Disc Clone Software

[Roadhog]

Hey guys, I need some advice.


What Disc Clone software do you guys use?

I have been using Norton Ghost 2003 for 2-3 years now. I like the program quite a bit. I go to advanced tab and clone, and pick the source and destination drives, and let it do its thing. This is the only feature I am interested in.

There is a problem however, it does not seem to want to work with WindowsXP Service Pack 2. This is one reason I still run SP1.

I was wondering if you guys have had good luck with any products out there?

Thanx

[BipolarBill]

I had no problems with Ghost 2003 under SP2. Did you use the floppy? Did you update Ghost with Live Update?

Acronis and Ghost 9.0 work fine, but they are slower at cloning because you have to boot from CD.

[jflan]

I use Acronis 8.0

Here's another, but I haven't tried it, so use at your own risk:

http://www.xxclone.com/

[Midknyte]

I use DI7 (Basically Ghost 9). Either TI or Ghost would be fine, especially for SATA drives.

[crossedup]

So I take it you are using Ghost from within windows? I didnt like the way it worked that way myself, too buggy.

the rig I use for ghosting and cloning is set up for that purpose. It has 3 partitions and 2 operating systems, W98, W2K and the third partition is for the images ( the largest ), all 3 partitions have the ghostpe.exe file in the root ( overkill ). The windows 98 install is set through msconfig to go to the startup menu. There I just choose command prompt only and run ghostpe.exe. I have no mouse this way but the tab key and arrows work just fine.

Ive got 2 setup that way and it has worked very well for me, easier than booting from the floppy or the CD. Dont know if this helps you any but thought id throw it out there.

:t

[Roadhog]

Thanks for the responses.


Jflan Acronis 8.0, I have heard of it, but never used it.

Mid-I do have sata drivers, I should have posted my specs, and will at end.

Cross-yea, I have been using ghost through windows, do not know any other way. BTW I am confused on that post lol

Bill--can you give me a quck low down on how you use Ghost 2003 from floppy, maybe that is all I need to do. I have used the noron update. It is probably just because I am using Ghost from windows, and not from floppy.

I also have Norton Ghost 9.0 (I think I still have it any way). Is this version any better?

My Specs are:

intel 2.4bGHZ o/c 3.1GHZ
ASUS P4PE
Crucial 2x pc3200 (512), and 1x pc2700 (256) for total 1.25mb
ATI X800XT AIW
2 Western Digital Raptor 36 gig drives in Raid0
1 IDE Western Digital 80GIG "SE" 8 meg ram 7200rpm (as Master)
1 Segate Barracuda IDE running as (slave) to the WD 2mb ram edition 7200rpm
1 Liteon 1673s DVD Drive
1 Floppy Drive

Right now I have an sp1 running on the WD IDE so I can clone from partition to partition. Between the 4 drives I have 6 partitions (7 if you include a partition I have set aside for a swap file.

I am kind of interested in how to run the 2003 version of Norton Ghost from floppy, as I have never tried that. If Bill says it will work, it will probably work, unless OE on my end.

Thanx all

[Midknyte]

if you have sata raid, then look into TI or Ghost 9+. the program has to recognize the sata raid controller. Ghost9 and 10 boot from the cd, similar to the winxp setup. you then insert the sata raid driver floppy using the f6 option.

[BipolarBill]

Open up the Ghost console and look around. There's a selection for creating a Ghost disk. Try Ghost Utilities > Norton Ghost Boot Wizard. Create a basic disk.

Boot the PC with the disk. From the menu, choose Local > Drive/Partition to Drive/Partition/Image. It's not that hard. You can reverse an Image process by choosing Local > Drive/Partition > From Image and browse to the image.

Just be sure to use common sense naming conventions so that you can easily find your images.

[Roadhog]

Is there a Windows based (WindowsXP), that will run and work from windows.

I used Norton Ghost from windows mode for a long time, never any problems. Then service pack 2, and no go.

[Roadhog]

Thanks Bill, I will give it a try.

[Midknyte]

TI and Ghost 9+ both work from within windows.

[Roadhog]

Bill

If you use Ghost using a floppy. I see a problem in there is no log to view after the clone correct? Or is there a log some where?

Rick

[BipolarBill]

Read the PDF that came with it. There are all kinds of switches and arguments that you can run with Ghost.

[Roadhog]

Read the PDF that came with it. There are all kinds of switches and arguments that you can run with Ghost.

Read down the list of switches and did not see one for a log. Not a problem any way Bill, as I tried TI (True Image), and I did not like that one. I also tried Norton Ghost 9, and although it is OK, I still like Ghost 2003 better for some reason. The Ghost 9 has a nicer looking interface I guess, but to me, the 2003 version is easier to understand. The way it lists the partitions and drives in 2003 to me makes more sense.

I made a ghost boot floppy so just in case I get into trouble, I can use it (thanks for the instructions-that made it easy). I am just going to continue the way I have been, using one partition on the ide disc drive with a copy of windows and ghost 2003, and boot to that when I need to clone to the main windows partition. To me it is easier then booting from the ghost floppies. I am 51, and grew up on DOS, so it is not that the DOS environment is any great mystery to me, it just seems easier to do it from windows (although be it from another drive and another copy of windows).

Thanks for you help Bill

[Roadhog]

TI and Ghost 9+ both work from within windows.

Well Mid, I am not sure about TI (I assume you meant True Image--you never answered my question as to what you meant by TI :D ). I tried that program (True Image), and did not like it. I did not spend a bunch of time, BUT, "It Seemed" the clone option wanted to clone a complete drive, even if you only wanted to clone a partition from a drive. Again, I did not like it enough to spend much time with it. I just did not like the "feel" of it.

I have Ghost 9 (I assume by 9+, you mean any version after 9, I am just guessing here).

Although Ghost 9 does work from windows (as does Ghost 2003), if you are working in your c drive (windows), you can not clone to your c drive (in other words write over your current windows partition). I tried Ghost 9 for a while and when I tried to clone to the c partition, it said ghost could not do that (it wanted rescue cd's or something).

So in the end, ghost 9 does not work in windows if you want to clone to your current windows directory (which is I want to do all the time--kind of the whole purpose for me lol).

Any way thanks for you recommendations, but I guess I will just keep using my own work around for Norton Ghost 2003.

Before Windowsxp Service Pack 2, Norton Ghost 2003 would work from with in windows, even when you wanted to clone "to" the partition you were currently in--it would just reboot itself into dos type mode and go about it's business as always. After SP2, the log states it was not successful (although I think it may be successful, but not report it as so). To be on the safe side, I will continue to use a seperate partition with windows and sp1 to "clone around" ( :D :D )

[Midknyte]

yeah, TI= True Image. didn't see where you asked.

Ghost 10 is out already. 9+ means what you thought.

Ghost 9+ can make an image of the boot partition and copy the other partitions from windows. i think you mean you're trying to restore an image over windows while in windows. you can't do that. you need to boot from the cd as I stated earlier. there are no programs i know of that can write over itself.

can't you just make an image file, then restore that to a new drive? i don't see why you need to do a straight clone.

[Roadhog]

yeah, TI= True Image. didn't see where you asked.

Ghost 10 is out already. 9+ means what you thought.

Ghost 9+ can make an image of the boot partition and copy the other partitions from windows. i think you mean you're trying to restore an image over windows while in windows. you can't do that. you need to boot from the cd as I stated earlier. there are no programs i know of that can write over itself.

can't you just make an image file, then restore that to a new drive? i don't see why you need to do a straight clone.


Mid

"There are no programs that can write over itself" (Ghost 2003 could and did before Windows SP2 update). That was the beauty of Ghost 2003 to me. I am not sure what changed in sp2, but it broke my heart lol. I am still running sp1 because of this.

To be honest, I do not see much (any) difference between sp1 and sp2, other then some programs call out for it. If I ran sp2, I would turn off the software firewall etc. any way as I run a hardware firewall (like most here I am sure).

Thanks for the responses. The two programs were worth a try. Ghost 9 is not bad, and if I have to change one of these days for some reason, I would go with that.

PS As far as making an image file: I find it just as easy to boot from my IDE drive, and clone partition to partition to get the results, then boot back from my raid0 and I have my new image. I do have to have another copy of windows installed, but it is already done, so the dirty work is over with. I was just hoping for a better program but I suppose there is none at this time (maybe because that is the way ms wants it?)

[Midknyte]

maybe i'm thinking of it in different terms. oh well.

Ghost 9 is pretty straightforward. Norton basically bought out PowerQuest, repackaged Drive Image 7 and sold it as Ghost 9.

The only thing is that Ghost 9&10 do require .NET, but a lot of things are starting to require .NET, like the ATI CCC.

You might as well get Ghost 10 if anything.

Fare thee well...

[Roadhog]

Mid...You said "can't you just make an image file, then restore that to a new drive? i don't see why you need to do a straight clone."

I thought cloning a partition was in effect the same as cloning an image?

What I want is a backup of my windowsxp. It is pretty large, as I have games and utilities on there, so it takes up close to 30 gigs. I clone this over to a backup partition, so I can play and try things out, and then at the end of the day, clone the partition back over from the backup partition.

I am not sure what the difference is between an image file you refer to, and the cloned (I guess I would call it an image on the backup partition). As I have it, the 30 gigs is about the size of the whole backup partition.

I do not see any other way to do it since what I want to backup is so large. It takes about 17-18 minutes to clone that thing back over. I like doing it partition to partition, as I find that if I get a virus or any thing, I am just 17-18 minutes away from a clean install.

You guys do it different? If so fill me in bud! I am all ears.

[Midknyte]

cloning is making an exact copy of your drive onto another drive. it would be fully bootable and operational if you decided to swap out the drives. you would do this if you were upgrading from a smaller drive to a larger drive.

creating an image file is making a usually compressed snapshot file of your drive. you could then backup this image file onto another media, like an external hdd or a dvd. in case something happens to your drive, you can do a restore from your backup image. this is how OEMs make "restore" cds for their computers.

I have 2 partitions on my hdd. i run DI7/Ghost from windows to make a snapshot of my boot partition and save this image file on the second partition. then I copy that to an external usb hdd. if i want to do a restore, I boot from the DI7 cd, choose the image, and choose restore. that's about it. you can't restore the boot partition from windows. it will tell you to boot from the cd.

Go to the Ghost 10 website and read more about it.
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/backup_recovery/ghost10/index.html

you should have a separate partition for your data anyway. backup your data periodically and only make images of your system partition.

[Roadhog]

Mid

Thanks for taking the time out to explain. I think we may be talking some what of the same thing, but using different terms.

I clone a partition (not a drive). But, Ghost 2003 kind of sees a partition as a drive (which is what I like about it). And, yea, when I clone a partition, it is to be bootable (but I could also clone the data partition).

BTW I do also have a seperate data partition lol.

Yes, you could take this cloned partition and copy it on any drive, or any drive set up with multiple partitions, and it would be a working partition (on the same computer of course because of chipsets etc.). By a working partition, I mean it would boot windows.

Backing it up to cd/dvd would be ok for an emergency, but how slow that must be.

I will go to the web page and read about Ghost 10, to see if I can make heads or tails our of the jibberish lol. I have Ghost 2003 and Ghost 9. I would have to pay a large price for Ghost 10, and it seems it would not do what I want any way.

As I said, Ghost 2003 you could clone a working image, partition, or drive to the current windows directory you were workin in (this was before SP2). It worked some what the way Partition Magic (if you ever used that) worked, where you told it what to do and it would reboot and automatically do its thing, and reboot and do another task until done. I am telling you Mid, it was a beautiful thing. Then came SP2. SP2 ruined the whole thing lol.

As far as net and ccc for the ati cards, yea I know, the ccc wants net. There is another program in that aiw mess that can use (net 2.0) also. I tried the ccc, and was not impressed. I use the device drivers, the wdm drivers, the control panel, and ATI tool.

Thanks again for you time dude. I have it under control, but will do some more reading on it just for info. Since Ghost 2003 does not work the way it used to, there is probably something in windows SP2 that prevents cloning over the current partition, maybe for security reasons.