Getting Your Copy of Norton Ghost

You first need to decide which "version" of Norton Ghost is right for you. Here you'll find some insights.

First, if you use Windows Vista, your only "official" options are Symantec's two newest products (tho you might wanna check out this thread, titled > Ghost 2003/Ghost 8.2 & Windows Vista):

• • Norton Ghost 12, which is supposed to be released 18.April.2007 (or so it says here, maybe delayed), and
  
  
• • Norton Save & Restore v2.0 (NS&R2), which contains a copy of Ghost minus some power-user features incorporated into Ghost 12 from Symantec's high-end corporate products, such as remote management and LightsOut Restore, which most home users won't need. Also released April 2007.

MSRP for Norton Ghost 12 is US$70, and for NS&R 2.0 it's $50. So NS&R is cheaper (by ~28%).

If you'll be satisfied with NS&R 2.0, and don't need the extra features found in Ghost 12, you can get NS&R 2.0 in a package deal by purchasing the Premier Edition of Norton System Works (NSW). Note that you need/want the Premier version of NSW, as the non-Premier version does not include Ghost or NS&R.

NSW Premier comes with Norton AntiVirus, Norton Utilities and a few other programs. I only use NU, NAV & Ghost/NS&R. Don't install the rest (especially not GoBack).

Now if you're still using Windows XP,you can probably save some money, by purchasing older products, which I feel offer more (usable) options than Symantec's newest programs.

For example, Ghost v10 includes a copy of Ghost 2003, which I feel is more reliable than than the Windows-based versions .. for reasons detailed here > Hot imaging.

If Ghost 2003 is sufficient for you (it's what I use), the cheapest way to purchase Ghost is by checking with (one of our moderators) El_Pescador in the Rad Community Forums.

Pesky (as he's known) always seems to know who has the best deals on software. Many times he's able to find deals where the software is FREE (after rebates .. it's a hobby of his). See this thread titled > Good deals on Norton Ghost.

Other good options are to search Pricewatch or Froogle for "Norton System Works Premier" (or Professional), or for the software you want. Try here (<Pricewatch) or here (<Froogle) for pre-sorted queries. After finding your best price, check the reputation of the reseller at resellerratings. You can also try eBay, or one of the "FREE" ads you see sponsored here by Google's AdSense.

Here's what Newegg (where I like to shop) has > NEWEGG. Note these are Retail products, which mean they come with a manual.

Most bargains contain only the CD, no manual. But this is not a problem, since you can download the manual here [Symantec FTP] for NSW Premier,and all other software. Note that NSW 2006 = v9.0, NSW 2005 = v8.0, 2004 = v7.0, NSW 2003 = v6.0, etc. Some of the manuals for Ghost are posted here.

Links to other versions can be found at the bottom of this page. (See below.) The manual should also be located on the CD. The user's guide to NS&R 2.0 is posted > HERE (PDF).

Again, you want/need the Premier version of Norton Systen Works, as the non-Premier version does not include Ghost or NS&R.

Here is where I used to list alternatives to Norton Ghost, but this section has grown large enough that I moved it to its own page. See here > Alternatives to Norton Ghost

Running Norton Ghost from (true) DOS

The following versions do *not* run from DOS > Ghost 9, Ghost 10, Ghost 12, all versions of Norton Save & Restore (NS&R) which include v1.0 & v2.0. All these programs are based on (Drive Image) software developed by PowerQuest, which was bought by Symantec on 05.dec.2003. They are run from Windows (sometimes calle hot-imaging).

Ghost 2003 is the last version of Ghost to run from DOS, which includes the option to configure Ghost thru a Windows interface, which makes Ghost 2003 easier to use than previous versions. Note that Ghost 2003 will still reboot ("drop down") to DOS before creating or restoring your image (after configured from Windows).

I caution users of Ghost 2003 however, against relying too much on the Windows interface. The main reason for creating a back-up image is for those very times when your system [Windows] won't boot. For these times, you will boot from either a floppy disk, or a bootable CD or DVD.

That's when you'll need to be able to work from the DOS interface. And this is why you should become familiar with Ghost's DOS interface, if you use Ghost 2003.

Windows-based versions of Ghost use a Restore CD, which contains a stripped down version of the Windows operating system for you to restore your image (called a restore point).

Later in this guide, I'll walk you through the steps of creating a Ghost boot floppy diskette. Ghost 2003 provides a wizard that makes this easy.

Norton Ghost & RAID

If you don't know what RAID is, skip this section. I've never used RAID myself. Altho not officially supported, Ghost should work fine with any RAID controller that allows you to access the drives from DOS. See here.

In other words, Ghost should work fine with hardware RAID, but not with software RAID (cuz the OS creates the stripe, and you don't have your OS in DOS).

One reader says, "Drive Image hasn't worked for me with the Promise controller, but it works fine with the High Point. Ghost works fine with both."

One person had a problem with Ghost v7 imaging to a stripe created by a 3Ware Escalade card. He has both NTFS and FAT32 partitions on the stripe. I also heard of problems trying to image with Mylex controllers (IBM bought Mylex).

It seems that the 'DOS support' which some cards claim, does not always mean full DOS support. DOS support is not something most RAID adapters claim in their list of features. You'll have to try it on a case-by-case basis.

Vorpal reports success with 3 different RAID-based motherboards: two with HighPoint and one with a Promise controller. He says that he's done a lot of imaging with both controllers without a problem.

But he *is* having a problem with his Epox AK7A+ (DDR-based AMD/Via hybrid). The Ghost Boot disk will not load. Other boot discs & bootable CD-ROM's work fine. He got around the problem by copying ghost.exe to a regular boot floppy. It works fine that way.

Vorpal also said that a special (free) version of Norton Ghost came with his Epox motherboard. It contained two separate .exe's: one for writing images, the other for reading them. I've never heard of this before. Also, this link [Storagereview forums] might be helpful.

Effects of Restoring Norton Ghost Image

Looking ahead to image restoration .. restoring an image can have "adverse" effects. This concerns your personal data which gets "rolled back" to the state your system was in when the image was created. [This tip comes from Christer.]

To avoid this you can move four folders off your system partition:

My Documents
Favorites
Address Book
E-mail storage location

This is not necessary, but minimizes the adverse effects of restoring an image. Moving these folders is easy:

My Documents is moved by [in Windows Explorer] creating a new My Documents folder on a different drive. Right-click the desktop icon, choose "Properties" and then "Move". Point to the desired location.

You will be asked if you want all sub-folders and contents to be moved also. The original folder can be deleted, but it can also be left as is. The registry is automatically edited to reflect the change.

The Favorites folder is moved [in Windows Explorer] from C:\Documents and Settings\"User name"\ by right-clicking and dragging-n-dropping to the new drive, and choosing "Move Here". The registry is automatically edited to reflect the change.

The Address book is moved by [in Windows Explorer] creating a new Address Book folder on a different drive. From:
C:\Documents and Settings\"User name"\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\
Right-click and drag-n-drop "User name".wab and "User name".wa~ to the new folder and choose "Move Here".

You have to manually edit the registry. Click Start / Run and type "Regedit" in the run-dialog box and hit the <enter> key. Find the registry key: "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\Wab File Name" and change the path to the new location. Close regedit and restart the computer. If you don't, it will create a new "User name".wab and default back to the original location.

E-mail storage location is moved by [in Windows Explorer] creating a new E-mail folder on a different drive. [I use the folder name "Mail".] From within Outlook Express, click Tools / Options / Maintenance and the "Store Folder" button. Click "Change" and point to the new location.

Using this method, you can configure multiple operating systems to use the same email directory. Restart Outlook Express for changes to take effect. The registry is automatically edited to reflect the change.

These steps are valid in Windows XP Pro. Other operating systems may vary. It is still necessary to backup the data in these folders.

Knowledge base, Errors codes, Manuals

For support from Symantec, see here. Symantec’s Knowledge Base for v2003 is posted here. For Ghost 9 it's here. For Ghost 10 it's here. You can find a list of all the switches for Ghost posted here and also here. Error codes are posted here. Symantec has done away with their support forums.

The manual for Ghost can be found on your CD, but in case you can't locate that right now, the manual (PDF) can also be downloaded online. See here:

• Symantec manual for Norton Ghost 2003
• Symantec manual for Norton Ghost v9.0
• Symantec manual for Norton Ghost v10.0
• Symantec manual for Norton Save & Restore (v1.0)
• Symantec manual for Norton Save & Restore v2.0 (PDF)

You can determine the version number of your Ghost 2003 executable by finding the file named GhostStart.exe in your main Ghost directory. Right-click on this file and select 'Properties'. Click on the 'Version' tab, and then on the words 'File Version'. Mine says 2003.793.

Alternately, you can launch a command prompt: Start | Run. At the prompt, type "command" (without quotes) in the Run box. Look and see where the default directory for this command box is located. For me, it's in my "Documents" folder. Simply copy your Ghost.exe executable to this location and type "ghost -ver" (without quotes) in the command box. My version info (as of 01.april.2005) says:

Norton Ghost 2003 (build=793, cdrlib=3.1.25). Type "exit" at the command prompt to close the box. Next, let's look at some alternatives to Norton Ghost.