Good luck w/ this one gang.

Specs:
Asus P4B
1.25GB RAM
13 HDDs - 3 on MB controller, others across 3 ATA/133 Controllers [one Promise Ultra100 TX2, one Silicon Image Sil 0680 ATA/133 and one Silicon Image Sil 060 Ultra-133 Medley ATA Raid Controller [RAID disabled on board via jumper]]
CD is Sony DVD RW DRU-530A w/flash up to date

Background chronology:
1.  installed XP SP2 and all updates
2.  installed Ghost 9.0 & updated via LiveUpdate
3.  created images of OS drive [OS drive is only and OS, no image files, no page swap, no data, simply OS]
4.  installed ATI Radion 9600XT All in Wonder [all drivers and software added]
5.  created image again
6.  addes some misc apps, stuff I have used for years, e.g. WinZip 8.1 type stuff
7.  decided to install Norton System Works 2005 Premier [NSW2005]....
8.  NSW2005 said I needed to un-install Ghost 9.0 to install the copy from the CD [I know Ghost 9.0 is the Ghost on NSW2005]
9.  Ran un-install from Windows Control Panel... however the "update patch" did not have the un-install option so I un-installed the original
10.  Went to install NSW2005 and received the error that the

    "The feature you are trying to use is on a network
     resource that is unavailible.
     
     Click OK to try again, or enter and alernate path to a
     folder containing the installation package  
     'NortonGhost902Allen.msp' in the box below.

11. the 'NortonGhost902Allen.msp' is nowhere to be found on my system, nowhere

12. tried running Ghost 9.0 CD to un-install, same response during setup....

FYI - installed Ghost 9.0 on another machine, and when running the updated saw the 'NortonGhost902Allen.msp' file in the Windows\Installer\ sub-dir.... but it was ERASED during the install [note: hidden files features are all off]

13.  Tried running the Ghost 9.0 CD & NSW2005 CD & the Symantic Recovery Disk CD from the boot.... none of them gave me the option to boot from the CD

14.  Tried booting from a Ghost 2003 CD and Win XP install CD.... both gave me the option to boot from the CD....

Goal: to recover image from Ghost 9.0 file, dont want to rebuild system from scratch.

Any ideas?  

Thanks for taking a stab at this one NightOwl.   Sorry I should have noted on original post I know I can move the OS drive & image files to another computer.  Was hoping to avoid that mess.  Unfortunately I am one who wants to know the "why"... layover disorder from my undergrad Physics studies I guess... Does not serve one well if one hopes to avoid being pulled into the vortex of constant tinkering with computers.

RE: "Now, that's a problem--what's the difference between the bootable Ghost 2003 CD and the Symantic Recovery Disk CD?"

Ans: no difference I know of
-------------------------------------
RE: "I do not have Ghost 9.xx, but it's my understanding you have to use the bootable Recovery CD in order to restore a broken Windows OS and can not boot to Windows. "

Ans: correct, the Ghost 2003, 9.o and the Symantec Recovery Disk [it is a CD] are supposed to be bootable...  and I ran the Ghost 9.0 CD & Symantec Recovery Disk [CD] for a boot check on two other machines... they worked   Not the "problem child" though... also if you remember in my original post the "problem child" did like the Ghost 2003 & WinXP CDs and went to the "press any key to boot from CD" w/ those CD's in... but not the Ghost 9.0 or Symantic Recovery Disk.

To make it even more fun, the other night I pushed the BIOS on the "problem child" so it ONLY had the Sony DVD RW is on the boot list and I made it the #1 priority/first boot device... all other options were set to "disable"... LOL.
------------------------------------------------------

RE: "Booting the CD should be completely unrelated to any installation/uninstall issues that occurred inside Windows!"

Ans: ...exactly what I once thought...
-----------------------------------------------

One thing I am definitely going to write/call Symantec about is the fact that the install program, regardless of whether I try to install/un-install Ghost via the Ghost 9.0 CD or the NSW2005 Premier CD, comes back with the "cant find the 'NortonGhost902Allen.msp' file... this is especially troubling since I actually saw the file created and deleted duriing the install of Ghost 9.0 on one of my other machines [also a P4, Asus board, with WinXP SP2]

Still open to any and all ideas from anyone.....

RE: "Here's another long shot--any chance it's the optical drive that for some reason isn't reading those two bootable CD's, but reads the others okay? (The laser is misaligned by some fraction of a milli-micron?)"

Really, really think that is a long shot.  But I do understand what you are saying, the old floppy issue that would sometimes arise when we used a floppy formated in an old machine and it wouldnt work in a new one.  Regardless, I did run a test app from Sony on the DVD about a week ago, read-write type, and it passed....

Still think this is a OS issue.  The DVD light does flash once if a CD is in the tray.  I think that Symantec has something in the update patch which caused the problem....