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Ghost 2003 hangs during restore (Read 7090 times)
mrlarge
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Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Nov 25th, 2006 at 7:10am
 
I am having a disastrous problem with Ghost 2003.  I have imaged all the partitions on my root drive in order to repartition it.  Because I have SATA drives I had to use the -noide switch, but thereafter the imaging seemed to go fine.  Stupidly I did not verify the images.  Now, when I try to restore the images, the process hangs.  Occasionally after 2-3%, but usually around 23-25% (and never beyond 25%). I quickly reinstalled windows and Ghost on my root partition, and the image extracts fine in Ghost explorer.  I have tried restoring images of the other partitions, and the same thing happens.  When windows was reinstalled I even copied the images to a PATA drive, and tried again, with the same result (the drive being restored to is a SATA drive, however).  I tried with more than one image.

I'm not sure if it's relevant, but the image appears to be spanned into roughly 2GB chunks (not quite sure why this is - is it a PCDOS limitation?).  I did wonder whether the hanging happens at the interface between one spanned file and another, but it doesn't always hang on the same file or at the same percentage, and although the root image is spanned into 4 files, the other images are only 3 files, so the hanging at around the quarter mark doesn't make sense for them.

I've tried with later versions of the ghost executable (up to 793), and the result is the same - if anything it hangs earlier.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions as to how I might recover my system?

Thanks
 
 
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NightOwl
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Re: Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Reply #1 - Nov 25th, 2006 at 9:03am
 
mrlarge

Quote:
Stupidly I did not verify the images.

Well, doing an image *Integrity* check should always be performed--but, you can try that now--still--load up Ghost and run *Local > Check > Image File*.

However, if the image loads successfully in Ghost Explorer--then I suspect that the image will pass the Integrity check.

Quote:
I'm not sure if it's relevant, but the image appears to be spanned into roughly 2GB chunks (not quite sure why this is - is it a PCDOS limitation?).

DOS--any flavor--limitation--although someone reported that Ghost 8.3 (corporate version) had overcome that limitation.

Quote:
Any suggestions as to how I might recover my system?

What boot disk are you using to boot to DOS--the *Standard Ghost Boot Disk* created by the Ghost Boot Wizard?

You might have the rare system that requires *himem.sys* loaded to manage memory differently than the *Standard* boot disk set up.

Add the two lines below to your [config.sys] file--make them the first two lines:

device=himem.sys
dos=high


and add the *himem.sys* file to the boot files on the boot disk.

On my system, Ghost 2003's installation in Windows has a copy of *himem.sys* in this location:

*C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Symantec\Ghost\Template\common\HIMEM.SYS*

Report back with the results of your efforts.
 

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El_Pescador
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Re: Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Reply #2 - Nov 25th, 2006 at 11:22am
 
mrlarge wrote on Nov 25th, 2006 at 7:10am:
"... when I try to restore the images, the process hangs.  Occasionally after 2-3%, but usually around 23-25% (and never beyond 25%)..."

I have had a similar phenomenon occur, except earlier during the Norton Ghost 2003 Backup using the Norton/Iomega USB drivers in PC-DOS.  Switching to NightOwl's Panasonic Universal USB Driver routine with himem.sys proved a functional workaround in that instance.

For me, a "last-resort" tool dealing with 2GB *.gho/*.ghs files is to use the installation CDs of either Norton Ghost 10, Norton Save & Restore or the Symantec Recovery Disk included with Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier which all utilize Norton Ghost Version 8.2 in the Ghost Windows Preinstalled Environment.  To do so, simply boot from the Norton installation CD itself and immediately engage the legacy Backup/Restore or Clone "cold-imaging" procedures by following the path
'Recover > Recover Data on My Computer > Recover using a legacy Ghost image'
which has the side benefit of bypassing both the troublesome USB mass-storage device and SATA HDD glitches associated with DOS-dependent Ghost 2003.  In essence, this procedure uses
restoreghost.exe
(an alternate name for
ghost32.exe
) to allow either cloning or the immediate creation of legacy Norton Ghost Backup images concomitant with Recovery of such images that are in fact totally compatible and interchangeable with those *.gho/*.ghs files created with the
ghost.exe
of Norton Ghost 2003 -
but not with those created with Ghost 9, Ghost 10.0, or Norton Save & Restore during "hot-imaging".


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mrlarge
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Re: Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Reply #3 - Nov 25th, 2006 at 12:20pm
 
Thank you both very much.

I am using the standard ghost boot disk, and am only trying to restore from internal HD to internal HD.

All my images verified fine, and looking at the status bar, the restore is failing considerably before the switch to the second spanned file.

I tried adding himem.sys.  Interestingly this caused PCDOS to fail to load completely, and I never made it to the ghost prompt.  Booting from a normal Win98 boot floppy, loading himem.sys and then dos into high and then running ghost worked as far as it went, but ended up with exactly the same problem as without himem.sys.

My MB has an INtel 875P chipset.  Is this a problem?  I am using the latest version of the ghost executable as far as I know - build 793 apparently (had to get it from the web as symantec have pulled update).

I'm afraid that the idea of givng any more money to symantec after this experience does not enthuse me, but thanks for the tip nevertheless.

Is there anything else I could try?

Thanks
 
 
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El_Pescador
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Re: Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Reply #4 - Nov 25th, 2006 at 12:32pm
 
mrlarge wrote on Nov 25th, 2006 at 12:20pm:
"... Is there anything else I could try?..."

Either one of the Norton installation CDs running in a Windows XP Preinstalled Environment as mentioned above, or even better a BartPE/Reatogo-X-PE CD outfitted with
Norton Ghost Version 8.2
.  You will then run in Windows rather than DOS, and I surmise the DOS transititon is part - if not all - of your difficulty.
I have had the robust Norton Ghost Ver 8.2 succeed in WIN PE when all else failed with a dying system.
The BartPE/Reatogo-X-PE CDs can function even in the absence of a MASTER HDD.

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Re: Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Reply #5 - Nov 25th, 2006 at 12:36pm
 
mrlarge

Is it possible that the destination HDD has a problem--like a bad sector--that may be causing the problem.

You could try a *wiping* program that zero's out the whole HDD, including the boot track--and then starting fresh.  If you have *gdisk.exe* (DOS version), the Ghost 2003 partition tool (there's a Windows version too, *gdisk32.exe*--but I think only the DOS version can wipe the disk), it has the ability to wipe the entire HDD.

PartitionMagic can do a thorough surface test for bad sectors when partitioning, if you set your preferences for that.

Norton Utilities has DiskDoctor which can do a surface test to scan for bad sectors.

Windows has it's CheckDisk program that can look for problems. 

HDD manufactures have their own diagnostic tools.
 

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Re: Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Reply #6 - Nov 25th, 2006 at 1:42pm
 
NightOwl wrote on Nov 25th, 2006 at 12:36pm:
"... Is it possible that the destination HDD has a problem..."

...

Would any of the Ghost Ver 8.2 options illustrated above prove helpful Shocked

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mrlarge
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Re: Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Reply #7 - Nov 25th, 2006 at 5:46pm
 
Well, well, well.

Sorted after a BIOS upgrade, even though there was no mention in the BIOS version history of any SATA/South Bridge related features.

Got the clue by running the IBM DFT - it could read and write to the drive and check it's integrity and SMART report, but couldn't communicate with the drive to test "mechanics".  By putting the south bridge into SATA only mode, could communicate, so tried the BIOS upgrade, and lo and behold everything works - don't even need the -noide switch for ghost to work.

I have no idea what sort of hardware issue can allow you to read and write perfectly to a drive, including partitioning and formatting (fdisk didn't complain either), but interfere with some communications with the drive.

Now fixed, and thank you very much for all your help in putting me in the right direction.

And now I don't have to give any more money to Symantec - yippee! (as I live in the UK I can't take advantage of the offer at Fry's you've just posted).

Cheers

Was Ghost 8.2 before or after 2003? Where would one get hold of it?
 
 
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Re: Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Reply #8 - Nov 25th, 2006 at 6:00pm
 
mrlarge

Thanks for reporting back with the results of your efforts--just never know what's going to solve a *vague* problem--good effort on your part to stick with it!
 

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El_Pescador
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Re: Ghost 2003 hangs during restore
Reply #9 - Nov 25th, 2006 at 9:01pm
 
mrlarge wrote on Nov 25th, 2006 at 5:46pm:
"... Was Ghost 8.2 before or after 2003? Where would one get hold of it?..."

Be advised that the requisite elements for the
"cold-imaging"
Norton Ghost
Version 8.2
Windows Preinstalled Environment plugins can be derived from: (1) the Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier Symantec bootable Symantec Recovery Disk; (2) the Norton Ghost 10.0 bootable installation CD; and (3) the Norton Save & Restore bootable installation CD.  Actually, it is unrelated to the
"hot-imaging"
products mentioned above which are derivatives of PowerQuest Drive Image 7.n.  Instead, it comes from the "corporate side" and is a component of Ghost Solution Suite 1.n which was released a while back.

CLICK HERE to view my preferred - but admittedly convoluted - "path-less-traveled" of using
ghost32.exe
on a BartPE-XPE (reatogo edition) CD to generate Norton Ghost 2003-compatible files
independent of DOS
.

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