Welcome, Guest. Please Login
 
  HomeHelpSearchLogin FAQ Radified Ghost.Classic Ghost.New Bootable CD Blog  
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print
Settings to restore images (Read 12996 times)
vivienne
Radmeister
**
Offline


I Love Radified!

Posts: 96
Canada


Back to top
Settings to restore images
Feb 9th, 2008 at 1:56pm
 
Hi

There is a choice given to :

Restore Original Disk Signature

Restore MBR

Should these be ticked ? What happens if they are/are not ticked ?

Thanks very much.

Vivienne

 
 
IP Logged
 

John.
Übermensch
*****
Offline



Posts: 2072


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #1 - Feb 9th, 2008 at 3:06pm
 
vivienne wrote on Feb 9th, 2008 at 1:56pm:
There is a choice given to :
Restore Original Disk Signature
Restore MBR
Should these be ticked ? What happens if they are/are not ticked ?

Are you trying to restore  onto a new/blank/unformatted disk or onto the same disk?

You would need the master boot record restored if you were restoring onto a new/blank/unformatted disk, but not normally needed if you're just restoring a partition onto an existing partition, such as to roll back to earlier version of your backups.

The "restore original disk signature" would normally only be used to make a different hard drive look identical to the one that failed.
 

Ghost4me  Ghost 9, 10, 12, 14, 15.  Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
 
IP Logged
 
vivienne
Radmeister
**
Offline


I Love Radified!

Posts: 96
Canada


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #2 - Feb 9th, 2008 at 3:37pm
 
John:

John. wrote on Feb 9th, 2008 at 3:06pm:
You would need the master boot record restored if you were restoring onto a new/blank/unformatted disk, but not normally needed if you're just restoring a partition onto an existing partition, such as to roll back to earlier version of your backups.

The "restore original disk signature" would normally only be used to make a different hard drive look identical to the one that failed.


Do I have this right ?

If restoring to the same disk drive - neither have to be ticked.

If restoring to a new harddrive - MBR *must* be ticked and Disk Signature *may* be ticked.

To be on the safe side tick both when restoring to a new drive ?

If you are restoring to a partition on another computer (just data) is that treated the same as restoring to a new drive - i.e. both ticked ?

Thanks, John!

Vivienne
 
 
IP Logged
 
John.
Übermensch
*****
Offline



Posts: 2072


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #3 - Feb 9th, 2008 at 3:46pm
 
The Master Boot Record is used for booting the pc, so unless it is destroyed or changed you don't need to restore it.

Quote:
If restoring to the same disk drive - neither have to be ticked.

Correct.

Quote:
If restoring to a new harddrive - MBR *must* be ticked and Disk Signature *may* be ticked.

Correct.

Quote:
To be on the safe side tick both when restoring to a new drive ?

Should be fine with both checked.

Quote:
If you are restoring to a partition on another computer (just data) is that treated the same as restoring to a new drive - i.e. both ticked ?

If you are restoring a data partition (or data folders) to a different pc, then you wouldn't want to modify the other pc's mbr and you definitely woudn't want to modify the other computer's drive signature.
 

Ghost4me  Ghost 9, 10, 12, 14, 15.  Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
 
IP Logged
 
vivienne
Radmeister
**
Offline


I Love Radified!

Posts: 96
Canada


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #4 - Feb 9th, 2008 at 3:54pm
 
John:

John. wrote on Feb 9th, 2008 at 3:46pm:
If you are restoring a data partition (or data folders) to a different pc, then you wouldn't want to modify the other pc's mbr and you definitely woudn't want to modify the other computer's drive signature.


Omigod, I've been doing it incorrectly and often getting errors. That is probably the reason why. So restoring to another computer for verifying or for any other reason, I should *not* be ticking either!!

Do I now understand correctly that MBR  is really only necessary for the boot partition and disk signature for any partition ?

Thanks again!

Vivienne
 
 
IP Logged
 
John.
Übermensch
*****
Offline



Posts: 2072


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #5 - Feb 9th, 2008 at 4:02pm
 
vivienne wrote on Feb 9th, 2008 at 3:54pm:
So restoring to another computer for verifying or for any other reason, I should *not* be ticking either!!

Do I now understand correctly that MBR  is really only necessary for the boot partition and disk signature for any partition ?

MBR needed for booting.  Drive signature is used so that when you connect a hard drive or usb hard drive, XP remembers what drive letter to assign to it.
http://www.dewassoc.com/kbase/hard_drives/master_boot_record.htm

If you are regularly restoring files/folders to another computer, it seems to me it would just be easier on the other computer to start the Ghost Explorer program (or double click the ghost backup image file) and then either "Mount" the backup as a drive letter, or just browse the contents for the file/folder you want to restore.
 

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

vivienne
Radmeister
**
Offline


I Love Radified!

Posts: 96
Canada


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #6 - Feb 9th, 2008 at 4:08pm
 
John:

John. wrote on Feb 9th, 2008 at 4:02pm:
If you are regularly restoring files/folders to another computer, it seems to me it would just be easier on the other computer to start the Ghost Explorer program (or double click the ghost backup image file) and then either "Mount" the backup as a drive letter, or just browse the contents for the file/folder you want to restore.


The only reason that I am restoring it is to test that it restores okay. Is mounting enough to put my mind at ease that it will restore ?

Thanks

Vivienne
 
 
IP Logged
 
John.
Übermensch
*****
Offline



Posts: 2072


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #7 - Feb 9th, 2008 at 4:16pm
 
I always turn-on the option to verify the image after creating it.  That verifies the integrity of the backup-image.

Actually restoring it to a spare hard drive or partition would give you a higher level of confidence.  Personal preference either way is ok.

The "utlimate" verification would be to restore the backup image to a blank/zero'd hard drive.  Then remove your original hard drive, then see if you can boot the new one.  That's a lot of work to do each week however.  I run verify after backups on the images and keep 3 generations (3 weeks of backups) and then periodically I copy my backup images from usb2 hard drive to dvd's for offsite storage.  So I can go back a year or so if needed.  That's good enough for me.
 

Ghost4me  Ghost 9, 10, 12, 14, 15.  Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
 
IP Logged
 
Pleonasm
Übermensch
*****
Offline



Posts: 1619


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #8 - Feb 9th, 2008 at 5:03pm
 
Quote:
Actually restoring it to a spare hard drive or partition would give you a higher level of confidence

And another, easy way to gain more confidence is to restore the image to a virtual machine (VM), such as VMware Workstation which can import Norton Ghost 9 and later images directly, according to the User’s Manual.  I haven’t done this myself with a Ghost image file, but can report that a ShadowProtect Desktop image is easily restored to a VM using VMware Workstation.
 

ple • o • nasm n. “The use of more words than are required to express an idea”
 
IP Logged
 
Rad.Test
Technoluster
***
Offline


Rad's non-Admin test-profile
in Firefox

Posts: 108


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #9 - Feb 10th, 2008 at 8:39am
 
Viv is having trouble posting, again. She has run into the Pleo server bug, where Pleo's full name (followed by a space) generates a "You do not have authority to access ..." error. (It did for me when I tried to post her exact msg, using Pleo's full name.)

Don't feel bad Viv, it took me a couple hours to figure out what was going on, and I *still* don't understand why.

Perhaps Pleo could change his DISPLAY name to "Pleonasm." (insert dot) which seems to work fine. Or "Pleonasmm". Or "Pleonasmx". Or Pleonasm1. The error only occurs when there is a SPACE after the letters "nasm". Anyway, here is Viv's msg.

John and Pleoxxxx:

John:

John. wrote on Feb 9th, 2008 at 4:16pm:
 I run verify after backups on the images and keep 3 generations (3 weeks of backups) and then periodically I copy my backup images from usb2 hard drive to dvd's for offsite storage.  So I can go back a year or so if needed.  That's good enough for me.

That sounds good!  Thanks for the idea. How do you get a year, though ? Is
it a complete backup to DVD once a month for 12 months ?

Pleoxxxx:

Quote:
  And another, easy way to gain more confidence is to restore the image to a virtual machine (VM), such as VMware Workstation which can import Norton Ghost 9 and later images directly, according to the User's Manual.  I haven't done this myself with a Ghost image file, but can report that a ShadowProtect Desktop image is easily restored to a VM using VMware Workstation.

This is something that I keep meaning to try. I keep procratinating because I'm just not sure how this works. I guess I'll be okay as long as there is a manual.

I have been following the thread on Shadowprotect with great interest. Drive Image 2000 was my favourite backup program in the world. It never ever let me down. I used it with absolute confidence. If this is built along the same lines, I would be in heaven. I have downloaded it and will start experimenting with it.

John and Pleoxxxx, thank you very very much!

Vivienne
 
 
IP Logged
 
John.
Übermensch
*****
Offline



Posts: 2072


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #10 - Feb 10th, 2008 at 8:53am
 
Quote:
That sounds good!  Thanks for the idea. How do you get a year, though ? Is
it a complete backup to DVD once a month for 12 months ?


Once every 3 or 4 months, I copy my most recent backup image files from usb2 hard drive to dvd's.  Backing up directly to DVD has always been problematic with Ghost.  Use Nero or Roxio or some other program to copy files from external usb2 hard drive to DVDs.

It is good to keep the DVDs somewhere else, because if you have a burglary (or fire etc.) both your pc and external hard drive will likely be both gone.
 

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

Pleonasm
Übermensch
*****
Offline



Posts: 1619


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #11 - Feb 10th, 2008 at 10:29am
 
Quote:
Backing up directly to DVD has always been problematic with Ghost.

While every image backup utility has its advantages and disadvantages, one of the nice features of ShadowProtect Desktop is that you can easily write an image to DVD discs.  I am not referring to splitting and burning an image that was previously created and stored on disk, but am referring to the direct creation of and burning to optical media with no intermediate steps.  It just works.  And is fast.

About once every other week, I burn an backup image to DVD discs “just to be safe” in case the hard disk drive containing my image backup files fails.
 

ple • o • nasm n. “The use of more words than are required to express an idea”
 
IP Logged
 
vivienne
Radmeister
**
Offline


I Love Radified!

Posts: 96
Canada


Back to top
Re: Settings to restore images
Reply #12 - Feb 13th, 2008 at 8:56am
 
John and Pleo:

Thanks so very much for your feedback !!! I shall rething my backup strategy.

I am now experimenting with Shadow Protect. I shall have to post on their forum  to ask how I can test a backup without having a huge disk to test back to. I am also having trouble with incrementals. I was hoping everything would be a cinch. Smiley Nice program, I would really like to love it.

Thank you both again.

Vivienne
 
 
IP Logged
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print