Ghost 15 Disk Image as Bootable Drive?

Can Norton Ghost 15 create a disk image of WIndows 7 on a separate hard disk,

and make that disk image a bootable drive when the computer starts up?

 

I have used Ghost 15 for this purpose, but I find that my disk image of Windows 7

is not bootable when the computer starts up.

 

Thanks for any tips.

 

 

schwine,

 

Almost certainly you are performing Copy Drive incorrectly. Sorry. Could you describe in detail the steps you are using.

I used the Copy Drive Wizard in Norton Ghost 15 to duplicate the Windows 7 drive directly to another internal hard disk drive within the same computer.

 

When it comes to recovering a failed operating system on the hard drive of a computer, the Norton Ghost User Guide seems to emphasize the Symantec Recovery Disk.  Here is a quote from the guide (page 174):

 

"Depending on which version of the product you have purchased, Symantec

Recovery Disk is either included on your product CD, or as a separate CD."

 

Since I don't have separate CD that says, "Symantec Recovery Disk," I assume that this function is contained within the Symantic installation CD.

 

As such, if I needed to recover a failed Windows 7 (in my case) operating system, my understanding is that I would insert the Symantic installation CD (in my case), and somehow direct it to the disk image of Windows 7 that has been previously created on another drive by Norton Ghost. The Recovery Disk portion of the CD would then proceed to recover the operating system back onto the drive where it originally appeared.

 

If this is not how the recovery process works with Norton Ghost, then I am obviously not grasping the concept.

 


schwine wrote:

I used the Copy Drive Wizard in Norton Ghost 15 to duplicate the Windows 7 drive directly to another internal hard disk drive within the same computer.

 


 

schwine,.

 

That's what I thought you were discussing in your first post. Where you said "my disk image of Windows 7

is not bootable when the computer starts up."  Copy Drive.

 

See   http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/notes.htm#note14  which discusses Clone/Image.

 

What error did you see? How did you prepare the new HD prior to Copy Drive?

Brian,

 

Unfortunately, I'm not explaining myself very well.

 

I'm a new user of Norton Ghost, so at this point I'm just trying to figure out how it works.

Although I've created a disk image of Windows 7 that is currently stored on another internal hard disk, 

I didn't experience any error messages from Norton Ghost in the process, and when the new hard disk

was installed in the computer, it was configured to be compatible with the Windows operating system.

 

As far as I know, Norton Ghost did was it's supposed to do.

I just don't know "how" to recover the operating system from the stored disk image if needed the future. 

 

Here is a screenshot of my hard disk that contains the Norton Ghost image of Windows 7.

 

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schwine,

 

I think I've misunderstood what you have been trying. You have created an image (recovery point) and you want to restore this to a new HD and boot from the new HD. As if the old HD had failed. Is that correct?

schwine,

 

Your screen shot just came through. Unfortunately I have no experience with your setup. Bootcamp, Macintosh and a Win7 on a non C: drive. I hope someone here can advise.

Re: You have created an image (recovery point) and you want to restore this to a new HD and boot from the new HD. As if the old HD had failed. Is that correct?

 

Basically, correct. Let's say the hard drive that contains Windows 7 failed and needed to be restored using the disk image. 

How would you do that? Don't read more into this question then there is. Remember, I'm a complete new user to Norton Ghost.

 

By the way, please ignore the Mac drives in the screenshot as they don't apply to the question.

The other drives, including the Mac drives, have backups independent of Norton Ghost.

The H drive (Windows BU or Windows Backup) is the drive used for the disk image of Windows 7.

 

 

 

 

 

schwine,

 

Let's assume I had a HD with a single Win7 partition and no SRP (System Reserved Partition). I would create a One Time Backup, writing the image (recovery point) to an external or internal HD. Say the primary HD fails. I'd replace the HD with a new HD. Next, boot from the Ghost CD into the Recovery Environment and choose "Recover My Computer". Follow the Wizard and choose these options...

 

Verify recovery point before restore
Resize drive after recover (unallocated space only) (ONLY if you want to)
Partition type : Primary
Check for file system errors after recovery
Set drive active (for booting OS)
Restore original disk signature
Restore master boot record

 

If the primary HD hadn't failed but Win7 was corrupted and you wanted to restore the image to the original HD (not a new HD), you would choose...

 

Verify recovery point before restore
Partition type : Primary
Check for file system errors after recovery
Set drive active (for booting OS)

 

Remove the Ghost CD and restart the computer. Any questions?

 

Out of interest, when you are in Win7, does it see itself as C: drive?

 

Edit.... I don't understand Bootcamp. Is your image of Bootcamp or Win7?

 

Edit... With a Macintosh you probably would not want to Restore original disk signature or Restore master boot record.

 

 

That's great, Brian. You're recovery instructions are exactly what I have been looking for.

 

I have Norton Ghost, version 15.0.1.36526. With this version, I only have one installation disk,

and no separate or second Recovery cd. I think this is the source of my confusion. You probably

have a second Norton Ghost disk that is dedicated to the recovery of a failed Windows operating system.  But

I do not have such a disk. Even though I bought my copy of Norton Ghost brand new from a retail outlet,

I just have one installation cd. This installation cd doesn't appear to have any "recovery environment" files as you have

described.

 

On the other hand, I think I'm supposed to create my own "customized" recovery disk, but I haven't figured out how to

do that. If this is the case, you have probably made a customized recovery cd to suit your own setup of Windows.

 

Included in this posting are two screenshots that illustrate the contents of my actual Norton Ghost installation cd.

There is nothing on this installaton disk that would help recover a Windows operating system, even in the Boot folder

as shown in one of the screenshots.

 

To answer your questions, since I operate Windows 7 on an Intel based Mac computer, it runs natively on it's own hard disk

using Mac software called Bootcamp. When I am in Windows 7, this operating system sees itself as Windows 7 (G-drive) within Bootcamp (C-drive). Essentially, Bootcamp is the same C-drive that appears on Windows computers, and the G-drive is an empty folder that Bootcamp created for its own internal records.

 

SInce I have an Intel based Mac computer, I enjoy three operating systems on one computer. Namely, Snow Leopard, Windows 7 and Ubuntu, a Unix based operating system that is even more stable than Mac's Snow Leopard.

 

I installed Windows 7 with the master boot record option available through Mac's Bootcamp software.

 

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I can't see your pictures yet, but try booting to your CD.

 

When you purchase it online you get a link to an ISO that you use to burn a seperate recovery disk.

But when you purchase it at a store they are both combined into one disk.

 

Try booting to it and see if it takes you to the recovery enviroment and your able to browse your drives.

Dave

 

edit- I'm just a PC so forgive my mac ignorance.  But doesn't that use hfs?

 

Here is a list of supported file formats for Ghost 15:

 

Norton Ghost supports the following file systems:

FAT16, FAT16X

FAT32, FAT32X

NTFS

GUID Partition Table (GPT)

Dynamic disks

Linux Ext2, Linux Ext3

Linux swap partitions

Here is my Ghost 15 CD...

 

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Yours is the same as mine. Boot from the CD and play around with the menus.

Okay, I've got it now.

Many thanks.

 

Here is a link to some information on HFS Plus, which is the successor to HFS.

When I originally installed Windows 7 on my Mac Pro tower, I needed to select an NTFS

option (from a Mac program called Disk Utility) which is suitable for the Windows platform.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HFS_Plus