Norton Ghost and Windows 2000

[Kappo]

I posted this in the Software forum...but it is a much less traveled road so I posted here too!

Ok, first, here is my system setup:
CEL2 @ 1GiG
BX-133 raid MobO
(2) IBM 75 GXP 30 GiG in RAID0
(1) WD Caviar 10 gig (Loaded w/MP3's )
512 meg RAM
Inito 9100u SCSI Card
Imation (flashed to a Plextor) 8x20 SCSI

Here is what I am trying to do...I want to Ghost my HD and put the image (spanned) onto CDR's. Now, FIRST, the total partition size is like 58 gigs, but only about 3.5 gigs are used. I can't quite get it it recognize my CDR so I dont know how to put it on the CD's. I can get it to go to the WD HD, but cant seem to get it on the CDR's.

How big is my image file going to be if I use the most compression?
What settings should I use?
I am not exactly sure how to set up the CDR to be bootable, but that would be really nice!!
Can I put the image file on my extra HD and then span it and make it bootable onto CDR's?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated!!! And THANKS in advance!!!

 

[Dave]

If you have the most recent version of Ghost (Ghost 2001) you can boot off a floppy that has the Ghost executable file on it and send the image directly to the CD writer, provided that your CD writer is supported by Ghost ... check the Symantec.com web site to see if your burner is supported. Even if your drive is not listed, it may work. You will just have to try it.

If your CD burner is not supported, or will not work, or if you don't have the version that supports imaging directly to the burner, you will have to write the images to another hard drive. To do this boot off a floppy and execute Ghost with the following command line switches:

ghost -split=620 -autoname

This will create a series of 620 MB files that may be written to CDs. Remember that you cannot write these files to the same drive that you are imaging. They will have to go to a second hard drive.

Once you have created these ghost image files, crank up your system and start your EZCD Creator (or whatever you use) and write the image files to CDs. I know that with EZCD Creator there is an option under one of drop down menus to make a CD bootable. You will need to consult your burning program's help file. Be sure that you have a bootable floppy that has the drivers for your CDROM reader installed, as well as the Ghost executable file ... this floppy will be the source for the "boot image" that goes on the first CDROM that you create. If you forget to include the CDROM drivers on the boot floppy, the CD will boot, but you won't be able to get to the image files on the CDs!

As far as compression of the 3.5GB, it depends on the contents of your hard drive. You may typically expect to get a 20% reduction in the storage space required, but it depends on the compressibility of the files on your hard drive. For example, if your HDD is filled with MP3, ZIP or other highly compressed files, Ghost will be unable to reduce their size by very much. If you have a lot of spreadsheets and word processing documents they will crunch down significantly and you will save more than 20%. Again, you will just have to try it and see.

Based on prior experience, it will probably take 5 CDs to image 3.5 GB.

This sounds messy, but its worth it if you ever have a crash ... it takes very little time to restore from the images.

I use Ghost 2001 with a HP9100 (8X IDE) and go straight to the CD ... it takes about 10 minutes per CD.

If possible, make a backup set and restore them to another drive ... you want to be sure that it works!

Last thing: Read the PDF help file that comes with most versions of Ghost, and also go to the Symantec web site and read up on Ghost. It will be well worth your time.

 

[Kappo]

sweet! thanks dave!!!!

one last thing...how do I know if my CDR works...will there be an option for it in the drop down menu for where I am going to write the image file?

When I boot with the floppy w/cd support it errors on one either the cd reader or writer (I cant tell which)...would this be because the CDR is on a SCSI interface?? If so then how can I load the initio drivers so it will recognize it? THANKS a TON for your help already...

 

[cloudchief]

I have made boot disks that worked with Diamond Fireport, Tekram, and Advansys SCSI cards using simular directions copied from www.initio.com

Since the Initio drivers are not included on the installation boot diskette for Win 98, the DOS drivers must be added to the Windows 98 Boot Disk. To do this perform the following steps:

Make a copy of the Windows 98 Boot Disk included with the Windows 98 package

Copy the following files to the root of the boot disk from the DOS directory of the Initio driver diskette
ASPI910U.SYS
INICD.SYS

Edit the config.sys file and add the following lines at the end of the [SETUP_CD] header
device=aspi910u.sys
device=inicd.sys /D:mscd001

 

[clpl]

Try this site for instructions on making a bootable CD.

 

[zzzz]

I have a related question. I have win 2k as the only OS. Can I use win 98 boot images to create a boot disk and still able to restore win 2k partitions?
Thanks..

 

[Dave]

Yes ... you just need the boot image to boot the CD ... the Ghost program handles putting the image (from the CD) onto the drive.

 

[overmars]

I've also used Imagecast IC3 to put an image onto CD. Any prog like ghost, drive image, or imagecast will do the job.