how do you tell if ghost has been used?

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zincpenny

i'm a newbie and suspect the local pc shop ghosted this very sick
thing when they built it for my parents cuz the shop told my parents it
could be made like the day they got it in no time if they screw it up
for the cost of a $75 in-shop fee. how can i tell if theres a ghost or
similar image partition hidden on the drive? if there is a norton ghost
image are there freeware or shareware programs you can use to recover
it? btw, the puter shop went belly up soon after they got it last year.
lol
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote...
i'm a newbie and suspect the local pc shop ghosted this very sick
thing when they built it for my parents cuz the shop told my parents it
could be made like the day they got it in no time if they screw it up
for the cost of a $75 in-shop fee. how can i tell if theres a ghost or
similar image partition hidden on the drive? if there is a norton ghost
image are there freeware or shareware programs you can use to recover
it? btw, the puter shop went belly up soon after they got it last year.
lol
Click to expand...


They probably has a ghost image kept in their store, not on your pc.
Think about it. If you screw up your hard drive, the ghost on your
hard drive will be gone as well. That is why backup should be stored
off site.

It is very simple for youself to ghost your hard drive, and restore
it in case diaster happens.

If you cannot do this simple job by yourself, it is very reasonable
for them to charge you $75. I think it is a fair game.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote
i'm a newbie and suspect the local pc shop ghosted this very
sick thing when they built it for my parents cuz the shop told
my parents it could be made like the day they got it in no
time if they screw it up for the cost of a $75 in-shop fee.
Click to expand...

Unlikely. Its much more likely that they just setup the
PCs they flog by cloning a canned install onto them.

So they can do that again for a fee if the customer mangles it completely.
how can i tell if theres a ghost or similar
image partition hidden on the drive?
Click to expand...

Basically by comparing the space occupied by the files you
can see plus the free space you can see with the total capacity
of the hard drive. Any hidden image partition will be the difference.
if there is a norton ghost image are there freeware
or shareware programs you can use to recover it?
Click to expand...

No, but ghost 9 isnt that expensive off ebay and it will restore
any older image created by any version of ghost or drive image.
btw, the puter shop went belly up soon after they got it last year. lol
Click to expand...

Life wasnt meant to be purely belly down.
 
Previously said:
i'm a newbie and suspect the local pc shop ghosted this very sick
thing when they built it for my parents cuz the shop told my parents it
could be made like the day they got it in no time if they screw it up
for the cost of a $75 in-shop fee. how can i tell if theres a ghost or
similar image partition hidden on the drive? if there is a norton ghost
image are there freeware or shareware programs you can use to recover
it? btw, the puter shop went belly up soon after they got it last year.
lol
Click to expand...

Probably they remove the disk, connect it to a computer used only for
copying and then remount it. If they are smart they do the same thing
over the network instead, e.g. with a KNOPPIX CD and some small scripts
on floppy.

I did a system to install 18 PCs in a student lab from an image
some years ago. It used tomsrtbt single floppy linux. The floppies
were modified to static IP addresses (each different) and had
a small installation scrip added. The image comes via FTP from a
server. Just pop in a floppy, plug a cable into the computer and
the FTP server (use swithes to do this with multiple computers)
and switch the PC on. Half an hour later the installation is
done with no further user input.

Arno
 
....If you cannot do this simple job by yourself, it is very reasonable
for them to charge you $75. I think it is a fair game....
so i'm suppossed to have the experience to know what they did without
my giving approval and have software they may have used at my
fingertips and know how to use if i want to repeat it or undo it or
even find out what they did? i'm not trying to make a ghost which you
say is so easy but decide if they did it and learn how to get at it
without it costing me buying the software and discovering it doesn't
have a ghost on it at all.
when you talk to your dentist or auto mechanic do they tell you you
should already know how to fill cavities or drop a transmission cuz i
may have done it to you or for someone you know?
 
i'm not trying to make a ghost which you
say is so easy but decide if they did it and learn how to get at it
without it costing me buying the software and discovering it doesn't
have a ghost on it at all.
Click to expand...

It won't have a ghost image on it. The ghost image is on a CD/DVD
or hard disk of the company that sold it.

Only large outfits like Dell put the ghost image on the actual individual
PCs.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote...
so i'm suppossed to have the experience to know what they did without
my giving approval and have software they may have used at my
fingertips and know how to use if i want to repeat it or undo it or
even find out what they did?
Click to expand...

They are not backing up any top secret of yours on the PC without your
prior approval.
They don't need your approval to backup the hard drive *before selling you*
the PC. They bought the backup software themselves. They have every right
to back up the hard drive before selling the PC to you.

i'm not trying to make a ghost which you
say is so easy
Click to expand...

If you want to know how other people backup a hard drive, why don't you try
it yourself?
when you talk to your dentist or auto mechanic do they tell you you
should already know how to fill cavities or drop a transmission cuz i
may have done it to you or for someone you know?
Click to expand...

Backing up a hard drive is not like doing a dental procedure or fixing your
car's
transmission. Backup / restore a hard drive to/from a ghost image is as simple
as
copying a file between your PC and a floppy. The only proble is ...
but decide if they did it and learn how to get at it
without it costing me buying the software
Click to expand...

So you want free lunch! Just ask your parents!
and discovering it doesn't have a ghost on it at all.
Click to expand...

People told you that there is not much chance to find a ghost there on your
hard
drive.

Don't waste your time trying to discover something that is not like to exist.
When you say something, be reasonable.
Don't assume other people owe you something.
Don't assume there is free lunch.
Don't assume you can restore a ghost image without buying the software.
Don't assume you can restore a ghost image without doing a backup first.
Don't assume you can find a hidden ghost without learning how to hide one
yourself.

Grow up, kid.
 
...If you cannot do this simple job by yourself, it is very reasonable
for them to charge you $75. I think it is a fair game....
so i'm suppossed to have the experience to know what they did without
my giving approval and have software they may have used at my
fingertips and know how to use if i want to repeat it or undo it or
even find out what they did? i'm not trying to make a ghost which you
say is so easy but decide if they did it and learn how to get at it
without it costing me buying the software and discovering it doesn't
have a ghost on it at all.
when you talk to your dentist or auto mechanic do they tell you you
should already know how to fill cavities or drop a transmission cuz i
may have done it to you or for someone you know?
Click to expand...

I'm not clear on what you're on about.

If there is an image, it is unlikely to be on your machine. Normal practice
in any computer manufacturing operation that does more than onesey twosey
volume is to prepare a set of standard system images, store those images on
one of their machines, and when building a new machine simply copy that
image onto a new disk and then install that disk in the new machine. They
can restore your machine to its original condition by repeating that
process.

If you want to know if they have put a hidden restore partition on your
disk, then why don't you just _ask_ them? Unless, however, the machine is
from a very high volume manufacturer such as Dell it's unlikely that there
will be such a partition--using one generally requires a special BIOS.

I'm a bit puzzled by your comment about "what they did without my giving
approval". What did you expect to be given an opportunity to approve?
 
i'm not trying to make a ghost
Click to expand...

you better not, it could backfire, especially so shortly before halloween.
when you talk to your dentist or auto mechanic do they tell you you
should already know how to fill cavities or drop a transmission
Click to expand...

if you want it done for free, that might be just what you hear :)

gerhard
 
What special bios do you need to have a partition with an image on it?
I can partition a disk, put an image on it, then hide it with off the
shelf utilities.
 
What special bios do you need to have a partition with an image on it?
I can partition a disk, put an image on it, then hide it with off the
shelf utilities.
Click to expand...

And anyone can list partitions, unhide it and copy its content. Some OS-es
can interrogate hidden partitions and be confused by what is there.
"Better" approach is to have a special BIOS, modify standard disk geometry
and store "image" using proprietary tools, outside of custom disk address
space. That way no OS can see that "partition".
 
What special bios do you need to have a partition with an image on it?
I can partition a disk, put an image on it, then hide it with off the
shelf utilities.
Click to expand...

All that's fine. Now, can you boot from it and recover the machine without
first booting from some other disk?
 
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