Ghost 15.0 on Windows 10

Success Getting Ghost 15 to Work on Windows 10 :-)

I've not seen anyone else have any success getting Norton Ghost 15 to work on Windows 10, so it seems I may be the first to manage this !!!

How did I do this ?

I went into the Program Files\Norton Ghost 15 folder and changed the properties of every Application file (.exe) I could find, such that they ran in Compatibility Mode for Windows 7.  I changed every important looking application file this way, one at a time, rebooting each time until finally I was able to successfully enter my licence code.

The files I changed were ...

C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Agent\VProTray.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Agent\SecurityConfig.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Agent\VProSvc.exe   *****
C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Browser\V2iBrowser.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Console\VProConsole.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Console\VProCustomRE.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Console\VProConsole_.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Console\DRIVERVALIDATION.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Packages\Agent\NORTON~1.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Utility\PartInfo.exe

I think the key file to change is the 'VProSvc.exe' file (with asterisks), as that is the one which allowed the licence registration to work successfully.  However the other files may also be important, so I suggest changing them all.  If you have a 64-bit operating system, then the Norton Ghost 15 folder can be found in the Program Files (x86) folder.

The process for each file in detail is as follows ...

1. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost 15\...
2. Select each application file noted above.
3. Right Click on the file, and Select 'Properties'.
4. Click on the Compatibility Tab.
5. Click the box which says 'Change Settings for All Users'.
6. Tick the Box which says 'Run this program in compatibility mode for ...'
7. Select Windows 7 from the Drop Down Menu
8. Press OK (twice) until the Properties Window is gone.
9. Do this for all the files I have mentioned above.
10. Reboot the computer

After the reboot, on running Ghost 15, you will be asked to enter your licence code.  This time, unlike before, the licence registration should be successful.

I have already tested making a Windows 10 backup, followed by recovering to a previous Windows 7 installation, and then finally recovering back to the Windows 10 backup I just made.  The backup / recovery was successful :-)

Here's hoping you found all of that quite useful.

(drjwolfe)

Thank you drjwolfe.  I installed another backup program but now that I haven possible fix I might have time to devote to this.  I would think that Norton would have come up with a fix???

just sayin...

Update.  I was anxious and wanted to do the restore.  It worked.  Now I will go back and do the compatibility mode again.  I did it for all files you listed but I didn't have this file  C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Console\DRIVERVALIDATION.exe

Thanks again for this information. 

I want to thank you again.  It did work and all seems fine.  I have been looking at getting Shadowprotect as an imaging program because Ghost wasn't supported in W10.  I skipped W8.  Supposedly Shadowprotect will be compatible any day so I am waiting.  But now if Ghost is working, I am not sure I should change things.  Ghost has been very good to me over the many years and once again it saved me.  Thanks very much for your help with this.  I know others appreciate it too.

Well drjwolfe that looked very promising. Clever job!

It didn't work for me, however (Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit and Ghost 15).

I couldn't find the file C:\Program Files\Norton Ghost\Packages\Agent\NORTON~1.exe. That's a DOS name, isn't it? I nowhere found a norton*.exe. What is the real filename?

In C:\Program Files(86)\Norton Ghost\Packages\Agent\ I have, besides the .mst files: data1.cab, nghost15.msi, settings.ini and setup.exe. Of course I changed compatibility for the exe, but that was it. What am I missing here?

allard

I just changed the file you mentioned, and my Norton 15 is now activated. Thank you so much. I also made a test by remove a directory with my popcorn time. then restored it from a baclup I just made in win 10. The single file you mention was the only one I changed Propertys for. C:\ Program Files (x86)\Norton Ghost\Agent\VProSvc.exe

best regards and thank you.

Jorn Johanesson, Denmark

I've got Norton Ghost15 to work on win 10 I'm glad to say. First had numerous problems with 30 day trial and non acceptance of licence code . Then ran Norton Removal Tool which was ok in my case since I had no other norton product (not sure what happens if more than one norton program  on same computer). Reloaded  program (different copy). Changed compatability to win 7 as recommended. This accepted licence code.  To run programme went to Directory  \Norton Ghost\Console\VproConsole.exe. This now works fine.

you are right, there is no need to by this. I have it on all my windows 10 just by changing the compatibility mode for this file : Norton Ghost\Agent\VProSvc.exe. On one computer where I have not uninstalled the ghost, It just run without the need for entering the activation code.

So go for it :-)

Wait for the patch and Symantec to wake up.

Deric

D'ont understand Wait for the Patch. I understand Norton Ghost is no longer supported.

You don't need any license or shady torrent sites to download the Ghost 15 SRD  ISO file. It is right here...

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/linked_files/Ghost/NGH15...

If you want to do Cold Backups without putting in the license code every time, then you need to make a Custom SRD. Since the Ghost 15 SRD runs on WinPE 2.1 that was released for Vista, It might be a good idea to make your own on the Windows 10 version of WinPE. I've done it with WinPE 3.1 (Windows 7 SP1) and WinPE 4 (Windows 8) like this..

https://community.norton.com/en/forums/how-build-ghost15-srd-winpe-31

I have not tried with the latest version of WinPE. Using Win PE 4 will you you USB 3 drivers. etc.

I was able to make the changes and everything "appeared" to be working in Win 10. Backups made and verified. I tried to just recovery a single file and got a "could not mount" the drive error. I had run Ghost twice. One backup to a secondary HD and once to an external USB HD. I tried recovery from both images but when trying to recover the file and got the error, the drive letter shown was not the one used and I could not change the drive letter to the correct backup location. I did not try a recovery from a cold boot to the Ghost disk. This was from inside the running program. Hmmmmm........

Well, I'm baffled. I tried again today to recover a file and used "run recovery point browser" to try and recover it. Using that function, I was able to recover the file from both the external USB drive and secondary internal HD where I was keeping the backup images. Both worked fine. I'll try a full drive recovery from the startup disk in a few days. So for the time being, I'm assuming everything with Ghost 15 and Win 10 is operating as advertised.

Hi

After changing file compatibility to Win 7 Ghost 15 started OK (without asking for license key).

Launching backup of C: drive (system drive) got the following error:

“Device \\?\SymantecSnapshot3 cannot read 12664 sectors starting at LBA 0.” 

Appreciate your advise on how to address this issue.

Thanks

Shraga

Meanwhile, I further investigated the issue. Norton Ghost 15 can actually work on Windows 10, but the system partition can not stand alone. If the system partition is in the C drive, norton ghost 15 can take a backup. However, if the system partion is not together in the C:, then norton can not perform a backup.

Try running PartInfo.exe that is in the Norton Ghost\Utilities folder. It will create a txt file that you can attach here. Hopefully one of our Gurus can see a problem.

Ghost 10 is obsolete and will never be patched to be Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 compatible.

Yeah, I meant Ghost 15. Was reading Windows 10 and made a typo.

Anyway Ghost 15 is obsolete. No longer updated.

Symantec's System Recovery Desktop 2013 is the closest thing to Ghost 15. AFAIK, a new service pack is in the works but not yet released,

Hi PhxFlyer

Please advise if future updates of Win10 (we have many of those now days) will not affect Ghost 15 operation.

As mentioned above  during C: backup Ghost reports the following error “Device \\?\SymantecSnapshot3 (link is external) (link is external) cannot read 12664 sectors starting at LBA 0.” 

So for now I am using Win10 tools "File History"  and "Win7 system image" to backup my PC.

Thanks

Shraga

I made successful backup images of windows 10 with SSR 2013 ( which I used on windows 8.1 previously too) and SSR 2013 recovery disk was able to resotre the backup images but everytime I restored my backup image I ended up with a black screen and a mouse arrow on screen . So I wonder is it SSR 2013 issue or windows 10 issue?  or incompatibility issue?

Regards

Hi drjwolfe:

Awesome work on this.  I found it really helpful.  After following your steps, I tried entering my Windows 7 Activation code but still got the lovely red, activation error warning box.  I did not have one file that you list on my system - C:\Program Files (x86)\Norton Ghost\Packages\Agent\NORTON~1.exe.  I'm not sure if that was the cause of my issues or not.

I tried a few things and eventually needed one additional set of steps to get my system working properly with Ghost 15 after a Windows 10 Pro x64 upgrade:

1. Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Norton Ghost\Packages\Agent.
2. Click on SETUP.EXE (i.e. Run this program).
3. In the dialogue box for Setup, select Repair.  This may take a while.
4. Following the repair, the process asks for a reboot.  I clicked on the "Reboot now" choice (a soft reboot).
5. After the reboot, I waited for all programs in my startup sequence to stabilize, then started up Ghost.  It started looking for my existing backups and devices.  I hadn't seen it do this before.  I clicked on Help -> About.  The screen showed my activation code had been registered.

I don't know if this may help others, but it all seems to be working fine for me now.  Seems to me that Symantec could have provided better (or even some) info about this process.  Thanks for your tips.  Great work!

- Ron -

Hi, I have already raised this under a Backup thread so I hope I am not breaking all the rules by copying it here too.  If so, I apologise.   It is just that even though Ghost is dead, this forum seems to be the most knowledgeable around.

The workarounds for loading the Ghost key under Windows 10  would not work for me.   I downloaded a trial version of SSR 2013 R2 Desktop Edition and was pleased to see the similarity with Ghost.   However,  after 60 days the trial version stopped.   In anticipation of the Windows 10 support in December I ordered SSR 2013 R2 Desktop Edition from a Veritas preferred Partner.  

Veritas would appear to be all over the floor since the de-merger with Symantec and I ended up with a certificate for Veritas Backup Exec and a key for SSR 2013 Desktop Edition (eg not R2 which is mandatory for Windows 10).

Veritas Customer support, though friendly and attentive, have proved incapable of dealing with this situation and correcting their records.  They provided me with a temporary key but I need a correct key and a valid version of the maintenance I paid for.   At their suggestion, I tried cancelling the order (within the 30 day period) and re-ordering.  Veritas Sales came back saying SSR 2013 R2 only comes as a business pack and has a list price of £580.09.  I think this is just incompetence but I can't be sure whether they have changed the rules.

Veritas have mucked about with the Symantec web sites so much that details of how to purchase SSR 2013 R2 Desktop Edition have all been subsumed into one "contact preferred partner" statement. 

Does anyone know exactly how to order this product?    I have looked at Amazon etc but it is not entirely clear what versions they are stocking.

BETTER STILL  does anyone know of an equivalent to SSR 2013 R2 that I could install instead.    I am particularly interested in the granularity of the product and the ability to view and restore individual files, rather than just an image replace.

Thanks

Derek

Hello Mcbrydc / Derek,

I'm pretty sure the version you need is Symantec System Recovery Desktop 2013.  It is available on both the UK & US versions of Amazon.  However, SSR 2013 still hasn't been updated to run on Windows 10, and isn't supported to run on that OS.  Don't assume Symantec will be quick to issue a Win10 fix for SSR.  I think us 'desktop users' are very low priority in their eyes.  You are therefore forced to try workarounds.

As far as I understand...  Both Ghost 15 & SSR 2013 can be made to work on Windows 10, but will need to have a valid licence code, and then follow the steps to make the 'VProSvc.exe' file run in compatibility mode with Windows 7.

I don't have experience with SSR 2013, but I have done at least 6 successful OS re-installs on Windows 10 using Ghost 15 running in compatibility mode.  I am also able to access individual files using the Symantec Recovery Point Browser.  Ghost really still works if you follow the steps in this thread !!!

It looks like you have prior experience with Ghost 15, and probably still have a valid licence.  I suggest you use Norton's Removal Tool to get rid of all previous (? corrupted) Ghost installations.  (PS: It also removes all other Norton programs as well, such as NIS).  Then re-install Ghost 15 from scratch, alter the VProSvc.exe to run in compatibility mode, enter your licence code, and then you should be good to go.

I have successfully licensed Ghost 15 on a Windows 10 computer thanks to drjwolfe's solution.  I can create a Windows 10 backup but when I attempt to restore it I receive the following error: "Error E7BC0001: The system volume specified cannot be retargeted to run on this computer."  I can restore my Windows 7 backup without any problem.  Has anyone else run into this?