Hi there,
I'm thinking of wiping my whole system and recreating the partitions etc., which means I need to create a Ghost 2003 back-up on DVD. I've never done this before as I always store images on a second HDD. Anyway, last night I tried it and all went well, including the integrity check. It's the integrity check that brings me to my real point. It's a little bit off the subject of Ghost but I'll do my best to explain.
I've been having heat issues for quite some time, especially when it comes to burning CDs/DVDs. I use Nero and always have the data integrity check box ticked and more often than not it comes up with errors. Sometimes it's one or two and sometimes it can be over a dozen. I've tried all the usual stuff like checking the HDD, defragmenting, starting up with only essential programs and services running (no anti-virus or firewall) and even reinstalling Windows. The disks I've been using are straight-out-of-the-wrapper and of the best quality. All with no joy. The only solution I've been able to come up with is to make sure the room temperature is cool enough. Too cool for me to be comfortable, then everything is fine - no burn errors. As a result of this I changed my case to an Antec P180 (3 case fans running, all set to high and not a speck of dust in sight) but I still get the errors unless I follow the above solution.
This is why the Ghost back-up I did last night puzzles me. It was only a trial run so I wasn't too worried about getting errors, which I was expecting as my PC had been running for several days and the room temperature was anything but cool. The back-up totalled 3 DVDs and if I'd have tried to burn 3 consecutive full DVDs in Windows under the same conditions I dread to think how many data verification errors I would have got - plenty for sure. But not with Ghost in DOS. Did I miss something here?
The other heat related issues I get are unpacking large archives which show up as corrupt, even when they are not and installing large programs which fail with all sorts of errors. As I've mentioned above, the solution seems to be to make sure the room temperature is cool enough (freezing actually) and then the majority of the errors disappear, but after the Ghost back-up last night I'm not so sure.
Does anyone have any information on this kind of thing that could help or other heat related tales that could serve as comfort in these chilly times I've been unjustly forced to endure?
Now is the winter of my discontent and all that.
El.

The U.K. I think I must keep my room too hot. I've got the facility to add 2 extra fans to my case so I'm going to do that shortly and I'll also take onboard your point about an external fan pointed at my system. It still puzzles me though why Ghost in DOS can burn 3 consecutive DVDs without errors, whereas Windows can't unless the room is like an icebox. Thanks for the input and tips anyway,
El.