Radified Community Forums - Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR)

Yousuf Qutubuddin

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Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR)
May 2^nd, 2008 at 11:43pm

I got this message in Norton Ghost 2003, when i go to create backup image. Message are given below;

"Unable to find a free MBR slot in the virtual partition DLL. This is usually due to there being no free primary partition slots left on the boot disk."

kindly tell me the solution of this message,

Thanks & Regards,

Yousuf

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Rad.Test

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	Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR) Reply #1 - May 3^rd, 2008 at 12:32am does this help? http://radified.com/blog/archives/000141.html
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Yousuf Qutubuddin

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	Could'nt start norton agent Reply #2 - May 3^rd, 2008 at 3:09am Am using XP Professional, when i installed Norton Ghost 2003 i got these message, cause of this message i can't access norton ghost 2003, Erro: Could`t Start norton Ghost Agent.
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Rad

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	Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR) Reply #3 - May 3^rd, 2008 at 7:31am http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/pfdocs/2002101512093025
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TheShadow

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Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR)
Reply #4 - May 4^th, 2008 at 1:03pm

Yousuf,
When I started running Ghost, quite some time ago, there were no forums like this and no-one to ask for help.
So, thru trial and error I made up my own set of rules concerning Ghost.

Rule #1: Never install the Ghost GUI on your HD. When the HD dies, your Ghost program will do you no good.

Rule #2 Always run Ghost 2003 from a suitable boot disk. Ghost 2003 was written to run from a floppy disk, so that's the most obvious media to boot from. A USB floppy drive works just fine.
If you're making a Backup Image to a DVD, the Ghost 2003 files must be on A:. Sorry, that's the way Ghost was originally written.

I suspect that if you run Ghost from a boot floppy, CD or flash drive, that you won't be getting those error messages.
I've been running Ghost for years, on computers from DOS to Vista, IDE and SATA HD's and I've never seen an error message like that.

Also, make sure that you have a second partition, or hard drive with enough free space to hold your backup image file.
You cannot store an image to the partition you're Ghosting.

Good Luck,
The Shadow Cool

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Brian

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	Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR) Reply #5 - May 4^th, 2008 at 7:32pm Yousuf, Could you let us know about the partitions on your HD? How many? Their drive letters? Primary or logical volumes?
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Yousuf Qutubuddin

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	Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR) Reply #6 - May 4^th, 2008 at 11:32pm Thanks, The Shadow Kindly would u like to tell me how to make Bootable USB Flash Drive..?
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G_Man49

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Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR)
Reply #7 - May 15^th, 2008 at 5:12pm

TheShadow wrote on May 4^th, 2008 at 1:03pm:

I've been running Ghost for years, on computers from DOS to Vista, IDE and SATA HD's and I've never seen an error message like that.

Also, make sure that you have a second partition, or hard drive with enough free space to hold your backup image file.
You cannot store an image to the partition you're Ghosting.

Hey Shadow...the error that Yousuf got is the exact same error I asked about just three days ago. I've been running 2003 for 16 months on one computer of mine with no issues. Works perfect. I back up image to a USB hard drive. As far as i know, there is just one partition on my computer C Drive (500gb). but when i installed 2003 on a laptop (120 gb drive)....I received the message that Yousuf is asking about. G_man49

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G_Man49

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Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR)
Reply #8 - May 15^th, 2008 at 6:38pm

TheShadow wrote on May 4^th, 2008 at 1:03pm:

So, thru trial and error I made up my own set of rules concerning Ghost.

Rule #1:Never install the Ghost GUI on your HD.When the HD dies, your Ghost program will do you no good.

Rule #2Always run Ghost 2003 from a suitable boot disk.Ghost 2003 was written to run from a floppy disk, so that's the most obvious media to boot from.A USB floppy drive works just fine.

OK Rule 1 question: when you "install Ghost 2003"...are you saying to install program on a DVD or CD?

Rule 2 question: if you buy a USB floppy...does it automatically become A drive?...and if so....can u send a link for the best (easiest) way to make a boot disc for a floppy? thanks, G_man49

If you're making a Backup Image to a DVD, the Ghost 2003 files must be on A:.Sorry, that's the way Ghost was originally written.

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TheShadow

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Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR)
Reply #9 - May 16^th, 2008 at 7:58am

WoW G_man49!
I had to dig your questions out of the Quote.
I think I got them all. Sad

With Ghost 2003, the part that does the work is NOT a program running in Windows and on a PC's hard drive, so why put the entire, bulky, GUI on the hard drive to begin with?

All you need is a bootable disk, floppy or CD (or any bootable media) and add Ghost.exe to that along with whatever drivers you may need and you're done.

I started with a windows ME boot floppy. I removed a whole bunch of stuff that ME put on that disk, leaving only the OS and the CD drivers. Then I added my own Autoexec.bat file and Config.sys file.
In the Autoexec I added Mouse.com to load the mouse driver.
Then I added Ghost.exe and some cleanup batch files and my own custom menu.

Of course, I've been doing this stuff for 28 years now, so I could almost do it in my sleep. Wink

I tailored my Ghost 2003 boot disk to work for Windows 98, Windows ME, XP or Vista. Ghost.exe build 793 is the last version that will fit on a boot floppy. For later versions like Ghost 8.3, you can set it up on a bootable flash drive.

I know there's an exception to every rule, but.....
On every new computer that I've tried this on, a USB Floppy Drive will come up as drive A:.
And a boot floppy in the USB drive will boot the system, IF, you have your boot order in your BIOS set up to allow booting from a floppy and it's ahead of the hard drive in the Boot Order.
It's not really tricky, just needs to be accurate.

Actually, on my MSI motherboard, I don't have to have my floppy set up to boot the system in the BIOS...... because F11 at boot brings up a boot menu so I can pick any drive on the system to boot from.
Check to make sure that your own mobo doesn't (or maybe does) have a boot menu.
If you have a boot menu, you don't have to mess around in the BIOS.

I sell about one USB Floppy Drive per month, to people that have purchased a new PC without any floppy drive in it and want to use floppies that they have stored files on for years.

I hope that answers all the questions. I tried.

The Shadow Cool

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G_Man49

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Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR)
Reply #10 - May 16^th, 2008 at 4:51pm

TheShadow wrote on May 16^th, 2008 at 7:58am:

All you need is a bootable disk, floppy or CD (or any bootable media)and add Ghost.exe to that along with whatever drivers you may need and you're done.

OK Shadow...like you said in previous post...you've been doing for 28 yrs! I'm not a complete newbie...but close when it comes to Ghost.

By "add" in the above quote...do you mean simply copy ghost.exe and various drivers to the floppy? That's it? If so...I'm using XP Home on one machine and XP Pro on the other. What drivers have to go on floopy?

TheShadow wrote on May 16^th, 2008 at 7:58am:

I sell about one USB Floppy Drive per month, to people that have purchased a new PC without any floppy drive in it and want to use floppies that they have stored files on for years.

I'm also interested in buying the floppy. Ha!!! Give me the lowdown please. G_man49

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TheShadow

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Re: Norton Ghost 2003 (Unable to find free MBR)
Reply #11 - May 18^th, 2008 at 12:01pm

Ah HA! An interrogative!

Yes, once you have a bootable floppy disk you can simply COPY the Ghost.exe file and Mouse.com (if you want to use your PS2 mouse) to the floppy and you're (almost ) good to go.

I like to use DOS menu's to give me more flexibility in HOW I run Ghost.

Here's the DOS menu I use on my floppy disk.

[1;33;44m



[41m GHOST 2003 Menu
[44m

1. Run Ghost to make a new image. (Windows XP Only)
   This program will delete all temp files, cookies, histories, etc.
   The Cleanup works only on a FAT-32 partition.

2. Run Ghost
   This program runs Ghost alone, with NO cleanup being done.
   Use this version to do Ghost Restores or Ghost image without cleanup.
   You must use this option on any NTFS partition.

3. Run Ghost on Windows 98 or ME (del the Swapfile and all temp's, etc.)

4. Delete all Restore points (Windows XP. Works on FAT-32 partition only)

5. Delete Windows "Pagefile" (Windows XP. Works on FAT-32 partitions only)

6. Remove all the old Restore files in Windows ME.

Type in a number at the DOS Prompt and press ENTER.

The weird characters at the top are the Ansi Color codes for the menu.
It's yellow print on a blue background. They are escape codes and don't show up on the screen when the menu runs.
That's all set up in the config.sys and Autoexec.bat files.

So besides Ghost.exe, I also load Ansi.sys and Mouse.com.

Shadow Cool

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