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  1. Member
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    Can Norton Ghost be used to backup certain applications? For examples could I backup Mocrosoft Office and Peachtree Accounting, reformat and do a fresh install of Windows XP, and then restore those applications without having to have original software? Is there some other program that can do this if Ghost can't? The reason I need to do this is one program I have was installed by a vendor who would not provide me with software due to fear of theft or illegal distribution I suppose, and now I'm unable to contact that vendor.
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    According to Symantec site Norton CleanSweep can be used to migrate applications from one system to another, but I see nothing in their FAQs which addresses my particular issue. Does anyone know whether CleanSweep can be used to do what I need done, i.e. backup and then restore application after fresh install of Windows?
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    Yes, Cleansweep can store the app and all registry entries and files into a special archive (it's basically a ZIP file). Then you have to restore it with Cleansweep once you get the machine mindwiped.
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  4. I don't believe Ghost can be used to restore a single application irrespective of the operating system install. That is, Ghost can image the entire drive, and/or backup data, but that assumes that you are wanting to return to an identical install, including the OS -- because most installers nowadays insert .dlls and registry entries all over the place, Ghost (and other programs) can't track that install after the fact (i.e. it won't know where all the individual files went, into what directories), so to get a program to "re-install" to workable condtion, you'll need to do a full restore and return the entire drive to its original state.

    Was that unnecessarily wordy enough? :P Anyway, I could be wrong as I don't know the current powers of Ghost (I've only got up to ver. 8 and they're up to 10 now, I think?).

    The only program I know that does what I think you're looking for is part of a set of disk imaging software we use (I work for a university) called "Altiris," and this sub-program takes a snapshot of a system before you install any program, then you install whatever program you want, then do the second part in Altiris and it goes through the entire system and figures out what registry entires got changed or updated, where all the files went, etc. Then Altiris can make an "installer" from that comparison, package it, and you can save it for later use to re-install that program onto another computer.

    But even then, this doesn't alway work, due to possible conflicts with other software. Also this assumes that you have the original installer to work with, so the program can compare the system before and after the install -- and you don't have an example of before, just after, so the software wouldn't know what to look for.

    So based on that, I suspect that backing up just your particular programs won't work, if you want to re-install them later. So I would use Ghost to just do a full backup now anyway, assuming everything still works, and then once you've got a workable backup you can tweak the living daylights out of your setup to see how fast you can get it -- and if you break something, you just restore the entire system from backup and try again!
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    After several tries I finally got through to Symantect tech support to learn 2003 version of SystemWorks is only version in which Cleansweep has a backup wizard, but they were unable to confirm whether 2003 version would do what I want because support for 2004 and older versions is no longer available. Is this the version to which kschang is referring, and does anyone have any idea where 2003 Systemworks might be available and if it will work? Symantec obviously needs to update their site to eliminate misleading information which seems to imply all Cleansweep versions and is found at http://symantec.atgnow.com/consumer/resultDisplay.do?gotoLink=770&docType=1000&context...sultType=5000#
    to see the question and answer indicating CleanSweep will migrate.
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  6. contrarian rallynavvie's Avatar
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    I have SystemWorks 2005 on all my PCs and it looks like CleanSweep has the program backup option available to it.
    FB-DIMM are the real cause of global warming
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    That wouldn't surprise me because the first to techs I talked to were unaware Cleansweep had the capability and told me I was wrong. Symantect tech support leaves much to be desired.
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    Does anyone else have SystemWorks 2005 or 2006, and does yours have the backup wizard in Cleansweep? I've seen SystemWorks for free after rebates from time to time, and I may just get it next time I see that offer if all later version have backup wizard in Cleansweep. You'd think Symantec support would know that! However, they don't appear to know it.
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  9. contrarian rallynavvie's Avatar
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    I have 2005 Premiere and it has a backup and restore wizard listed under the "Programs" subheading in CleanSweep.

    I thought the Premiere version was also bundled with PartitionMagic but it just has Ghost as an extra
    FB-DIMM are the real cause of global warming
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  10. Member painkiller's Avatar
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    Actually, as I understand Ghost - you can make a full image backup to another hard drive, partition, disc. After which, when you add/install more to your system then Ghost can make an incremental image backup of that difference.

    Which means you could "roll back" to a previous version fairly easily and quickly.

    I can't answer exactly how that is done - but a tech support person I work with showed me how it worked. Took him 10 minutes to "re-blast" his C: drive back to the state before we installed my software package.
    Whatever doesn't kill me, merely ticks me off. (Never again a Sony consumer.)
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    Systemworks no longer includes Cleansweep, which sucks. I have SW2005 and it just has "EasyClean".
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  12. Member
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    Why would rallynavvie's 2005 version havit it, and kschang's doesn't? Is it because rallynavvie's is Primeir, and kschang's not Premeir? I have Ghost which would work except for the problem of current Windows XP unable to complete install of SP2. An error is given that "Install can not continue. Selected updates were not completely installed..." Ghost would make exact image including inability to complete SP2 install. I was hoping Cleansweep could backup and recover a single app, and then SP2 could be installed after a fresh Windows install if the problem isn't associated with that single app. Then I'd restore the single app if Cleansweep can do this. I would do this on another drive first before risking loss of app restoration if it doesn't work of course.
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  13. Member hech54's Avatar
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    I recall having an OLD version of Systemworks and one app could backup a program.
    I tried it...didn't work.
    I'm almost 100% sure it was Systemworks...but it could have been an old Roxio program too...
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