How to copy or "Ghost" a drive

[bryant]

But when I want to re-ghost every month or so the entire C: hard drive, would one have to redo the whole operation again.

I am not sure if this got answered.

Reason for asking is that a lot of different databases add material (data) to them over the course of a month?

And how is this process done with Norton Ghost (updating every month which may mean whole new copy)??

[gduns - with the Lord]

Actually Ghost supports incremental backups. so you dont have to do the complete backup every month.

I use ghost, and Make an image of the "c:" drive on my external usb drive. I save it in a folder named "c 2_2_2007" telling me it was last backed up on 2/2/2007. Ghosting to a hard drive, if you dont clutter up the c drive with a bunch of crap only takes about 15-20 minutes. I keep about 15 gigs on the c drive, and everything else on the external.

I also keep an extra external, and copy the first one to it incase it crashes. you cant be too safe.

[bryant]

Ahhh, I see, my acronis probably takes the same approach I'm sure. However, when you do an incremental, does it include files that have been
deleted from the C: Drive in the last month or so,
or will it somehow delete the files from the ghost that were deleted from the C: Drive.

[UPNext]

Hi, I use Norton Ghost version 9.0 to create a functional system identical to my main system. The "Copy Drive" tool does that beautifully. It allows you to specify several parameters such as whether you want the cloned drive to be bootable, copy the MBR, Drive letter, etc. Since my primary Hoster system and my backup are identical this process works great for me. In my system the C: drive holds all the applications and operating system files and the D: drives holds my kma files. The only thing that I have noticed is that when cloning the C: drive it is best to leave the drive letter of the cloned drive unspecified. When you complete the copy process and put the cloned drive into the backup system Windows will immediately do a disc check and then reboot itself and from that point on it works fine. The D: drive copying is very straight forward and the only thing you may have to do is reassign the drive letter once it is put back into the backup system. You have to be careful to make sure you are cloning the correct drive so paying attention to what you are doing is critical. Also, I have seen the cloning operation fail when programs are running in the background. Other than that it has been a perfect tool for me and I always have a backup system ready should my primary fail.

[bryant]

Thanx for the info, Up.

[jaddams]

Acronis True Image is backup software published by Acronis Corp. This is fairly large company with headquarters in Burlington MA with offices in major cities of the world. The company specializes in storage management solutions from which True Image is one of the products.

Is not a bad program, in fact I think is very good and I find it by far easier to use than Norton Ghost when used properly. I like Symantec products however, they tend to be a bit bloated and power hungry.

Further, Acronis True Image was a PC Magazine Editor's Choice selection just a couple of months back

Jon

[bryant]

Thanks, Addams, if I want to create a second backup next month, what will I have to do.

Re-back up everything once again, or is there a quick backup of sorts.

I know it asked for me to have nothing else on the drive. Will it ask that agai, i.e., will I have to erase the old backup and start over.

Do I need a separate bootable disks, because I think it stated that was recommended.

[George]

Originally Posted by jaddams

Acronis True Image is backup software published by Acronis Corp. This is fairly large company with headquarters in Burlington MA with offices in major cities of the world. The company specializes in storage management solutions from which True Image is one of the products.

Is not a bad program, in fact I think is very good and I find it by far easier to use than Norton Ghost when used properly. I like Symantec products however, they tend to be a bit bloated and power hungry.

Further, Acronis True Image was a PC Magazine Editor's Choice selection just a couple of months back

Jon

Hi Jon,

Got to agree with you in part as the older versions of Ghost were a bit cumbersome. I still use 2003 which was marketed until a year or two ago when Synmantic bought out another product and revised their platform. My understanding the Ghost currently being marketed is much leaner and meaner, including tha ability to restore individual files.. That's the Ghost purchasers today are getting. I think they market it to just XP and 2000, which considering O.S. support alone got rid of a lot of tonnage, as the 3000 version supported everything including 98.

Glad to see you back.

Take care,
George

[bobcox- with the Lord]

I use acronis true image,
have never had a problem with it.
it will ghost your hard drive, then i remove old drive and use new one.
next time i do same thing. Bob

[bryant]

Bob, Do you ghost evrycouple of months.

My question was: Because it asks to completely erase the
ghosting drive before you start (can't have anything on it), what exactly do you do the next ghost copy you make, say next month. Do you have to erase everything clean again, and repeat the same process.

Also, second question: It does ask and recommends that you make a bootable disk, but not sure why if the drive is ghosted correctly. Do you make that boot disk as well?

[bobcox- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by bryant

Bob, Do you ghost evrycouple of months.

My question was: Because it asks to completely erase the
ghosting drive before you start (can't have anything on it), what exactly do you do the next ghost copy you make, say next month. Do you have to erase everything clean again, and repeat the same process.

Also, second question: It does ask and recommends that you make a bootable disk, but not sure why if the drive is ghosted correctly. Do you make that boot disk as well?

i said true image, but i use migrate easy 7.0
i dont make the bootable disc, and never had a problem.
lets say, drive one is my boot drive with all my programs and files.
and drive two is my backup drive.
i copy or ghost drive 1 to drive to completly.
i just let it erase drive i want to copy to.
then i use that in my computer till next time. about 3 months.
that way if you would have a drive fail you just install the other one and ghost it right away. for a backup. Bob

[admin]

Originally Posted by bryant

Bob, Do you ghost evrycouple of months.

My question was: Because it asks to completely erase the
ghosting drive before you start (can't have anything on it), what exactly do you do the next ghost copy you make, say next month. Do you have to erase everything clean again, and repeat the same process.

Also, second question: It does ask and recommends that you make a bootable disk, but not sure why if the drive is ghosted correctly. Do you make that boot disk as well?

I too use Acronis, because MTUSUPPORT told me to.

We used to sell Ghost, but Bryan likes Acronis better.

As for me, I backup my entire 80GB drive (C and D partitions) every month. I plug in my USB 100GB drive, run Acronis, select to backup and let it delete everything already on the backup drive. It has never asked me to make a Boot Disc, and I don't have a Floppy drive if it did!

I haven't had to test it out, and I'd have to remove my laptop internal drive to replace it. I guess, way down deep, this is unproven... except Bryan has used it far more than I... I think. I'll ask him to post his thoughts here.

[jaddams]

Originally posted by George
Got to agree with you in part as the older versions of Ghost were a bit cumbersome. I still use 2003 which was marketed until a year or two ago when Synmantic bought out another product and revised their platform. My understanding the Ghost currently being marketed is much leaner and meaner, including tha ability to restore individual files.. That's the Ghost purchasers today are getting. I think they market it to just XP and 2000, which considering O.S. support alone got rid of a lot of tonnage, as the 3000 version supported everything including 98.

Glad to see you back.

Hi George:

It’s nice to be back and see some old names still hanging around.

There really isn’t that much difference between Ghost 2003 and its replacement (version 10.0); they also have a so called “Ghost Solution Suite.” True the new version became leaner when they decided not to support Windows 98 etc. but then, in true Symantec fashion, they added a bunch of useless garbage to justify its price that, in my opinion, makes it even clumsier than 2003. Don’t get me wrong, I own both versions but I only buy Symantec products because I have to support my clients.

Take Norton Internet Security 2006 and now 2007 for example. They dumped everything in that software, including the proverbial kitchen sink and them some. Its redundant dirty code is only second to Microsoft’s. That thing is a resources hog and it’s impossible to uninstall. If they don't watch their steps and their products strategy, they’ll have some problems in the market.

Smaller companies such as Webroot, to name one, is already causing a big buzz on the virus killers bandwagon.

Regards,

Jon

[George]

Hi Jon,

Been doing a lot of surfing on this subject since I posted, and may have to get out that dish of crow, or humble pie at the very least.

I can recall a time or two when I did have a miserable time uninstalling a Norton product to install a new one. Blamed the operating system.

Yesterday I ran across a forum where this very topic was being discussed and reference was made to a software company that had a piece of software that would uninstall Norton Products. What they claim in their hype regarding the registry entries left behind when a Norton product is uninstalled is absolutely dumbfounding.

Here's their URL. http://uninstall-norton.com/

Interesting that Norton is considered bad in enough quarters that another company can make money producing software to uninstall them.

Good to "see " you again.

George

[jaddams]

Originally posted by George
Been doing a lot of surfing on this subject since I posted, and may have to get out that dish of crow, or humble pie at the very least.

Don't worry George, if you can't find any of that stuff, let me know. Your old buddy Jon will come to the rescue. I have a couple of tons of one and about a half a ton of the other. I use them quite often myself.

Yep! I certainly missed this interaction. It really feels nice to be back, and...

I should be around for a long time because according to Billy Joel, "only the good die young

Regards,

Jon

[jaddams]

Hello Bryant:

I could address your questions but my answers will only be a repetition of what Bobcox and Admin have already posted above.

No, I never needed a boot disk.

Regards,

Jon