Ghost or "System Restore"?

[bob05]

Hi,

My mobo came with Norton AV and Ghost. Now It's a given I "should" install AV but what about Ghost? The key perk with Windows ME is the system restore. But I don't want stuff slowing my system down? What should i do, Install Ghost or use System Restore?

[BipolarBill]

Since you can only use Ghost by booting from floppy, use both. Every week or so, run Ghost and image C to a file on another drive. Don't overwrite the old one if you can avoid it. Make one and call it Oddweek.gho and the other Evenweek.gho. That way you'll always have two backups.

[bob05]

so Ghost is like System Restore except system restore makes an image of the drive automaticly?:confused:

[BipolarBill]

Joo got it!

Ghost is waaaay more reliable though.

[bob05]

i think i will stick with System Restore.

Thanxs

[BipolarBill]

Mistake. :eek:

[Foggy]

bob05
Listen to BipolarBill.:r

[Midknyte]

I would use Ghost if I were you.
System restore takes a big chunk of resources, but it can help you undo damage, such as a bad video driver.

The other problem is that some virus fixes require you to disable system restore (FixKlez is one). Make sure to update your virus signatures and run a scan before you do a Ghost image.

If something catastrophic happens to your system, such as a hard drive failure, system restore won't help you at all. With Ghost, you can burn a cd with your image and recover from it onto a new hard drive. (This is before the failure, of course). Bottom line: System Restore is like an "undo", Ghost is a real backup. :D

[bob05]

oh, If i can't boot Windows system restore is useless. Now if i only had a burner......................

[Midknyte]

You can save the Ghost image on a second hard drive if you don't have a burner. I just think it would be easier to put it on a CD. I use Drive Image Pro most of the time, but Ghost is pretty much the same. I created a boot disk scripted to erase the hard drive and automatically run the image restore. I used Nero to create a bootable cd and burned the image file and boot disk to it. Now, all i have to do is pop the cd in the drive, power up, and let it run. Takes about 10-15 minutes and voila!

[BipolarBill]

A burner is cool, but a second hard drive is better fo Ghosting. As a matter of fact, A second drive in a mobile bay is the best. You Ghost, remove and store.

[rick42]

bob, go with Bill. Ghost is the way to go.

I use a variation: use XOSL to select by OS at boot time. I can boot normally, or boot from my old copy. This gives me fast access to old versions for compares.

For DRP, ghost to a spare/small disk. Just make sure your data files are on another partition. :D

[jrb420]

I don't want to sound presumptuous, but System Restore works a little differently than described here. Anyone remember the old scanreg with Win98? That's all it is, with a nifty Windows interface. All it does is back up your registry. It's a good thing to use if you modify your settings and tweak a lot, but it is not made as a back up utility. My opinion, go with BipolarBill 's suggestion and use both.

[smelanson]

I couldn't agree more with Bill, you you really mess Windows system restore won't matter but Ghost will always be there.

[BJUK]

Go with Bill.
I use ghost to a second HD only takes 10minits to backup 8.5 gig of data. then just pull the power plug on the HD (WITH THE COMPUTER SHUT DOWN). one Quick backup.

[Strawbs]

Unless M$ has fixed Me Restore recently, it's **** and doesn't always work reliably, and it doesn't make back-ups at crucial times. XP restore is a lot better. But with Me you should go with Bill (sorry) ghost. :D

[kazuza]

After all the opinions from WHO KNOWS what they are doing, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? :mad: