 11th, 2014 at 3:16pm
Sorry, we've been caught before by people thinking they didn't have a SRP because they couldn't see it in Windows Explorer, so I always ask about Disk Management. The SRP is the Active partition when it is present and it contains the booting files. When there is no SRP the Windows 7 partition is Active and contains the booting files.

If you use Ghost 2003 to do an Entire Drive clone from the HD to the SSD, Win7 will not load due to BCD issues. But there are tricks you can use to make it work. Ghost 2003 doesn't do sector based restores so the sector spread problem described in my link doesn't apply. Most recent imaging apps do sector based restores and some work needs to be done on the source partition prior to its being transferred to a smaller partition.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by NightOwl on Mar 23rd, 2014 at 11:12pm
@ Brian


Don't you hate it when they disappear? 

I wonder if Cookie Jar will be back--oh, well.....

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on Nov 20th, 2014 at 5:09pm
I hate it, when an interesting thread that I have the answer to, just dies on the vine, so to speak.

Oh well......

Y'all have Happy Holidays now, y'hear?

Old Casper  8-)

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on Jan 12th, 2015 at 12:47pm
WELL, it's been a while, and I'm still using my old Ghost 11.5 to back up everything from XP to Windows 8.1, with narry a problem.

Why upgrade, when I have something just works so well?

Happy 2015 Everyone!

the spook
8-)

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on Mar 11th, 2015 at 4:29pm
Newsflash!!!

Ghost 11.5 also works to back up Windows 10 Technical Preview.

Casper 8-)

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on Mar 12th, 2015 at 1:46am
Does it work if Win8 and Win10 are installed in UEFI mode? All brand name computers will have the OS installed in this mode.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Tator on Mar 13th, 2015 at 1:06pm
Couldn't that be changed to IDE mode in BIOS if it is installed in UEFI mode?  I installed Win8.1 to dual boot WinXP recently, and I had to switch BIOS setting for WinXP to boot after which the installed Win8.1 still boots.

I use Seagate Discwizard version 11 to backup and restore WinXP and Win8.1, but that version of Discwizard doesn't see any drives if BIOS is set to UEFI mode.  Dicwizard version 13 is supposed to work in UEFI mode which it does if it works.  I've experienced failure to restore with Discwizard 13 and no longer try to use it.  There's a newer Discwizard 16 that I've not tried yet.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on Mar 13th, 2015 at 1:18pm
@ Tator

Your BIOS is running in MBR (Legacy) mode and not UEFI mode. Both OS are installed in MBR mode.

If Win8 is installed in UEFI mode it can be converted to MBR mode and there is a discussion in this thread...

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1387093842/0

Reply #8 onwards.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on May 6th, 2015 at 10:37am
I just built a NEW PC and installed Windows 8.1 Pro., X86 on it.
Yesterday, I backed it up, checked the backup file and then did a Restore, all using Ghost 11.5 (DOS), and everything worked perfectly.
I boot Ghost 11.5 from either a CD or Flash Drive.

I've also used the same Ghost 11.5 to back up different builds of Windows 10 which I'm testing, on two laptops..... the x86 version on an old Dell, and the x64 version on a slightly newer HP.

NO!  Ghost 2003 will not work on these newer OS's.  But Ghost 11.5 is readily available.

Cheers Mates!
:cool:

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on May 6th, 2015 at 7:37pm
@ OldCasper

Did you install Win8.1 in UEFI or Legacy MBR mode? I'm interested to know if Ghost 11.5 will successfully restore an image of Win8.1 installed in UEFI mode to a new, empty HD.

The beta Ghost Solution Suite 3.0 is able to restore an image of Win8.1 installed in UEFI mode to a new, empty HD. You could call this Ghost 12. There is no DOS restore environment anymore; the restore is done from a WinPE. The WinPE can only boot in Legacy MBR mode and not in UEFI mode which presents a problem if your computer can't boot in Legacy MBR mode. I have 3 computers which can't boot in Legacy MBR mode

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on May 7th, 2015 at 9:27am
Really I can't say.
My new Gigabyte mobo has two settings in the bios....one is for Windows 8 and the only other option is simply "Other OS".  I guess that would mean, XP, Vista and Windows 7.
However, when I try to do a clean install of XP, it goes to a certain point in the install and then does a BSOD.  So I've been forced to upgrade my everyday OS to Windows 8.1.
But that's OK.....because with the "Classic Shell" and a few tweaks of my own, 8.1 looks and feels almost exactly like XP-Pro-SP3.   8-)
I even re-activated Windows Mail, which looks and acts almost exactly like Outlook Express6, which I've used for many, many years.

But the beauty of Ghost 11.5 is that it doesn't seem to care what's on the HD.  Even Linux or Windows Server will back up, with nary a whimper. :)

I did an internet search again yesterday, for Ghost 11.5 ISO and lo and behold I found one.  For FREE.
And, it was 100% malware free.
I downloaded the ISO, burned it to a CD and booted up my windows 8.1 machine with it.
It worked perfectly, for both a backup and a restore.  Exactly what I expected.

I feel like too many people look for problems where they don't exist.  K.I.S.S.!!!

:cool:

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on May 7th, 2015 at 5:16pm
@ OldCasper


OldCasper wrote on May 7th, 2015 at 9:27am:
My new Gigabyte mobo has two settings in the bios....one is for Windows 8 and the only other option is simply "Other OS".


Almost the same here. I see Windows UEFI and Other OS. The Windows UEFI setting is to enable Secure Boot if installing Win8 in UEFI mode. You can install and use Win8 with the "Other OS" setting but Secure Boot will be disabled. I used "Other OS" as I installed Win8 in Legacy MBR mode on my main computer. In my test computer I used Windows UEFI as I installed Win8 in UEFI mode. Despite these settings, when you boot the Win8 disk (for the install) you have to choose how the DVD will boot. Either UEFI or Legacy MBR.


OldCasper wrote on May 7th, 2015 at 9:27am:
when I try to do a clean install of XP, it goes to a certain point in the install and then does a BSOD.


That's because you are missing AHCI drivers. You can slipstream these drivers into your CD and you will be able to install WinXP.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/howto/howto-xp-sata.htm

To determine if you have installed Win8.1 in UEFI or Legacy MBR mode have a look in Disk Management. What partitions are present on your boot drive?

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on May 9th, 2015 at 7:21pm

Brian wrote on May 6th, 2015 at 7:37pm:
I'm interested to know if Ghost 11.5 will successfully restore an image of Win8.1 installed in UEFI mode to a new, empty HD.


I did the test. Ghost 11.5 can't do this.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on May 11th, 2015 at 9:15am
I guess you're just better than me. Because,  You got Ghost to fail, and I've never been able to do that.
Congratulations!  (actually, Ghost WILL fail if there are errors on the HD.  Usually a CHKDSK /f /r will take care of that)

I don't remember you saying that you used Ghost 11.5, booted in DOS from a CD or Flash Drive.*

* That's the only way I run Ghost 11.5.  That takes Windows totally out of the equation.

If you're not using the same version of Ghost that I use, I have no idea what kind of results you might get.**

** I began using Ghost, the original version, back in 1997, when I worked in a little PC repair shop.
We used it primarily for cloning small hard drives to bigger hard drives.
My boss would download a 30 day trail of the program and every month he'd get a new download.
I found the program SO easy to use and I just fell in love with it.
Many years and many new OS's later, I'm still loving it.  And, it still works.

A belated "Happy Mother's Day"

8-)


Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on May 11th, 2015 at 3:14pm
@ OldCasper

I suspect you aren't using Win8 installed in UEFI mode. That's why I asked you to let us know what's in Disk Management. All brand name computers sold with Win8 have the OS installed in UEFI mode with Secure Boot enabled. If you install Win8 yourself then you can install it in UEFI or Legacy MBR mode. Ghost 11.5 only works with Win8 installed in Legacy MBR mode. The latest Ghost, GSS3, does work with OS installed in UEFI mode. But GSS3 no longer has a DOS executable. You must use ghost64.exe (or ghost32.exe) from a WinPE.

Installing Win8 in UEFI mode creates these four partitions....

EFI System
Recovery
Microsoft Reserved
Win8

(Microsoft Reserved partition doesn't show in Disk Management)

I used Ghost 11.5 on a DOS USB flash drive. It isn't compatible with Win8 installed in UEFI mode because it can't see the Recovery or the Microsoft Reserved partitions. You can create and restore an entire disk image but the restored OS won't boot because two partitions are missing.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on May 12th, 2015 at 10:21am
EaseUS Partition Manager, tells me that drive #1 is "MBR".
But I've had no reason to even be concerned about that before, and I'm still not.

Sorry, I never did find 'Disk Management'. ???

I run my old XP computer in all FAT-32 mode and contrary to some self-proclaimed experts, XP runs great on a FAT-32 hard drive.

And Ghost 2003 or 11.5 makes a great Defrag program for my XP drive(s)
I just do a Partition to Image backup followed immediately by a Partition From Image (Restore) and the HD is re-written in perfect order with no spaces between files and of course, NO Fragmentation.

Cheers Mate!
Casper 8-)


Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on May 12th, 2015 at 3:35pm
@ OldCasper


OldCasper wrote on May 12th, 2015 at 10:21am:
EaseUS Partition Manager, tells me that drive #1 is "MBR".


I prefer to install my OS in MBR mode too. But among Win8 users we are in a very small minority.

Some of the UEFI/BIOS computers being sold now won't boot a DOS disk. I have three of them.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Christer on May 13th, 2015 at 2:47am
A sidenote:


Quote:
I just do a Partition to Image backup followed immediately by a Partition From Image (Restore) and the HD is re-written in perfect order with no spaces between files and of course, NO Fragmentation.


I assume that you never use the Windows 7 defragmenter. When I restore an image (Ghost 2003) and run the Windows 7 defragmenter, it takes a while for it to rearrange the files. Maybe, after restoring an image, there is no fragmentation but the disk/partition is not "optimized"?

When I use the Auslogics Disk Defrag, immediately after an image restore, it is much quicker and it seems to have a different opininion on "optimized".

Maybe a new topic ... :-/ ...

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on May 31st, 2015 at 2:16pm
I do test a LOT of software, and after a test run of the Auslogic's Defrag, I looked at the HD with the Defrag program in Win-XP and 'What a God awful mess' !!!   There were files scattered from one end of the partition to the other, and spaces all over the place.  That just invites more fragmentation.
I had to use Ghost, running a backup + restore to get things back together again.

No more Auslogic programs for this old tech.

Update:
I'm testing Windows 10, in every new build since 9926, and I've used Ghost 11.5 to back up each build before installing the next build.  It works great!

8-)


Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on Oct 11th, 2015 at 8:55am
All Windows 10 Beta Testing is DONE, and it's now a working OS. ::)
And most of us have now made the decision to keep it or dump it.

But regardless of my own decision, I still use my old reliable Ghost 11.5, on a DOS boot disk, to backup (& restore) all versions of Windows.  It's now ten years old.

A tool that works, should not be discarded just because it's old.  I still have and use hand tools that are older than I. (and I'm 72 years old)

Y'all have a really great day now, Y'hear?

Casper  8-)

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on Oct 12th, 2015 at 12:50am
The upgrade to Ghost 11.5, Ghost 12 (Symantec Solution Suite 3.0) has been released. It is compatible with Legacy and UEFI BIOS. There is no longer a DOS boot disk, only WinPE.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on Feb 22nd, 2017 at 9:17am
I know this is an old topic now, but hey.....for those who have loved Ghost 2003 and even ran it from a 3.5" floppy disk (like I did) the upgrade is definitely Ghost 11.5 (DOS) which is too big to fit on a single floppy disk, but works just fine on a Flash Drive or CD.

I use it almost daily, and it DOES work great for backing up Windows 10, both 32 bit and 64 bit.

Cheers Mates!
8-)

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by Brian on Feb 22nd, 2017 at 2:55pm
We've been through this several times. Ghost 11.5 (DOS) doesn't work with Windows 10 installed in UEFI mode.

Title: Re: Ghost 2003 or something better for Windows 7 & 8?
Post by OldCasper on Aug 10th, 2017 at 7:50pm
Just out of curiosity, on this OLD thread, "why does Windows 10 have to be installed on a UEFI formatted HD? I've installed many permutations of W-10 and I don't think I ever specified that it should format the HD as UEFI.  It just installs itself, runs fine, and I never even look at the format.  And Ghost 11.5 will back it up.

Jus sayin'

8-)

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