Is Norton Ghost Any Good? Anything Better?

[rkr1958]

I'm looking for a drive imaging package to image my C-drive (O/S and Applications). Is Norton Ghost Any Good? Anything better? Also, I noticed on ebay that Norton Ghost package with Norton Systemsworks is much cheaper than Norton Ghost alone. Is there a difference in these two?

[Craig Tucker]

I use Norton Ghost 2003, would not be without it.

[rallynavvie]

I think all the Norton software integrates with SystemWorks which is nice to have all those utilities in one place on the system tray. SystemWorks has anti-virus, disk doctor, speed disk, unerase, etc. I like having them all but some folks don't have the system resources to waste on having Norton running all the time. If you're running XP with the recommended 512MB of RAM you shouldn't notice any problems. Just make sure not to mix Norton and McAfee apps on the same computer.

Ghost is a great utility. When I got my new machine up and running a few weeks ago I installed the OS and my most used applications and made a Ghost boot disc in case I had to recover back to that. I had to work with it to fit it on a single DVD but it did. Boot DVDs are very cool. We used to have to image our computers at work with 4-5 CDs but now can do it from one DVD. There are a lot of other advanced features that Ghost can do but I haven't really messed with it enough to figure it out.

[stiltman]

Ghost is a pretty good product, but IMO the real development of ghost really stopped when symantec bought it.

I think right now, I would say PowerQuest's DriveImage is a better product with better support.


Do I use both products? Yes. I have licenses for both right now. Ghost used to be the only one, until they lagged years behind in linux support.

[Hardcoreruss]

Ghost is a pretty good product, but IMO the real development of ghost really stopped when symantec bought it.

I think right now, I would say PowerQuest's DriveImage is a better product with better support.


Do I use both products? Yes. I have licenses for both right now. Ghost used to be the only one, until they lagged years behind in linux support.

I agree with the Stiltman, PQ def first but ghost a very close second, you would be safe with both.

[rkr1958]

Thanks guys / gals for the replies. One thing preplexes me though. Is there a difference in the Norton Ghost packaged with Norton SystemWorks versus the version the sale alone? I can get NORTON SYSTEMWORKS 2003 PRO+ANTIVIRUS+GHOST( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dllViewItem&category=3806&item=3685190385&rd=1 ) off of ebay for around $9 ($5 + $4 SH) but I Norton Ghost by itself usually runs several $ higher ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dllViewItem&category=3805&item=3685505154&rd=1 ) ?

EDITED: Never mind I just purchased the latter one (Ghost by itself). Thanks again to everyone for their input.

[devinemi83]

You should like it, I got the 2001 version and its still saving me today. IMO it is the ONLY worthwhile thing symantec makes anymore. All their other stuff is heavy bloatware.

[tekkieman]

..... I had to work with it to fit it on a single DVD but it did. Boot DVDs are very cool. We used to have to image our computers at work with 4-5 CDs but now can do it from one DVD. There are a lot of other advanced features that Ghost can do but I haven't really messed with it enough to figure it out.

I'd be interested in hearing your process on boot DVDs. We were leaning towards that at work, but the tech guy couldn't get it to work. Is there a particular version required for boot DVD?

[stiltman]

..... I had to work with it to fit it on a single DVD but it did. Boot DVDs are very cool. We used to have to image our computers at work with 4-5 CDs but now can do it from one DVD. There are a lot of other advanced features that Ghost can do but I haven't really messed with it enough to figure it out.

I'd be interested in hearing your process on boot DVDs. We were leaning towards that at work, but the tech guy couldn't get it to work. Is there a particular version required for boot DVD?

Very easy, create a botable diskette using win98's command.com (IMO)
Use a very generic cd/dvd driver (I use ATAPICD.SYS). Ghost.exe 6.5 and later can access the DVD-R natively. It will also ask if you want to make it bootable at the same time

or you can save it to a seperate HDD and later burn the images to a DVD that you make bootable via the diskette or diskette image.

use ghost's command line switches to make it pretty much automated to backup and restore....

[housepig]

I've been using Acronis Trueimage and find it personally quite a bit easier to use than Ghost. speedy restores, too (20 seconds for a Win98 + a ton of software).

[rallynavvie]

Don't even need a boot floppy for the DVD images. I just boot to the DVD drive from BIOS and it images just like a Windows install from a CD. It also goes quite a bit faster than several CDs, and that's not counting the time switching between discs. To get everything to fit on one DVD like I did took some decisions as to which programs I really wanted installed already. For me it was pretty much a full Windows update, Norton updates, and my Adobe software bundles. I think it ended up being a 4.5 GB image. It saves as an ISO and then I burned it with Nero. IIRC it is also possible to do network images or installs with Ghost.

[DVD_Ripper]

The company I work for uses ghost to image all their laptop and desktop machines. (4000 in just this location)

[phuocle]

Can you image Ghost and deploy on the same box with some minor hardware changes? Like new hard drive, new video card, etc? In theory, XP should re-detect your new hardware. However I'm using Acronis TrueImage and unless it's the exact same machine and hardware configuration, I'll get a blue screen of death on bootup under Windows 2000 or XP Pro.

[stiltman]

Can you image Ghost and deploy on the same box with some minor hardware changes? Like new hard drive, new video card, etc? In theory, XP should re-detect your new hardware. However I'm using Acronis TrueImage and unless it's the exact same machine and hardware configuration, I'll get a blue screen of death on bootup under Windows 2000 or XP Pro.

I do it all the time....if the IDE drivers are the same, then you shouldn't have any problems. If the have different IDE driver (i.e. different chipset) you have to apply the XP patch and or Win2K patch to the registry before you ghost it.

[enstg8er]

good ghost help site:
http://ghost.radified.com/

i find lots of useful info here...

[jonchill]

So what's going to happen now that Symantec have bought Powerquest and own Partitionmagic and Driveimage? Are we going to see them combine the two products and produce one excellent product?