Re: Norton Ghost problem


"George" <null@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:05mdnUYKk-pZmdfVnZ2dnUVZ_u2dnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Using Norton Ghost 2003 on a Windows XP SP2 notebook.

When I try to use Backup, I get as far as the DOS screen, which
stays up 3 or 4 seconds, then returns into Windows without running
Ghost.

When I try to use Clone, all activity stopped at 39% completion,
it just sat there, and I had to use Ctrl-Alt-Del to boot back into
Windows. But worse than that, the target drive, an external drive
connected to USB, now is not accessible. Error message reads
"File or directory is corrupted and unreadable".

How can I get Ghost to make a backup or clone?

Thanks for any help.

George


George:
While we rarely use Ghost 2003 program any more for disk-to-disk cloning, I
do have some step-by-step instructions for using that program that we
prepared in response to a request we rec'd some time ago from a local
computer club for the use of their members who were using, or planning to
use that program.

We've routinely used the Ghost 2003 program over the years (up to about
three years ago) in an XP environment for disk-to-disk cloning in a few
thousand machines. By & large it was (and is) a reliable program when used
the way I'm going to describe but with a few quirks.

We rarely, if ever used the program via the Windows GUI program and we
rarely, if ever used the program's disk-imaging capability.

We used the program exclusively through the DOS interface, chiefly with the
bootable Ghost floppy disk, or with a Ghost bootable CD. Used these ways the
program was generally reliable and did the job. Again, we're talking about
disk-to-disk cloning here - nothing else.

It's important that when your "destination" drive, i.e., the recipient of
the clone is a USB external HDD, that your Ghost program contains the latest
"build" - build 793 (the last revision to the program and AFAIK no longer
available from Symantec). The previous build - 789 (as I recall) might work
as well. Prior to those builds the program had some problem detecting &
interacting with USBEHDs. I don't know if that's part or all of your
problem.

I don't know how familiar you are with the Ghost 2003 program. The following
step-by-step instructions may be "old-hat" to you, but maybe they'll be of
some help in resolving your problem.

Understand this...
We're assuming that the "source" HDD is non-defective and the OS is free
from corruption. If you clone garbage, garbage is what you'll get, capiche?

Similarly your USBEHD is similarly non-defective and perfectly functional.

Ghost 2003 works fine in an XP environment for creating disk-to-disk clones
along the lines I will describe.

Once again - we'll assume that your source HDD (the disk you will clone) is
non-defective in all respects, i.e., it boots without incident and functions
without any problems. Because if it isn't, read no further.

And to repeat - we'll further assume that your destination drive - the HDD
you're cloning to is similarly non-defective and that you've correctly
connected & configured that disk in your machine.

When using the Ghost 2003 program, we prefer to work with the Ghost
bootable floppy disk to undertake the disk cloning process. For a variety of
reasons we find that media easier to work with and most reliable as compared
with using the program with the Windows GUI. So the following instructions
are based on using a Ghost 2003 bootable floppy disk (or Ghost bootable CD)
to undertake the disk cloning process.

Here are step-by-step instructions for using the program...

Creating the bootable Ghost floppy disk (in case you haven't already done
so):
1. Install the Ghost 2003 program on your computer.
2. Insert a blank floppy disk (it need not be formatted) and access your
Ghost program.
3. Click on Ghost Utilities.
4. Click on Norton Ghost Boot Wizard.
5. Select Standard Ghost Boot Disk. A dialog box will appear.
a. Select the USB 2.0 Support option (assuming you have that
capability).
b. Select the Assign DOS drive letters option and click Next.
6. Select the Use PC-DOS option.
7. Complete the process following the screen prompts.
8. Remove floppy and label accordingly.

That's it. Now you have a Ghost bootable floppy disk which you can use to
undertake your disk-cloning operations now and in the future. Now when you
want to clone the contents of one HDD to another HDD you simply insert the
Ghost bootable floppy disk in your floppy drive and boot up with both drives
connected.

NOTE: After creating the Ghost bootable floppy disk, you can create a Ghost
bootable CD from it using the Roxio or Nero CD burning programs, or most
other CD burning programs that allow you to create a bootable CD.
Unfortunately I know of no way to *directly* create this bootable CD from
the Ghost program (as you can do, for example, with the Acronis True Image
program).

Before undertaking the cloning operation ensure that the only storage
devices connected are the two HDDs that will be involved in the cloning
process, i.e., your source and destination disks. Disconnect all other
storage devices including any flash drives, ZIP drives, etc.

Here's how to perform the cloning operation...
1. With both drives connected, boot up with the Ghost bootable floppy (or
Ghost bootable CD). You'll get an initial screen that displays "License
agreement warning". Right-arrow (or tab) over to the "Continue without
marking drives" button and press Enter.

2. The "About Norton Ghost" screen appears. Click OK.

3. Right-arrow twice over to the "To Disk" button and press Enter.

4. The next screen will list both your drives - the Drive 1 (source disk)
and Drive 2 (destination disk). MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN Drive 1 IS INDEED
YOUR SOURCE DISK, I.E., THE DISK YOU'RE CLONING *FROM*! Drive 1 will be
highlighted. Press Enter.

5. The next screen will have Drive 2 (destination disk) highlighted. AGAIN,
ENSURE THAT Drive 2 IS YOUR DESTINATION DISK, I.E., THE DISK YOU'RE CLONING
*TO*! Press Enter.

6. The next screen is the "Destination Drive Details" window, and reflects
your ultimate destination disk, i.e., your current Drive 2. Press your Tab
key to highlight the OK button and press Enter.

7. The "Proceed with disk clone?" dialog box will open. Left-arrow over to
the Yes button and press Enter.

8. The cloning process will begin. The data transfer speed will vary
depending upon the speed of your processor and the HDDs involved. On a
medium to high-powered system you should get transfer speeds ranging from
800 MB/min nearly 2.0 GB/min should you be cloning internal drives. It will
be considerably slower if you're cloning to a USB external HDD.

9. After you get the "Clone Completed Successfully" message, left-arrow over
to the Continue button and press Enter.

10. Down-arrow to Quit and press Enter.

11. Click Yes at the "Are you sure you want to quit?" message.

12. Remove the Ghost floppy and shut down the computer.

13. Disconnect your source disk and boot up with the cloned drive. In most
cases (but not always), a Windows "Found New Hardware" message will appear
in the Desktop's Notification Area shortly followed by a "System Settings
Change"message window informing you that new hardware has been found and
asks "Do you want to restart your computer now?" Click Yes for the reboot.

14. BTW, the reboot of the newly-cloned drive usually takes a longer time
than usual, so one must be patient. On rare occasions the system will fail
to reboot - the system will hang before reaching the Windows XP Welcome
screen. It's a rare occurrence, but you may experience it from time-to-time.
If that does occur, simply use the Ctrl-Alt-Delete keys to reboot.

Assuming you've cloned the contents of your working drive to your second
internal HDD, that second drive will be bootable (after disconnecting your
primary one, of course) as indicated above. You also have the option of
cloning your working drive to a USB external hard drive. In that case the
USBEHD is *not* bootable (at least we haven't been able to boot the XP OS
from a USBEHD), but you could clone the contents back to your internal drive
for restoration purposes should the need arise.

Just one other point I wish to emphasize with respect to the cloning
operation involving internal hard drives. Immediately following the cloning
operation and the shutdown of your machine, disconnect your source drive and
boot ONLY to the newly-cloned drive (as indicated in step 13. above). DO NOT
BOOT IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE CLONING OPERATION WITH BOTH DRIVES CONNECTED.
Doing so is possible to cause future boot problems with the cloned drive.
Obviously there is no problem in this area should a USBEHD be involved in
the cloning process since that device is not bootable in an XP environment.
Anna


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