USB Memory Stick Boot

[juststarting]

I've tried a number of different guides to get a 1G memory stick to boot to Ghost 2003 without success. Some of the guides have been step by step and yet there are a lot of people who fail to get their stick to boot.

Has anyone had success?

There was a trial version on the web that I tried and it worked, but was somewhat expensive for what it does, so I know that the stick is able to boot. I was unable to access the Hyren boot files ios on the stick (might have been because it was the trial version) when I did get the laptop to boot to the stick, so don't know if it works for sure.

Anyone have any success getting their stick to boot, hopefully to Ghost 2003??

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Bjs]

Some confusion as to which version is best , seems to be more pointed to 2003 version as being best , but I use a product called driveimage .

Making bootable flash drives is relatively easy , but then this depends on the hardware configuration of the pc .

Form http://www.notebookforums.com/thread149197-2.html

Go down to last post on page made by a user "VB" , they describe the fun part which is almost the same method I use for driveimage , easy for some , which is why you appear to be stuck for the moment .

You have two choices :

One :

The normally accepted method of generating a bootable cd with image 1 included , and others residing on seperate discs (make 2 copies) , just incase one set flakes out .

Two :

Make a bootable floppy , and provided the flash drive is already formated into an acceptable format , simply copy all the files from the floppy diskettes to the flash drive , and its ready to test out (the way I do it with driveimage) .

Yes , that is not so handy , when most modern pc's do not include a floppy drive now .

The confusion comes down to those wanting to use another type of external usb storage device (hard drive in usb enclosure , containing the image files , which may not always work .

This might be the problem with nortons ghost and how it gose about generating those images (bootable part) .

Driveimage generates a complete set , and includes system required drivers and the product onto two floppies , which I copy to the flash drive , never a problem , even with the external usb hard drives .

Yes , I do have floppy drive units about , it too , requires a floppy drive .

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I would investigate http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

Either of the win98se's , the second "custom" one , I have used it a few times with nero and imgburn to create bootable cds / dvds before without problems .

This of course , will depend on what files nortons ghost requires for basic operation , which I do not have or use , so I can not advise you any further as to how this might be done .

Follow the user posts from vb's post might lead you to options more suitable , on second thoughts , it dose not , so it can only be used as a general reference when it comes down to the autoexe.bat and config.sys file editing , and beware of the line related to cdrom , your system might need and require a different letter assignment , thats the fun and games with pcs packed with multiple drives really starts .

I used to do these things all the time , loading dos drivers and various settings for sound cards and cdroms , but would have to dig out some backups for reference as to what I had done more than 8 years ago when it comes down to the commands used in the autoexe.bat and config.sys files . Specific drivers for the system need to load first , before that nortons ghost gets a crack at it , or it fails everytime .

Reminds me of the time I used to create dos menus which allowed for operating multiple tools such as ghost , partition magic , and others under pure dos .

Linux info : http://www.sysresccd.org/Sysresccd-manual-en_How_to_install_SystemRescueCd_on_an_USB-stick
However , it is the free method , which dose work well . But that might be a bit more technical when it comes down to creating the bootable flash drive component .

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I'll be giving it a crash course in a day or so (driveimage backup on hand , just incase) .

Some reading : http://www.thepcspy.com/articles/hardware/bootable_usb_flash_drive

And something else later

[juststarting]

Thanks to Bjs for all the info.

I've found out that a special boot program is needed from Lexar for their drives (Lexar_USB_format.zip). I tried the other two boot programs, HP and USB Format but neither worked. The Lexar boot program is not available on their website but was emailed to someone who requested it after talking to a tech and can now be found on the web.

After booting to Ghost 2003 with the jumpdrive, I still was unable to use Ghost 2003 because of a SATA drive and no floppy on the Laptop, but that problem has now be solved. Still unable to make a CD or DVD bootable--still looks for A: floppy to download boot files when creating the CD or DVD, but hopefully will be able to change something in the Ghost program to look for the bootstick instead. Will have to use the bookstick to load from CD or DVD, but at least am able to do so now.

Thanks again