drive image files

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badgolferman

Pardon me if this is off topic but I figure there are many people here
who use backup software and can answer this question because Symantec
certainly doesn't have anything in their Knowledge Base.

Powerquest Drive Image 2002 creates .pqi files and .002, .003, .004,
etc files when making images. It seems the .pqi file is the actual
image, but what are the other files? They are the same size as the
..pqi files and take up lots of room. I would like to delete them to
save space but don't really want to test it out by restoring an image
over a perfectly good installation.

Also, why doesn't Image Explorer actually open an image? I get an
Error 1810: image file cannot be accessed. I am an administrator
profile and trying to access the image from the same profile that
created it.

Thanks for any answers.
 
badgolferman said:
Pardon me if this is off topic but I figure there are many people here
who use backup software and can answer this question because Symantec
certainly doesn't have anything in their Knowledge Base.

Powerquest Drive Image 2002 creates .pqi files and .002, .003, .004,
etc files when making images. It seems the .pqi file is the actual
image, but what are the other files? They are the same size as the
.pqi files and take up lots of room. I would like to delete them to
save space but don't really want to test it out by restoring an image
over a perfectly good installation.

Also, why doesn't Image Explorer actually open an image? I get an
Error 1810: image file cannot be accessed. I am an administrator
profile and trying to access the image from the same profile that
created it.

Thanks for any answers.


The .pqi is just the first file of the image, the numerical ones are the
rest of it. Do not delete them.
 
Pardon me if this is off topic but I figure there are many people here
who use backup software and can answer this question because Symantec
certainly doesn't have anything in their Knowledge Base.

Powerquest Drive Image 2002 creates .pqi files and .002, .003, .004,
etc files when making images. It seems the .pqi file is the actual
image, but what are the other files? They are the same size as the
.pqi files and take up lots of room. I would like to delete them to
save space but don't really want to test it out by restoring an image
over a perfectly good installation.

Also, why doesn't Image Explorer actually open an image? I get an
Error 1810: image file cannot be accessed. I am an administrator
profile and trying to access the image from the same profile that
created it.

Thanks for any answers.

DI is currently set to make images that are no larger than
(each of the files except the last numerical one). You can
specify what size you want them to be, it will then make
fewer but larger files. ALL of the .00(n) files are
essential, don't delete them. If you find your backups are
too large to be manageable then reduce the amount of data on
the partition being backed up. For example, you probably
wouldn't need regular recurring backups of the OS
installation files if those are on the system. Other file
types like ZIPs, JPEGs, etc ... pre-compressed formats,
compress very little and might be best stored elsewhere,
especially if they're static, won't be changed and so an old
copy of them is just as good as a week-old copy.

Don't know about Error 1810, if you provide more details
about the image creation and environment in which you're
(attempting to) opening it, that might provide more clues.
 
DI is currently set to make images that are no larger than
(each of the files except the last numerical one). You can
specify what size you want them to be, it will then make
fewer but larger files. ALL of the .00(n) files are
essential, don't delete them. If you find your backups are
too large to be manageable then reduce the amount of data on
the partition being backed up. For example, you probably
wouldn't need regular recurring backups of the OS
installation files if those are on the system. Other file
types like ZIPs, JPEGs, etc ... pre-compressed formats,
compress very little and might be best stored elsewhere,
especially if they're static, won't be changed and so an old
copy of them is just as good as a week-old copy.

Thanks for your detailed explanation. I understand now.
Don't know about Error 1810, if you provide more details
about the image creation and environment in which you're
(attempting to) opening it, that might provide more clues.

Error 1810 occurs when attempting to use Image Explorer to view a .pqi
image. It is the only file type Image Explorer opens, I guess. I am
using the GUI from WXP NTFS that is provided by the program
installation. I did find an explanation at Symantec.
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/powerquest.nsf/0b685d0feb12bb898825
6e970047cea7/0a1df22cb1ebad0e88256e75007c5fcc?OpenDocument&prod=Drive%20
Image&ver=2002&src=sg&pcode=dimage&svy=&csm=no

I am surmising my backup hard drive should be reformatted to a FAT32
partition rather than the NTFS it is now. Do you concur?
 
Error 1810 occurs when attempting to use Image Explorer to view a .pqi
image. It is the only file type Image Explorer opens, I guess. I am
using the GUI from WXP NTFS that is provided by the program
installation.

What exactly does that mean?
If you booted to WinXP as you normally would, then clicked
on the *.PQI file which was already successfully created,
and it did complete fine then, this file being now stored on
an NTFS volume with no permissions set, just the default
"everyone/all (Full Control)"... in that scenario, does it
not then open? In that scenario, it should open. If it
doesn't, check the file attributes, that system and/or
read-only are not set.



I did find an explanation at Symantec.
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/powerquest.nsf/0b685d0feb12bb898825
6e970047cea7/0a1df22cb1ebad0e88256e75007c5fcc?OpenDocument&prod=Drive%20
Image&ver=2002&src=sg&pcode=dimage&svy=&csm=no

I am surmising my backup hard drive should be reformatted to a FAT32
partition rather than the NTFS it is now. Do you concur?

If you boot to a floppy based DOS without NTFS support,
Image Explorer wouldn't be able to read the file. However,
I didn't think Image Explorer even supported DOS, so
presumably this must be in Windows? Any filesystem the OS
can use, that you can access, would be openable by Image
Explorer. The issue of NTFS would be one where you're
trying to create an image and it can't be written.

Symantec's idea of support isn't so great sometimes, and the
Drive Image documentation isn't either, but it would seem
that similar issues to what I mentioned would be one of
these (else something else, I"m out of ideas):

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/powerquest.nsf/pfdocs/2004049125658062?Open

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache...rive+Image+2002"+Error+1810&hl=en&lr=&strip=0

Other than a file attribute or permissions issue, what's
left might be a generalized program fault, if your memory is
faulty, producing errors, and you didn't verify the image
while it was being produced then perhaps it's corrupt. If
that's possible, try running Memtest86 for a few hours.
 
Error 1810 occurs when attempting to use Image Explorer to view a .pqi
image. It is the only file type Image Explorer opens, I guess. I am
using the GUI from WXP NTFS that is provided by the program
installation. I did find an explanation at Symantec.
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/powerquest.nsf/0b685d0feb12bb898825
6e970047cea7/0a1df22cb1ebad0e88256e75007c5fcc?OpenDocument&prod=Drive%20
Image&ver=2002&src=sg&pcode=dimage&svy=&csm=no

I am surmising my backup hard drive should be reformatted to a FAT32
partition rather than the NTFS it is now. Do you concur?

No, I agree with Kony and I suspect that its due to the file(s) having the
wrong attributes. If you're attempting to explore the back-up contents
directly from burnt CDs or DVDs then this is likely the problem as that sort
of media will not allow any writing under these circumstances. What you
would need to do is copy the backup CD/DVD contents all to a folder on the
hard drive and set the attributes away from read-only- it should then work.

Paul
 
Paul Murphy, 5/17/2005, 2:44:27 PM,
No, I agree with Kony and I suspect that its due to the file(s)
having the wrong attributes. If you're attempting to explore the
back-up contents directly from burnt CDs or DVDs then this is likely
the problem as that sort of media will not allow any writing under
these circumstances. What you would need to do is copy the backup
CD/DVD contents all to a folder on the hard drive and set the
attributes away from read-only- it should then work.

Paul

I am not home to check on the attributes or security settings of the
folder/files, but I can tell you that the image files are backed up to
the root of a hard drive.
 
I am not home to check on the attributes or security settings of the
folder/files, but I can tell you that the image files are backed up to
the root of a hard drive.

I copied a single (not spanned with *.00(n) files) *.PQI
file image to an NTFS volume, it's root. DI6 (2002) Image
Explorer opened it fine.

Now trying a couple of things...
I changed that file's attributes to read-only and archive,
and it still opened fine.

Then onto security settings- denied write access for
(everyone)... still opened fine. The only access needed to
open it is "read". However, keep in mind that "deny"
policies supercede "allow" policies so if you have logged in
as a member of a group that is denied read access, including
a setting where "everyone" is denied read access, the
"allow/read setting for the logged-in user will be
ignored/invalid/etc. This is with the inheritable
permissions from the parent removed. If it's using
inherited permissions then check the permissions of the root
volume.

So much for that... I'd expect this isn't the problem,
assuming you're able to open any other files in the root ok
(with other applicable programs per each file type of
course) ?
 
I copied a single (not spanned with *.00(n) files) *.PQI
file image to an NTFS volume, it's root. DI6 (2002) Image
Explorer opened it fine.

Now trying a couple of things...
I changed that file's attributes to read-only and archive,
and it still opened fine.

Then onto security settings- denied write access for
(everyone)... still opened fine. The only access needed to
open it is "read". However, keep in mind that "deny"
policies supercede "allow" policies so if you have logged in
as a member of a group that is denied read access, including
a setting where "everyone" is denied read access, the
"allow/read setting for the logged-in user will be
ignored/invalid/etc. This is with the inheritable
permissions from the parent removed. If it's using
inherited permissions then check the permissions of the root
volume.

So much for that... I'd expect this isn't the problem,
assuming you're able to open any other files in the root ok
(with other applicable programs per each file type of
course) ?

I have granted Full Access to Everyone for the entire root directory of
the D: drive where the .pqi files reside. It continues to give me the
same Error 1810. Special Permissions are grayed out.

I looked at permissions for the individual files and the only user is
System with Full Access except for Special Permissions that are grayed
out.
 
I have granted Full Access to Everyone for the entire root directory of
the D: drive where the .pqi files reside. It continues to give me the
same Error 1810. Special Permissions are grayed out.

I looked at permissions for the individual files and the only user is
System with Full Access except for Special Permissions that are grayed
out.

Try adding users (try Everyone) to that specific file(s)
(all of them in same image), with full access (being lazy,
as mentioned previously only "read" for the specific user
was necessary when I tried it). You do need more permission
than only System.

Had you previously changed these settings? Typically the
permissions from the parent are propigated.
 
Try adding users (try Everyone) to that specific file(s)
(all of them in same image), with full access (being lazy,
as mentioned previously only "read" for the specific user
was necessary when I tried it). You do need more permission
than only System.

Adding user Everyone and granting Full Access has done the trick. I am
able to view image files now and even restore individual files.
Had you previously changed these settings? Typically the
permissions from the parent are propigated.

If I changed the settings it was done a long time ago. However since I
granted Full Access to the entire drive a little while ago it should
have propagated to the individual files, as you say.

Thank you for your help, kony.
 
: Pardon me if this is off topic but I figure there are many people here
: who use backup software and can answer this question because Symantec
: certainly doesn't have anything in their Knowledge Base.
:
: Powerquest Drive Image 2002 creates .pqi files and .002, .003, .004,
: etc files when making images. It seems the .pqi file is the actual
: image, but what are the other files? They are the same size as the
: .pqi files and take up lots of room. I would like to delete them to
: save space but don't really want to test it out by restoring an image
: over a perfectly good installation.
:
: Also, why doesn't Image Explorer actually open an image? I get an
: Error 1810: image file cannot be accessed. I am an administrator
: profile and trying to access the image from the same profile that
: created it.
:
: Thanks for any answers.
:
: --
: No matter what happens someone will find a way to take it too seriously.

Are you using 2002 instead of Drive Image 7 because you haven't
upgraded or just because that's your choice? I'm asking because
2002 comes with 7 and it sounded newer to me until I realized that
7 was the newer. Symantec is kind of shitty about putting stuff in the
program to make you upgrade, it seems to me, although I like the
program a lot and have used it for years.
 
cat said:
: Pardon me if this is off topic but I figure there are many people
here : who use backup software and can answer this question because
Symantec : certainly doesn't have anything in their Knowledge Base.
:
: Powerquest Drive Image 2002 creates .pqi files and .002, .003, .004,
: etc files when making images. It seems the .pqi file is the actual
: image, but what are the other files? They are the same size as the
: .pqi files and take up lots of room. I would like to delete them to
: save space but don't really want to test it out by restoring an
image : over a perfectly good installation.
:
: Also, why doesn't Image Explorer actually open an image? I get an
: Error 1810: image file cannot be accessed. I am an administrator
: profile and trying to access the image from the same profile that
: created it.
:
: Thanks for any answers.
:
: --
: No matter what happens someone will find a way to take it too
seriously.

Are you using 2002 instead of Drive Image 7 because you haven't
upgraded or just because that's your choice? I'm asking because
2002 comes with 7 and it sounded newer to me until I realized that
7 was the newer. Symantec is kind of shitty about putting stuff in the
program to make you upgrade, it seems to me, although I like the
program a lot and have used it for years.

The disk says Powerquest Drive Image 2002. This was made before
Symantec bought them out. As far as I know Drive Image has been
discontinued and it is Norton Ghost now. Is that true?
 
The disk says Powerquest Drive Image 2002. This was made before
Symantec bought them out. As far as I know Drive Image has been
discontinued and it is Norton Ghost now. Is that true?

Version 6/2002 is the last version of it's kind that is
self-contained and runs from a simple DOS floppy (except for
the image explorer). Later versions are incredibly bloated
and require window support along with .net framework but the
benefit can be more support for alternative device access,
like USB. I usually use v6 so somone else might better
advise on the feature additions of v7. If v6 works for your
needed purpose then there is no gain ton v7, though v7 does
include v6 on the disc, IIRC.

Doing something like launching Image Explorer with v6, you
could do over a lan without actually installing the
Driveimage suite on the host system. Not sure about v7 but
I do believe much if not all of it has to be installed on
the host... which is sort of silly when the only thing most
would need within windows is the Image explorer.
Personally I like having (all of) it on a thumbdrive
instead, minus the image files themselves. Thumbdrive also
has plenty of room for network adapter drivers, the main
limitation is then if the particular system can boot from a
thumbdrive.
 
: On 23 May 2005 02:26:43 GMT, "badgolferman"
:
:
: >> Are you using 2002 instead of Drive Image 7 because you haven't
: >> upgraded or just because that's your choice? I'm asking because
: >> 2002 comes with 7 and it sounded newer to me until I realized that
: >> 7 was the newer. Symantec is kind of shitty about putting stuff in the
: >> program to make you upgrade, it seems to me, although I like the
: >> program a lot and have used it for years.
: >
: >The disk says Powerquest Drive Image 2002. This was made before
: >Symantec bought them out. As far as I know Drive Image has been
: >discontinued and it is Norton Ghost now. Is that true?
:
: Version 6/2002 is the last version of it's kind that is
: self-contained and runs from a simple DOS floppy (except for
: the image explorer). Later versions are incredibly bloated
: and require window support along with .net framework but the
: benefit can be more support for alternative device access,
: like USB. I usually use v6 so somone else might better
: advise on the feature additions of v7. If v6 works for your
: needed purpose then there is no gain ton v7, though v7 does
: include v6 on the disc, IIRC.
:
: Doing something like launching Image Explorer with v6, you
: could do over a lan without actually installing the
: Driveimage suite on the host system. Not sure about v7 but
: I do believe much if not all of it has to be installed on
: the host... which is sort of silly when the only thing most
: would need within windows is the Image explorer.
: Personally I like having (all of) it on a thumbdrive
: instead, minus the image files themselves. Thumbdrive also
: has plenty of room for network adapter drivers, the main
: limitation is then if the particular system can boot from a
: thumbdrive.

That's a great idea, to have a bootable USB drive, that's a
thumb, right? Version 7 is cool for me. I back up one multi-
boot drive on the other's partition and vice versa. It does
do network restores but I'm not sure about backups, but
I would guess it does.

When you boot from a thumbdrive you don't have to worry
about the configuration of the drive because you are booting
from the Symantec supplied, generic OS, right?
 
On Mon, 23 May 2005 02:40:27 -0700, "cat rancher"

Thumbdrive also
: has plenty of room for network adapter drivers, the main
: limitation is then if the particular system can boot from a
: thumbdrive.

That's a great idea, to have a bootable USB drive, that's a
thumb, right?

Yes, or whatever your particular system (motherboard via
it's bios settings) is actually able to boot from. IIRC, at
least one system with a flash card reader in it can boot
flash cards as well... know it did with CF, maybe SD but I'm
not sure about SD.

Version 7 is cool for me. I back up one multi-
boot drive on the other's partition and vice versa. It does
do network restores but I'm not sure about backups, but
I would guess it does.

IIRC it does allow incremental backups, though I don't know
if I'd use DI for that rather than more common compressed
archive formats.

When you boot from a thumbdrive you don't have to worry
about the configuration of the drive because you are booting
from the Symantec supplied, generic OS, right?

What do you mean by "configuration of the drive"?
You'd need to make it bootable via the thumbdrive
manufacturer's utility or find one on the 'net. HP has one,
http://www.google.com/search?q=HPUSBFW

Then copy the files from the floppies DI makes, to the
thumbdrive. It's essentially just a flash version of a DOS
boot disk then for the purposes of running DI, so anything
you could do with such a floppy you can do to the
thumbdrive, except there's a whole lot more room on it.
Well, IIRC DI does make two floppies, you'd copy them both
to same thumb.
 
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