Problem with Ghost and Xp

[Julie]

I keep a Ghost image of my C: drive (with Win XP Pro) on my D: drive as an extra precaution - in case System Restore doesn't fix things. Things have worked well until recently I converted my HD to NTFS.
Now I'm unable to see my partitions when I boot to DOS (with a Win98 bootdisk) - so obviously I can't restore my system with the Ghost image.
Is there some way around this?
Any advice would be appreciated.

[GaryRouth]

DOS, Win95/98/Me can't "see" NTFS partitions without the help of third-party tools. [They are still there, of course - no harm done].

If you have a version of Ghost that allows you to boot from its CD into the "Ghost Recovery Environment", you'll be able to perform all your necessary ghosting or restore operations from that environment should an emergency visit your data. I believe that last few editions of Ghost, both standalone and the version bundled in SystemWorks, can do this.

You can still schedule your incremental and full backups from within the Windows environment. It seems that Ghost works best for restoring when booted into its own Recovery Environment.

. . . Gary

[Julie]

Thanks Gary. I've never done it that way, I'll try.
I've actually installed Ghost exe on to my D: drive and usually run it from
there (before conversion to NTFS) after booting from Win98 bootdisk.
Now if only I can find that CD!!

[Panama Red]

Just a reminder. Ghost 2003 will handle imaging of NTFS drives/partitions within windows while previous Ghost versions run in DOS and will only handle FAT32 and earlier windows versions.

[TwoRails]

Just to clariify, Ghost 2003 will do NTFS from a Ghost boot floppy, too.

[corkscrew22]

Originally Posted by Julie I keep a Ghost image of my C: drive (with Win XP Pro) on my D: drive as an extra precaution - in case System Restore doesn't fix things. Things have worked well until recently I converted my HD to NTFS. Now I'm unable to see my partitions when I boot to DOS (with a Win98 bootdisk) - so obviously I can't restore my system with the Ghost image. Is there some way around this? Any advice would be appreciated.

I do the same as you had similar problems so I switched to drive image does the same job but much easier

[Julie]

I have Ghost 2001, so does that mean I won't be able to use the solutions that you guys suggested?
Will Drive Image do what Ghost won't do, i.e. see NTFS partitions?

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by Julie I have Ghost 2001, so does that mean I won't be able to use the solutions that you guys suggested? Will Drive Image do what Ghost won't do, i.e. see NTFS partitions?

Using 2001 is why you can't "see" the NTFS partitions. In order to use Ghost with your current situation, you need to get a copy of Ghost 2003, Norton System Works 2003 that contains Ghost or the newer version. Found System Works 2003 at Newegg for $19.99, free shipping. Best deal I could find that comes from a legit source. Good luck.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

I was hoping your Ghost was from the last few versions. Some good news: I've seen upgrade rebates offering Ghost 9 for as little as $10 here in Southern California [usually you pay $40 and the rebate is $30]. Check in your Sunday ads to see if they have a similiar offer in your area. The NewEgg deal for SystemWorks at $19 is very popular, too (the one Panama mentions) - and it's delivered to your door.

. . . Gary

[P.S. . . . Ghost 9 is the most recent version. You'd normally suppose it to be called Ghost 2005, but perhaps they changed the naming scheme to reflect the many changes to the program. Ghost 9 is largely based on the PowerQuest imaging tool ("Drive Image" - mentioned in one of the replies above). Symantec acquired PowerQuest recently (so Partition Magic has a new home now, too)]

[TwoRails]

Newegg is where I usually get NSW Pro from. (The price has gone up! The last batch I bought were only $14.95 each.)

Their version names can throw one off a little. When Ghost is bundled w/ NSW, then it's the "year" that most people refer to. For example, in the Newegg link, it'd be called Ghost 2003. Officially, it's version 7. So, if you can get a hold of 2003, or version 7, or higher, you'll be in good shape.

[Julie]

Just a thought: Suppose I boot into Partition Magic with their rescue disk, then convert
my C: drive back into FAT32 - Do you think that will work?
The reason I haven't actually tried this is cos I don't want to mess things up and lose everything. Would it be safe to try?
Or should I just go get Ghost 2003-05?

[diver203_98]

That wouldn't be a good idea Julie. While you can convert from FAT32 to NTFS, you can;t go the other way back to FAT32. That is only a one way deal, and you would loose everything. So you would have to back up everything you want to save, then re-format.

[Statica]

Downgrading from NTFS to FAT32 is not a good idea, even if 3rd party solutions (like Partition Magic) claim that they can do it, it just is too iffy. I would recommend going with a newer version of Ghost. Remember, your backups should be those from a stable system, and you have a higher chance of getting that with NTFS than with FAT32.

[Julie]

I did go into Partition Magic and it did offer the option NTFS to FAT32,
but I didn't go any further. I'm glad I asked you guys first.
So I'll just go get Ghost 7 or 9 and do it that way.
Thanks.

[TwoRails]

Just curious: even if a utility could re-convert back to FAT32, what happens to all the files over FAT32's 4GB limit? are they just deleted?

[GaryRouth]

I imagine we'd have to check Partition Magic's help files for that one!

Rails is referring to the 4gb file size limitation for FAT32. While a volume can theoretically be up to 8 terabytes in size, an individual file can only reach 4gb. Usually, in a home PC, a video file is the type that is going to reach that size. Most folks capturing video in one file are using either NTFS or a Mac [or Linux]

Another rough spot for a backwards conversion (NTFS to FAT32) are any files that started life as NTFS -- especially those that made use of some of the NTFS file systems attributes that FAT32 doesn't possess (such as certain types of security related attributes).

[corkscrew22]

Julie,
yes Drive image sees NTFS as I said before I find it much more user friendly than ghost

[Julie]

Thanks for the info about Drive Image. Does that apply to all versions?
Anyway I've now got Ghost 03 and everything worked out fine.
Thanks again, everyone!

[glc]

In my opinion, the best software for this is Apricorn's EZGigII. This has CloneEZ and ImageEZ - but you cannot buy it standalone - it's only sold in a package with one of their external drive kits. It works with any setup though, it's not restricted to use with their hardware, I have one of their USB hard drive enclosures but I use the software all the time to clone standard internal hard drives. I haven't tried it to do images yet, but the guy I work for has, and he tells me that it makes Ghost look like crap. I still use Drive Image 5 occasionally, but the later versions of Drive Image have gone downhill. I tried using Ghost once, and I did not like it at all.