PowerQuest Drive Image vrs Norton Ghost [Archive]

tweakthis

March 24, 2001, 10:10 am

Excellent timing for your question, RJ. I have to admit, I know nothing about either product. However, I came across this link at another site and thought if might be of use to you. It has some great, detailed info about Ghost. The language is clear and easy to read and the author offers personal comments about his experiences with the programme. Radified guide to Norton Ghost (http://radified.com/Ghost/ghost_1.htm)

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If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.

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March 24, 2001, 06:28 pm

Thanks for the info. Wow, that link to Radified guide to Norton Ghost was excellent. Would like to find one like that on Drive Image.
Don't know much about partitioning but used Partition Magic 6.0 to split an 80GB HD into C,D,E, and F. It looked scary but ended up being a breeze.
If I have more than one choice, I'm confused.
Thanks again and I'll let you know how it goes (when I do it). http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/happy.gif

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tweakthis

March 24, 2001, 06:39 pm

Happy to hear you liked the link! http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

80gb!!! My mouth was actually prepared for a little fly catching at that one! Wow. You know, the pessimest in me is saying (in a tiny little yet very annoying voice) - and what happens when it fails! Hope you've got a back-up system for important data - even if it's a second hard drive to which you can mirror important files. Something like my little 6.4 gb drive. (My only drive!)

Good luck on finding decent info on powerquest. I'll keep up the hunt. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

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If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.

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manunkind

March 24, 2001, 06:46 pm

Excellent link tweak, thanks!

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March 24, 2001, 07:09 pm

tweakthis: The 80GB gives me more room to screw up. OS is on C, programs D, Files E, and Misc on F. Being retired and 73 does have it's advantages. As you get older you seem to accumulate more stuff. (Hopefully) http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/wink.gif

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tweakthis

March 24, 2001, 07:37 pm

But the point is, RJ, if you lose the "C:" - if something happens to the mbr - then you lose everything! If the drive won't boot, then whatever you have on any partitions is also a gonner (?sp). That's what I mean by having a backup system for the 'data' files.

You wouldn't backup programmes, etc., on there because, in theory, you have all your CD's, etc, and, if you're like me, you either email yourself the really good links , the ones you don't want to lose, or you keep notes about them on a virtual drive. If you don't have a tape backup system, then a little (heck, any drive is little in comparison) 10 gb hd where you regularly backup data, .doc, .wpd, files etc, would come in mighty handy. For example, the work you wife has done on the family geneology could be lost even if it's on another partition. Here's where a second hard drive could be used for backup purposes.

I'm of the old school, I believe it's not a case of 'if' a hard drive fails, it's a case of 'when' one fails.

Ah, well, putting away my soap box for now. My daughter wants the phone (again!) so I'm of the 'net for a couple of hours. http://cwmonkey.virtualave.net/s/net6/laugh2.gif

Thanks, manunkind. I kind of liked it myself.

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If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.

Moderator, General Discussion, helpfromtechs.com (http://www.helpfromtechs.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi) I can be reached at tweakthis@helpfromtechs.com

March 24, 2001, 10:45 pm

tweakthis: Good point and well taken. I hesitate to say this but with all the computers I have owned (and I've had a few)I have not had a HD go on the fritz. (I'm not saying it won't happen). Have had to reformat and restore a few times on a couple of Compaqs but that was strictly because of bad software while installating a scanner. (About 3 years ago). Of course, as you said, if my HD goes, that's the ball game. If I can restore the C Drive to it's original just before a crash then I feel comfortable having the bulk of my other stuff on D,E,& F, as of course a lot of it ties back into C:. Most any program I install goes on D. I realize the safest way to go would be another small HD. Will give your suggestion more thought. You might be interested to know that I downloaded a trial version of Ghost off the link you provided. Will let you know more on this later. Thanks again for your help.
P.S. I'm slow but I'll get there. Just thought of another possibility which would be for me to Laplink the contents of my C: to a folder on my Wife's machine. Does this sound logical. I really don't know what all gets backed up if I do it that way, but there is my other HD. My C drive now consist of about 2.5GB. What do you think??

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tweakthis

March 25, 2001, 10:48 am

Well, RJ, have to say I don't know much about laplink. However, I do have a sense that it's quite slow. (Anyone else familiar with laplink?) What about investing a few dollars in some network cards/cable and setting up a network. Then you could "back up" important data to your wife's system and she to yours. That way you each have a "second" system.

Your partitions as listed are:
C - Windows
D - Programmes
E - Files
F - Misc.

I would store files to be "backed up" (in this case I actually mean 'copied') in dir E (and only put on there documents and other items you need to "save"). I would set up a network and regularly 'copy' the contents of dir E to your wife's system. Create on that hard drive a folder called something like - RJ's e: Drive. If your wife's system is not partitioned, make sure that the contents she wants saved are in one or two folders and copy those to your Misc. drive. It may seem redundent, but believe me you'll avoid a situation like this (posted on Win98 forum):

Hi, Tuseday evning I was manually removing 'cookies' from my files. I accidently deleted my family history file from my hard drive. Not realizing this I also emptied the reycle bin! I thought I had a back up disk, but for some reason it is corrupted and I can't not restore my data.
Is there any program that will retrieve files from the computer?
You can imagine how devestated I was when I turned on my computer Wednesday morning and I had no data!!!
I have lost 2 1/2 years of work of almost 20,000 names, histories and sources.
Can you HELP???

Alternatively, go with the suggestion of using a second hard drive in your system and copy E drive files to that on a regular basis. You could set up a small batch file for the copying and do it by 'clicking' one button (icon).

Well, hope this helps, RJ. How did Ghost work for you? The one and only time I tried to use it was a complete disaster, but that was several years ago and I didn't have the advantage of a nice simple manual like the link I provided. (Murf did a really nice job with that!)

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If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.

Moderator, General Discussion, helpfromtechs.com (http://www.helpfromtechs.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi) I can be reached at tweakthis@helpfromtechs.com

This message has been edited by tweakthis on March 25, 2001 at 07:51 AM

March 25, 2001, 01:59 pm

tweakthis: Held off on installing the trial of Ghost untill I had a few more answers and you have supplied most of them. Can I safely copy the contents of my C drive to a folder on her machine. That's my dilemma, as I don't know if copying my C Drive, system files, original programs, etc or what ever came on the machine when I first purchased it, to a folder on her machine might cause problems on her machine. Push come to shove I can partition her machine but if the other would work, it would be easier on me. Laplink is a good reliable program that has been around for years. I have the two machines connected with Laplink via USB cable and transfer her Genealogy files over to my machine in a heart beat. God forbid she should lose that information. Laplink is pretty speedy. I don't know the exact speed but it's no slow poke.
What do you think? Is it safe to copy my C Drive to a folder on her machine? Or should I partition her machine and then do it?
I really do appreciate all the time and effort you have spent in responding. Thanks.

I don't know why I didn't thing of using her machine as a back up. I should have thought of that. Well as you get older things get slower (if you know what I mean.
Now it takes me all night to do what I used to do all night) Damn, I'm slipping. Can't see the forest for the trees. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/ohwell.gif Thanks again.
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This message has been edited by RJ on March 25, 2001 at 11:24 AM

kulich

March 25, 2001, 05:00 pm

I have an antique version of Ghost which I use to clone hard drives - foolproof, parallel cable, slow and used for <3 gig hard drives.

I also use PQDI 5.? on a regular basis - server based, fast as your network, foolproof, you can restore a drive onto a different machine and let plug and pray pick up the pieces (which is surprisingly successful). It resizes the unused parts of the destination partition, (also resizes the size of the image if it doesn't fit onto the destination drive ... if it can be compressed!) Cool program.

Depends why you want to use imaging programs. I hear that Ghost 2000 images directly to a burner, so all you need is a boot disk, and in your case, 100 CDRs. Only a joke that!

At home I don't bother with back-ups. I have a tape drive that I used 3 years ago, and various CD burner programs that promise disaster relief which I've never used either. I figure that most of my hard drive screwups are a result of my incessant tweaking, and I can take my lumps. Besides, my OS sits on the C drive all by itself - all 500 mbs of it - if it goes, or I decide to change the OS, I don't lose my progs, game files, docs or the huge archives of useless tweaking apps that I've collected over the years. Nor my music.

For non-mechanical/viral problems some of the techs at work are enthusiastic about Deepfreeze. It forces the OS to boot up a locked image.

Or, use the backup program that comes with windows to backup to another part of your hard drive.

There are heaps of possibilities.

March 25, 2001, 10:19 pm

kulich: Thanks for the info. Actually I think about 66.66 CD's. Me doesn't come with any Backup program that I am aware of. Could be wrong and I thank you for your time and suggestions.

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newgrl

March 26, 2001, 12:02 am

RJ - I've forgotten weather your version of ME came preinstalled or if you upgraded from something else...

If you have the upgrade/full cd... MSBACKUP is on the cd. Just plop in the ME cd and let it autorun. When the prompt comes up, choose Browse This CD. Go to the Add-ons folder and follow the trail to MSBACKUP.

If your computer came preinstalled with ME... it won't be there. But if you email me... we can prolly work something out.http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/tongue.gif

I would still seriously consider Ghost or a similar program... but if you want to have a look at msbackup, now you know where to look.

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Moderator, Windows 9x and NT, helpfromtechs.com (http://www.helpfromtechs.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi)

March 26, 2001, 01:21 pm

newgrl: Me came on the machine. I really do appreciate your offer but I am leaning toward backing up to my Wife's machine and or Drive Image or Ghost. Most likely to my Wife's machine. Do you see any problems copying my C drive to her machine, in a seperate folder of course? Or am I missing something? Thanks again. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/confused.gif

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kulich

March 26, 2001, 04:45 pm

It's all problematical - each road has its own thrills. If you want to copy onto your wife's laptop, you should make a partition. That means Partition magic or some other partitioning software. Then you have to decide what is essential - you don't want to fill her drive with your stuff. Ghost will work easily for this, PQDI works on a network, so we won't go there.

I'll bet you can find a free copy of Ghost on some server somewhere. You'd be looking for an older version - the one I use fits on a floppy with room to spare. Then all you need is a parallel cable and you are off. Mind you, Ghost will copy the entire drive, so you'd have to do the high grading first.

Maybe the easiest idea would be to use a CDRW and keep a running copy of "keepers". It'd be fast and painless - in the event of a serious crash you'd reinstall the OS and copy the good stuff over later.

I like easy. Happy trails.

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tweakthis

March 26, 2001, 10:56 pm

Originally posted by RJ:
newgrl: Me came on the machine. I really do appreciate your offer but I am leaning toward backing up to my Wife's machine and or Drive Image or Ghost. Most likely to my Wife's machine. Do you see any problems copying my C drive to her machine, in a seperate folder of course? Or am I missing something? Thanks again. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/confused.gif
RJ, I'm not clear on why you want to back your C: drive to your wife's machine? My suggestion was to copy data files to her machine. Perhaps I'm confusing the issue by using the phrase 'back up' when I'm really talking about 'copying' files.

How big is the hard drive on the second system? Are you wanting to back up the C: because of the lack of operating system CD? If your system goes down, how do you repair it? Do you have one of those recovery disks that I heard so much about? Fortunately I've never had to try to go that route myself.

Can we go back to the beginning here because I'm getting mighty confused. You want to ghost what to where and why. So far what (I think) I've got is that you want to ghost your hard drive to your wife's. Why? Are you reformatting yours? If so, why? If not, why are you 'ghosting'?

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If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.

Moderator, General Discussion, helpfromtechs.com (http://www.helpfromtechs.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi) I can be reached at tweakthis@helpfromtechs.com

This message has been edited by tweakthis on March 26, 2001 at 08:04 PM

March 27, 2001, 02:54 am

tweakthis: Now that I have everyone confused, including myself, here are my thoughts.
1 My wife has a desktop 19GB with about 9GB free space. My HD is 80 GB
2 I have a Laplink program connected to her machine for file transfer back and forth.
2 I have a C drive, 12GB with about 2.5GB used with primarily what came on the machine and a few programs that I have installed to it for simplicity. D is where I put the bulk of my additional programs. E for files of all sorts and M, downloads, pictures, music, etc.
3 Not knowing enought about it, I thought if a system crash, not HD. it would easier to restore C drive if it were backed up, Ghosted, imaged or whatever.
4 Yes I do have a system Recovery disk that will put C drive back to it's original state, but I don't know how the programs and items on my other drives interlace with C.
5 I probably just don't know what the H--- I'm talking about. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/ohwell.gif
6 So WHAT is C Drive. WHERE is to my wife's machine and WHY is cause I thought it might be a good idea in case of a major system screwup. I'm probably making a mountain out of a mole hill.
It might not be rational thinging and I apologize for the confusion. I do want to thank you and all the others for their help.

tweakthis: I really appreciate your time and efforts but this is a minor situation to some of those poor souls who really have a problem. Help them out first and if you have and idle moments and want to help clear my old brain, just feel free to do so. Thanks again. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

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tweakthis

March 28, 2001, 08:53 pm

Hi, RJ. Don't worry, haven't given up on you. Every few days my parental control gets the best of me and I spend extra time with 'motherly' duties. *lol*

Now that I've finally got my head around your specific requirements, I have to admit I'm no help with your kind of system. I have no experience with a system that comes with a restore disk - I've always had an OS and reformatted at will.

In theory I think what you wish to accomplish should is practical. Yes, I, too, would probably copy my C: to another machine. I would probably make it a regular (every few days) occurence to export my registry to another location - not necessarily your wife's machine; you could export it to your D: or E: so that you can 'restore' from your disk, copy c: from your wife's machine and import the most up-to-date registry from it's storage place. You only need to 'copy' the C: when you make significant changes...or once a month or so if you're seeking peace of mind.

So, for you folks that are more familiar with this type of system...are these suggestions practical? Or are they overkill?

Well, RJ. Hope this helps. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

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If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.

Moderator, General Discussion, helpfromtechs.com (http://www.helpfromtechs.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi) I can be reached at tweakthis@helpfromtechs.com

March 28, 2001, 09:21 pm

tweakthis: Now I think we are on the same wave link. Your suggestions are exactly what I wanted to accomplish. I'm glad you mentioned the registry. I would not have thought of that. I assumed, and that is a bad thing to do, that by copying my C drive to my Wifes machine it would be included. Will hang loose a few more days and see if any other suggestions arrive. Thank you very much. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/happy.gif
P.S. How do you export or copy the Registry?
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This message has been edited by RJ on March 28, 2001 at 06:23 PM

tweakthis

March 28, 2001, 09:35 pm

Hi RJ. Your registry would be copied but, imho, it is something that is too important to only back-up occasionally. If your system is working the way you like it, then take a couple of minutes and copy (export) it. That way you don't have to worry about copying the c: more than once in a while - or when you add new programmes, etc (that will, of course, change the registry also).

To export the registry, go to 'start', 'run', type 'regedit'. When the registry window opens, click on 'registry', 'export registry file'. Save it to the location you desire. I save mine to a folder called (ta da) 'registry' and I name each file the date I'm saving it (creativity is not a strong suit of mine when it comes to back-ups!).

Good luck and happy computing. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/grin.gif

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If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.

Moderator, General Discussion, helpfromtechs.com (http://www.helpfromtechs.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi) I can be reached at tweakthis@helpfromtechs.com

March 28, 2001, 11:47 pm

tweakthis: Thanks loads. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/happy.gif

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reddsteel

March 30, 2001, 06:27 pm

I like Norton... http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

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Jordan Gadd (reddsteel)
reddsteel@helpfromtechs.com

March 31, 2001, 01:43 am

tweakthis: I tried copying my entire C drive to a folder on my wife's machine and it didn't take. Not sure why, but part of the problem might have been I didn't close down everything except explorer and systray. Any way I installed GoBack 2.2 as an interim thing even though I have a System Restore feature in Me. Used GoBack on my old machine (98se) and it worked very nicely. Does a much better job than Me's SysRestore.
I really appreciate all the input from everyone and in the near future will probably flip a coin to see if it's Ghost or Drive Image as it appears both have their good points.
Will certainly use some of the suggestions offered in all of the above replies. They have helped a great deal.
Thanks again to all. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/happy.gif

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reddsteel

March 31, 2001, 10:05 am

Nothing like flipping a coin. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/grin.gif

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Jordan Gadd (reddsteel)
HelpFromTechs.com Moderator
reddsteel@helpfromtechs.com

tweakthis

March 31, 2001, 10:43 am

Sorry, RJ, remember I did say "in theory". http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/frown.gif I'm use to working in DOS if I want to copy entire directories/drives. Good old XCOPY. Maybe it's time to start a new thread that will catch the eye of someone with more experience with your type of computer. I've always had a CD with the OS. Try titling the thread something like "copying C to another computer" and see if other members have more experience with that. You're using ME, right? Include as much info as you can...OS, what you want to accomplish, laplink, etc. If you open the forum in two windows, you may be able to copy some of the info from previous messages to create a cohesive new one.

Good luck. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

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If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.

Moderator, General Discussion, helpfromtechs.com (http://www.helpfromtechs.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi) I can be reached at tweakthis@helpfromtechs.com

March 31, 2001, 07:59 pm

tweakthis: Thanks for the suggestion. Just may do that.
reddsteel: At least I have a 50-50 chance and I've seen worse. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/animwink.gif

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This message has been edited by RJ on March 31, 2001 at 05:03 PM

reddsteel

March 31, 2001, 08:16 pm

True... http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/wink.gif

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Jordan Gadd (reddsteel)
HelpFromTechs.com Moderator
reddsteel@helpfromtechs.com

Sealion

July 5, 2001, 04:38 am

Good thread.

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tweakthis

July 5, 2001, 09:47 am

Originally posted by Sealion:
Good thread. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/hi.gif Thanks, and welcome to HelpFromTechs. http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/grin.gif http://www.helpfromtechs.com/ubb/smilies/grin.gif

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Daizy

July 5, 2001, 06:48 pm

Hi RJ:
Thanks for posting this thread. Great info here. Ironically, I just bought Power Quest's Drive Image 4.0 today, and was hoping that others had some opinions or experience with it, when I read the title to your thread. I've yet to amass the courage to install it.

Daizy

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Sealion

July 30, 2001, 06:16 am

Thanks, tweakthis.

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umarf76

July 12, 2002, 01:51 pm

I have some problems with my Drive Image 2002 software. I am running
Windows XP home edition. I was trying to create a new image today but
everything just went wrong from that point onwards. When I try to create
an image the computer boots up to DOS but I get two errors on the bootup
screen.

Error 5 - A file operation failed on VFLOPPY.SYS
Error 8 - Fake Floppy driver not found VFLOPPY.SYS
When these errors occur, the virtual floppy loader boots the active
partition.

I have already tried doing the following but to no avail:
1. Install and reinstall Drive Image.
2. Check if the vfloppy.sys is read only.
3. Scan the hard drive.

Is there something else I can do to fix this problem. The prompt just
would not go away. It wont even allow me to restore a previous image.

Your help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Umar

Train

July 13, 2002, 03:02 pm

Drive Image can do a clone of drive to drive as well as making a image.
Ghost can do the same thing.
I find Ghost a little easier to use is all.

Now when you clone partition to partition, they have to be within the same cluster size or it will not clone back correctly.

512 MB - 8,191 MB clusters are 4 KB
8,192 MB - 16,383 MB clusters are 8 KB
16,384 MB - 32,767 MB clusters are 16 KB
32,768 MB and above clusters are 32 KB

Believe me if they are not the same you will lose everything. Which ever program you use for cloning.
Both will let you make images that can be of a split size for burning to cd also.