Ghost in Norton Systemworks Pro 2004

  • Thread starter Thread starter Art Vandelay
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A

Art Vandelay

I am thinking of using Ghost to create a backup image of a Win XP Home
SP1 installation and have a lot of basic questions about Ghost, specifically
the version that is included in Norton Systemworks Pro 2004.

I haven't had much luck getting clear info from Symantec, so I am hoping
that someone in this group has experience with this specific version.

Is this a full version of Ghost?

Will the install program let me install Ghost only, without installing the
other utils?

Will it "bundle" images of 2 partitions in one backup image?

Will it create a backup image(s) on a separate partition on the same drive?
On DVD disks?
On spanned CDR disks?
On a drive or partition on another PC over a peer-to-peer network?

Does the partition that the backup is written to have to be the same
filesystem (NTFS)?

Is a backup image just one huge file that can be copied/moved just like any
other file?

Are there license and/or activation restrictions against using it to back up
more than one of my PCs?

Is this a good backup strategy for creating regular backups of an XP
installation?

Are there any issues that I need to be aware of?

Thanks for any info.

Arthur
 
Answers inline with ***

Art Vandelay said:
I am thinking of using Ghost to create a backup image of a Win XP Home
SP1 installation and have a lot of basic questions about Ghost, specifically
the version that is included in Norton Systemworks Pro 2004.

I haven't had much luck getting clear info from Symantec, so I am hoping
that someone in this group has experience with this specific version.

Is this a full version of Ghost?
Click to expand...
*** Norton Ghost 2003 most likely
Functionality Comparison
The following Symantec Ghost Corporate Edition features are not included in
Norton Ghost:
Adjustable multicast data throughput
Client initiated cloning
Ghost console used for centralized management
Application patch deployment
Incremental backup for disaster recovery
Antivirus migration toolkit
License audit utility
Licensed for implementation on multiple operating systems or hard drives
Deploy multiple images simultaneously to multiple computers
GhostCast server
Will the install program let me install Ghost only, without installing the
other utils?
Click to expand...
*** You can always install it in full. Browse, copy wanted components,
uninstall.
Will it "bundle" images of 2 partitions in one backup image?
Click to expand...
*** Whole disk (all partitions) or a single partition in one pass
Will it create a backup image(s) on a separate partition on the same
Click to expand...
drive?
*** If you select other partition - yes. But not the whole disk.
On DVD disks?
Click to expand...
*** Selected/certified drives only
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...56a0d004ca98e&dtype=&prod=&ver=&osv=&osv_lvl=
On spanned CDR disks?
Click to expand...
*** Sure, but again, on selected drives only (it uses packet writing)
On a drive or partition on another PC over a peer-to-peer network?
Click to expand...
*** Sure, plenty of options available. Be prepared for some customization
and testing to achieve stable and fast results.
Does the partition that the backup is written to have to be the same
filesystem (NTFS)?
Click to expand...
*** No. You can put image on FAT16, FAT32 or NTFS.
Is a backup image just one huge file that can be copied/moved just like any
other file?
Click to expand...
*** Yes, up to 2.0GB. If larger image is needed, it will be split to 2.0GB
(or smaller) files.
Are there license and/or activation restrictions against using it to back up
more than one of my PCs? *** Read license agreement.

Is this a good backup strategy for creating regular backups of an XP
installation?
Click to expand...
*** If you define "regular backups". That is a very wide term. I use it for
disaster recovery purpose.
If you want to archive data, winzip + DVD burning software works for me.
Are there any issues that I need to be aware of?
Click to expand...
*** Lots. Depends how you plan to use this product. But it gets the job
done.
Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...
*** You are welcome.
And I fully agree with you. Symantec moderated help support group is good
for some things but not very helpfull or knowledgable.
 
Are there any issues that I need to be aware of?

Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...

The other reply answered the rest of your questions I think. Just a few
things I wanted to add. Some of it is specific to Ghost 8, and it's
possible you won't have the same issues with Ghost 2003, particularly the
boot image issue, because Ghost 2003 ghost.exe is smaller than the one for
Ghost 8, and can fit on a single boot disk.

- The knowledge base is a little weak and conflicting. It really doesn't
answer some questions clearly. For example, when it comes to making
bootable recovery CDs or DVDs, one article suggests using boot disks which
load CD/DVD drivers, while another says to never use that unless your
CD/DVD drive is not supported. Neither works for me, because either way,
Ghost 8 needs two boot disks because the ghost.exe file is so much bigger
than previous versions. When the bootable DVD script runs, it only prompts
you for a single boot disk, not two, so it never gets ghost.exe onto the
bootable DVD, nor could it even if it wanted, at least not part as the boot
image, because they limit the boot image to 1.44MB (as far as I can tell).

Other issues I've had are mostly poor performance on various SCSI
controllers and networks. Sometimes I've been able to find the command
line options to speed it up, other times not. In other cases, I've gone
and used other disk imaging software just to get the imaging done faster /
easier. But I've been using Ghost since it first came out, and LinkWiz
before that, so old habits die hard. I intend to do some more testing with
Acronis and Drive Image.

There are a lot of features in Ghost 8 I do like, writing to NTFS, writing
to DVDs (if I could just get the bootable part to work), and the -Z9 for
max compression. You never know what to expect from compression options,
but I was nicely surprised with 8 to 10% better reduction than "High". It
is slower, but in this case I only do it once, and the priority is fitting
as many images as possible on DVD or CD. In the compression world, I think
that's a pretty nice improvement. The only downside is it looks like I
have to extract / recompress all images by hand. It would be nice if Ghost
Explorer allowed you to batch process images... they have the compile
option, they just need to include the option to bump up the compression and
do multiple images in a batch.
 
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