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Need Version and Buying Advice (Read 3433 times)
JG757
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Need Version and Buying Advice
Dec 19th, 2006 at 2:59pm
 
Hi all.

Awesome site. I have been reading and researching a lot of the technical information and it's good to know this site exists.

I have been researching the capabilities of the different versions of Ghost but I might be suffering from information overload because the answer to my question is probably on this site but hard to find because of the tech stuff?

Basically, all I want to do is be able to save (and restore) HDD partitions for the numerous machines I have rebuilt for family and friends.  Doing this with a bootable CD and without the need to install Ghost on each machine are definite requirements.  

Based on what I have seen on this site, looks like if I purchase either Ghost 2003 or 9.0, I should be able to create a bootable CD that will allow me to save and restore the partitions without a lot of added work.  I'm aware there might be driver issues when attempting to copy or save the image to a CD or external hard drive and that the actual build level of the Ghost version can have an impact.

I'm also a little confused about creating the bootable CDs.  Since I want to use a bootable version of Ghost to save and restore images for multiple OS (XP, Win2K, WinME, Win98), I would need to make sure I have the correct startup files on those CDs in addition to CD drivers etc, correct?

I'm also getting confused about the type of product license. Will this directly impact what I can and can not do with a specific version of Ghost?  I don't need network capabilities for the HDD image saves and restores and don't need or want to install Ghost on every machine so will a single license version suffice?m  Seems dumb I would have to get the Enterprise edition to do what I described above.

Any other feedback (or site links) you folks can offer is appreciated.  Just want to make sure I buy the right product the first time.  If a specific Ghost version single user license can do everything I need, let me know.

Thanks.
   
 
 
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Re: Need Version and Buying Advice
Reply #1 - Dec 19th, 2006 at 5:30pm
 
the ghost world is divided between ghost 2003 & prior and ghost 9 & later.

have you seen this?

http://ghost.radified.com/norton_ghost_90.htm

it basically details the diffs.
 
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El_Pescador
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Re: Need Version and Buying Advice
Reply #2 - Dec 19th, 2006 at 6:23pm
 
Quote:
"... Basically, all I want to do is be able to save (and restore) HDD partitions for the numerous machines I have rebuilt for family and friends..."

Your obligation to family and friends parallel my requirements to a great degee, with well over a dozen PCs under my purview scattered across three southeastern states.  While I do have DOS-dependent Norton Ghost 2003 installed on some of the machines, I have adopted the alternative of using a bootable BartPE/Reatogo-X-PE optical disc configured with "cold-imaging" Norton Ghost Ver 8.2 (plus Norton Partition Magic 8.0).  The key elements of Ver 8.2 are readily derived from the: (1) installation CDs for either Norton Ghost 10.0 or Norton Save & Restore; or (2) Symantec Recovery Disk included with the Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier suite.

Unlike DOS-dependent Ghost 2003, the Windows XP Preinstalled Environment allows you to engage the legacy Backup/Restore or Clone "cold-imaging" procedures with the side benefit of bypassing most USB external mass-storage device and SATA HDD glitches.  In essence, this procedure uses
restoreghost.exe
(an alternate name for
ghost32.exe
) to allow both immediate creation of Ghost Backup images or the converse 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 Norton Ghost 9, Norton Ghost 10.0, or Norton Save & Restore during "hot-imaging".


Quote:
"... Doing this with a bootable CD and without the need to install Ghost on each machine are definite requirements..."

The bootable BartPE/Reatogo-X-PE CD with Norton Ghost Ver 8.2 sounds like a good fit for your requirement.  I should mention that the standard operating procedure for my far-flung constituency is to employ the Norton Ghost "(whole)
disk-to-image
"
Backup, with the Ghost "
partition-to-image
"
being optional.  Whether Norton Ghost 2003 or Norton Ghost Ver 8.2 is chosen for the task of the moment actually becomes irrelevant.

Quote:
"... I'm also a little confused about creating the bootable CDs.  Since I want to use a bootable version of Ghost to save and restore images for multiple OS (XP, Win2K, WinME, Win98SE), I would need to make sure I have the correct startup files on those CDs in addition to CD drivers etc, correct?..."

In my experience, the Windows XP Preinstalled Environment on the BartPE/Reatogo-X-PE CD has functioned flawlessly on PCs running WIN 98SE, XP Home Edition and XP Pro.  Actually, since the optical disc has its own stripped-down Windows XP OS, it works just fine without any MASTER HDD bearing an operating system in situations where it still can readily deal with SLAVE HDDs and external HDDs.

Although it may not be applicable to your inquiry, be advised that it may well be that "cold-imaging" and "hot-imaging" are not necessarily mutually exclusive, i.e., a PC with the Ghost series based on the PowerQuest Drive Image 7.n already installed can conceivably entertain "cold-imaging" Ghost products when launched from removable bootable media.

Quote:
"... I'm also getting confused about the type of product license..."

Because I am very adamant about playing square with Symantec, every PC in the domain has its own respective copy (with a unique 25-character Product Key) of either: (1) Norton Ghost 10.0; (2) Norton Save & Restore; or (3) Norton SystemWorks 200n Premier suite which includes the Symantec Recovery Disk.  Due to incredible savings with mail-in rebates on the abovementioned products, the net cost per PC borders on negligible.  

EP
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El_Pescador
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Re: Need Version and Buying Advice
Reply #3 - Dec 23rd, 2006 at 1:06am
 
El_Pescador wrote on Dec 19th, 2006 at 6:23pm:
"... Because I am very adamant about playing square with Symantec, every PC in the domain has its own respective copy (with a unique 25-character Product Key) of either: (1)
Norton Ghost 10.0
; (2) Norton Save & Restore; or (3) Norton SystemWorks 200n Premier suite which includes the Symantec Recovery Disk.  Due to
incredible savings with mail-in rebates
on the abovementioned products, the net cost per PC borders on negligible..."

 

EP
Cry
 

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