Radified Community Forums - Ghost 2003: Going, Going, … Gone?

Rama

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You don't appreciate Backup
until you get burned.

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Re: Ghost 2003: Going, Going, … Gone?
Reply #15 - May 9^th, 2007 at 8:24am

Pleonasm wrote on May 2^nd, 2007 at 11:29am:

With the recent release of new versions of several of the Norton products by Symantec, it now appears that Ghost 2003 is absent from Norton Save and Restore 2.0, Norton Ghost 12.0 and Norton SystemWorks Premier. Stated differently, new copies of Ghost 2003 are not available for purchase at retail.

As a consequence, the sad day has arrived in which Ghost 2003 is no longer a backup option for consumers who are presently lacking a license. This application has served many users well over the years, and it is disappointing to witness the beginning of its demise and eventual disappearance from the PC consumer landscape.

On the bright side, Symantec Sales (800-441-7234) has indicated that Ghost 8.2 (the Windows PE version of Ghost 2003 in DOS) will continue to be included with Norton SystemWorks Premier as part of the Norton Save and Restore 1.0 component through September, 2007.

The corporate version of Ghost 2003 (i.e., Ghost Solution Suite) continues to be sold, of course.

A description of the history of Ghost may be found in this article.

After 9/07, the option seems to be to purchase the enterprise version GSS2.X. I succeeded in buying on-line from BestBuy a 5 seat license. Even though they were targeting 50+ seat licenses, I talked them to sell me 5 seat for about $160.00 including sales tax and I downloaded the program file which is about 230MB. Most businesses can afford this expenses considering the value of their computer data. From my shopping around, Best Buy seems to have the best pricing.

The only complaint is it took a week to "process" the order and issue the license and downloading instructions. The downloading did not work and it took another two days to get this solved. Once it was done, downloading was straightforward.

Rama

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dave_in_gva

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Re: Ghost 2003: Going, Going, … Gone?
Reply #16 - Jun 27^th, 2007 at 6:22am

Hello,

First time post here although I've been reading these boards and learning a good deal over recent days.

I am interested in obtaining a legal version of Ghost 2003 that I can update as well, so knowing what sources there are is of interest to me. El_Pescador if you have a copy you'd like to sell me please PM me.

Also, I would like to know if I can use a single external USB 60 gig Iomega HDD (which I will format with FAT32) to store and restore images of the following PCs around our place:

3 different laptops - only one of which has a floppy disk drive
2 workstations - each with a RAID0 array holding OS and programs
2 workstations - no RAID array

All computers have SATA drives and all are running XP Professional. Ideally I would like a single backup/recovery technique that will work for all of these computers. Possible or dreaming?

Best,

Dave M

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NightOwl

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Re: Ghost 2003: Going, Going, … Gone?
Reply #17 - Jun 27^th, 2007 at 9:16am

dave_in_gva

Quote:

I am interested in obtaining a legal version of Ghost 2003 that I can update

Technically, you will need 7 licenses of any version of Ghost in order to use Ghost on 7 different computers.

If you can find retail, boxed versions of Ghost 10 (avoid OEM or any offers that say that you will only get the Ghost 10 installation CD in a sleeve--these will not include the Ghost 2003 CD!)--a Ghost 2003 installation CD is included for those who were still using a non-WinXP OS.

For DOS use, you could also consider the corporate Ghost Solution Suite 2, a 7 seat license will run approx. $40.00 per seat. This option will include many *advanced* options that do not come with the older retail version of Ghost 2003. The current Ghost version in this offering is Ghost 11.xx and is supposed to be Vista compatible: http://shop.symantecstore.com/store/symnasmb/en_US/DisplayProductDetailsEntPage/...

Here's a discount source: http://www.royaldiscount.com/syghsosu205l.html

Quote:

Also, I would like to know if I can use a single external USB 60 gig Iomega HDD (which I will format with FAT32) to store and restore images of the following PCs

How much data is on each of your systems--60 GB may not be enough room for 7 systems--especially if you want several backups per system for archival purposes.

Quote:

2 workstations - each with a RAID0 array holding OS and programs

Usually, Symantec says its DOS Ghost solutions do not support *RAID*--in truth it usually works fine with RAID 1 mirroring, and often will allow for image creation from a RAID 0 setup--but only can restore the RAID 0 image to a non-RAID destination. I'm not familiar with RAID 0 setups--can you have existing data on a non-RAID HDD, and then convert it to a RAID 0 setup without data loss--I don't know how that works!

____________________________________________________________________________________________

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DrWho2006

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Re: Ghost 2003: Going, Going, … Gone?
Reply #18 - Jun 30^th, 2007 at 10:14am

Ok, so much for all the Legalities.

On the practical side, you don't need the entire Ghost Install package with the GUI interface.
To do backups and restores all you need is Ghost.exe on a DOS boot disk.

I like to use the DOS boot disk made with Windows ME.

The most versatile version of Ghost 2003 is Build 793, which works with most of the new AMD 939 and AM2 motherboards.

It's readily available from many sites on the internet. Some have even declared it as "Abandonware", because Symantec will no longer support it.
Once you have it on a bootable floppy or CD, licensing per machine becomes a Moot Subject,,,since you're not actually installing it on any PC. Roll Eyes

Recently I've come upon Ghost 8.3, build 1331, which will no longer fit on a floppy disk.
SO, I installed it on a bootable 64 meg flash drive. Works just great on every system I've tried it on. I find it a nice step UP from Ghost 2003.
With Nero, it's easy to make a bootable CD from it.

Cheers Mates!
The Doctor Cool

Norton Killer = http://www.symantec.com/symnrt/&&Don't WORK your Computer, Make your Computer WORK for you!&&

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John.

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Re: Ghost 2003: Going, Going, … Gone?
Reply #19 - Jun 30^th, 2007 at 11:42am

Dr Who2006 Quote:

It's readily available from many sites on the internet. Some have even declared it as "Abandonware", because Symantec will no longer support it.

Support, or lack of, is not the issue. You are still bound by the terms of the license agreement.

Dr Who2006 Quote:

licensing per machine becomes a Moot Subject,,,since you're not actually installing it on any PC.

Not true. You should read your license agreement. "Install" is not there; see the word "use".

Norton Ghost™ User’s Guide
Quote:

SYMANTEC LICENSE AND WARRANTY.
YOU MAY:
A. use one copy of the Software on a single computer. If a License
Module accompanies, precedes, or follows this license, You may make
that number of copies of the Software...

Ghost4me Ghost 9, 10, 12, 14, 15. Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7

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El_Pescador

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	Re: Ghost 2003: Going, Going, … Gone? Reply #20 - Jun 30^th, 2007 at 1:18pm DrWho2006 wrote on Jun 30^th, 2007 at 10:14am: "... Ok, so much for all the Legalities..." Where ya' been, Doc I been missing your timely tips and iconoclastic notions *Pesky*
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