You can download and install it now, and once you get your SSR 2013 product key, click HELP > Add License Key.
I found links to some of the other versions, like the desktop version here:
http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/new-symantec-system-recovery-2013-out-now
I will go ahead and answer my own question here just in case anyone else is wondering the same thing...
I was able to contact Customer Support and they were able to instantly provide to me my license key for the System Recovery 2013 version. In fact, I've already completed a complete backup of my Windows 8 system and am now testing to make sure that I can create a reliable VM based upon that backup.
Visually it looks identical to SSR 2011 (which is almost identical to Ghost 15) but I absolutely love the fact that I now have native 64-bit recovery media with full support for my 64-bit drivers and USB 3.
It's been a bit of a wait but so far the results look like they are very much worth the wait. I'm not aware of anyone else having a product based on WinPE 4 with full native 64-bit driver support.
Well done, Symantec!
- Hannes
andreash_utah wrote:I don't have an answer to all of the Ghost 15 upgrade and compatibility issues, nor do I have all of the answers to what is going on with Ghost, but I did want to announce that Symantec System Recovery (SSR) 2013 desktop officially released moments ago. (I'll follow up later with pricing\upgrade information. As of now, I don't yet have it). SSR 2013 is the enterprise equivalent of Ghost. If you know how to use Ghost, you will know how to use SSR. Again, I don't know the details of the plans for Ghost. Please consider SSR 2013:
- Full 32-bit and 64-bit driver support (includes 2 recovery disks).
- The Recovery Disk is built on WinPE 4.0 (Windows 8), which has native support for USB 3.0, native support for the new NTFS file system (including dynamic volume creation from the recovery disk), and inclusion of all Hyper-V™ mass storage, mouse integration, and network adapter drivers.
- All-in-one backup and recovery from a USB device you can create.
- Additional flexibility has been added to the customizable recovery disk wizard.
- New 'Smart Reconcile', which eliminates the 'reconciling volume...' lag issue after an improper shutdown. Incrementals are created faster.
- Microsoft-qualified for WIndows 8.
- uEFI backups and recoveries.
To download a 60-day trial copy of this software, please visit this link: https://www4.symantec.com/Vrt/offer?a_id=88724
If you have any questions, please ask.
Andy, thanks for the update.
I looked at the 'old' pricing for Desktop version and it seems to be $85? High compared to Ghost, and I need 2 copies. I can get 3 license copies of at least 3 other competing products for less than the SSR 2013 Desktop cost. Please let me know the possibility of a Ghost 15/Win8 patch/fix or if there IS an upgrade price to SSR?
I hate changing, but I don't see why I shouldn't since I don't think this is my fault. I got taken the last time when I had Ghost 14 and had to buy a NEW Ghost 15 to support Win7. I will NOT do this again!
ispalten wrote:I hate changing, but I don't see why I shouldn't since I don't think this is my fault. I got taken the last time when I had Ghost 14 and had to buy a NEW Ghost 15 to support Win7. I will NOT do this again!
Then don't updtae your OS.
It's not Symantecs fault that Microsoft came out with a new operating system. (thats also not free).
They had to put a lot of work into this new version and I'm sure the Symantec employees like to be able to eat.
Keep in mind that SSR is a business and enterprise version, Ghost 16 will be less expensive.
Dave
DaveH wrote:It's not Symantecs fault that Microsoft came out with a new operating system. (thats also not free).
They had to put a lot of work into this new version and I'm sure the Symantec employees like to be able to eat.
Keep in mind that SSR is a business and enterprise version, Ghost 16 will be less expensive.
Dave
Dave, I fully understand.
However, there is NO Ghost commiment at this time for an UPGRADE, FIX, or NEW VERSION. In addition, MS's W8 Advisor claims Ghost is 'good'. Where did MS get that info from may I ask? Consumer Previews were available for test, and I'm sure Symantec has some connections with MS and gets code ahead of time.
Yes, W7 had a delay, but we knew from the start Ghost 14 would not work.
Meanwhile I'm running the SSR 2013 Beta, due to run out soon.
If I can't get a reasonable price for SSR 2013, or a date for a fix or new release of the cheaper Ghost, then I will vote with my dollars elsewhere. My vote will help someone elses employees eat, not Symantec.
I'm not trying to steal anything, but I also think there should be UPGRADE prices/paths... the competitor's
Acronis - 3 PC's, $80, Upgrade $30
Paragon - Special until 1/11/13, $25 single, 3 PC, $70
Macrium - Single, $40, 4 PC, $90, Upgrade, single, $30, 4 PC, $59
From what I've read, and tried the 'demo' of each, they appear to be just as good as Ghost. I might just go with Paragon tomorrow if I can't get some sort of reasonable answer about Ghost?
redk9258 wrote:
ispalten wrote:I hate changing, but I don't see why I shouldn't since I don't think this is my fault. I got taken the last time when I had Ghost 14 and had to buy a NEW Ghost 15 to support Win7. I will NOT do this again!
Then don't updtae your OS.
See my answer to DaveH, but MS's Upgrade Advisor DID claim Ghost was OK. Where did they get that idea from? Yeah, MS could be wrong, but someone somewhere said it DID work.
ispalten wrote:
DaveH wrote:It's not Symantecs fault that Microsoft came out with a new operating system. (thats also not free).
They had to put a lot of work into this new version and I'm sure the Symantec employees like to be able to eat.
Keep in mind that SSR is a business and enterprise version, Ghost 16 will be less expensive.
Dave
Dave, I fully understand.
However, there is NO Ghost commiment at this time for an UPGRADE, FIX, or NEW VERSION. In addition, MS's W8 Advisor claims Ghost is 'good'. Where did MS get that info from may I ask? Consumer Previews were available for test, and I'm sure Symantec has some connections with MS and gets code ahead of time.
Yes, W7 had a delay, but we knew from the start Ghost 14 would not work.
Meanwhile I'm running the SSR 2013 Beta, due to run out soon.
If I can't get a reasonable price for SSR 2013, or a date for a fix or new release of the cheaper Ghost, then I will vote with my dollars elsewhere. My vote will help someone elses employees eat, not Symantec.
I'm not trying to steal anything, but I also think there should be UPGRADE prices/paths... the competitor's
Acronis - 3 PC's, $80, Upgrade $30
Paragon - Special until 1/11/13, $25 single, 3 PC, $70
Macrium - Single, $40, 4 PC, $90, Upgrade, single, $30, 4 PC, $59
From what I've read, and tried the 'demo' of each, they appear to be just as good as Ghost. I might just go with Paragon tomorrow if I can't get some sort of reasonable answer about Ghost?
I have never seen a Symantec employee say anything about an update or fix for Ghost 15 to work on windows 8.
There has been no comments either yes or no made by anyone involved.
If I had to guess I would say no just because a patch was never made to make version 14 compatible with Windows 7 64bit.
I also have no idea about MS upgrade advisor. I assume thats Microsoft because from the very first release of the developers preview of windows 8 we all knew Ghost 15 was not fully compatible.
This new version really isn't just a simple fix to get Ghost to work on Windows 8.
Adding USB3 support is minor compared to fully rewriting everything into strict 64bit versions and fully supporting GPT drives and EUFI partitions.
Yes, Symantec does have connections to get code early from MS, you might be shocked to learn just how long this version has been in the works.
Personally, I have trired all the products you mention and several others. I actually don't know of many I have not used or thoroughly tested over the years.
I don't use Ghost just because I'm a "Guru" here, I'm a Guru here because over the years I have used all the products and picked Ghost as the best.
But thats my opinion and if you find another product you like better than thats your choice.
Just make sure you get something to depend on, saving a few bucks is not as important as saving your irreplaceable data.
DaveH -
Well spoken. I concur with your assessment of Ghost's competitors. Curiously, none of the forum contributors mentions Avanquest's PerfectImage, which is a solid performer. Alas, I don't see that Avanquest has polished up PerfectImage for Windows 8, so we may have to wait a bit for that product.
Symnantec didn't mislead me about Ghost 15 - I erroneously assumed that because it worked in Windows 7 it would be compatible with Windows 8. This extensive blog testifies to the consternation and disappointment of many who made the same incorrect assumption regarding Windows 8 compatibility.
Ghost has never been easy to use. The first version I purchased required DOS commands and it came with a disclaimer that it was for advanced users only. I was able to cobble together enough DOS commands to make partition images and restore from removable media (optical discs). Subsequent versions seemed to keep pace with Windows releases. That said, recovering from catastrophe was rarely straightforward, and it wasn't unusual to waste 20 minutes trying to get Ghost to recognize the image file. Doubtless others have experienced the same frustration. But once Ghost found the image file, recovery was seamless and faster than all competitor's products. Once Ghost commenced recovery, I usually had a healthy computer in 10-15 minutes.
Everyone talks about virus corruption, but in my experience catastrophe is self-inflicted. It's comforting to know that if a new software download creates a mess, or one makes a fatal registry edit, that Ghost will come to the rescue.
nepenthe
DaveH wrote:
Just make sure you get something to depend on, saving a few bucks is not as important as saving your irreplaceable data.
Absolutely true. I have basically tested all three I mentioned and they appear to work.
What I find inexcuseable is the stance right now of not knowing anything about a Ghost version for W8 and the 'implied' one should move up to a BUSINESS solution for back-up and the higher price.
I've used Ghost since it was called Backup and Restore, circa 2000 probably. I moved up and PAID for all versions since then up to Ghost 15. I would LIKE to stay with Ghost too, but the non-information makes it tough to do just that. Even Andy has not been able to get answers (and prices) it seems. I run Norton ISS 2013 on 2 computers here. I'd put it on the 3rd, but that came with McAfee and has a year left on its license, and I don't want to work at switching it over, but will once the license expires.
It isn't as much saving a buck, but not getting answers I can make a decision on. If Ghost 16 would become available I'd buy the 2 licenses and be done with it as I trust Ghost. No info forth coming makes it hard to do that.
If there will be no Ghost 16 or fix for 15, well, I'm not so sure I want to pay the SSR 2013 price (what ever it is) as that really probably has more than I need. USB 3.0 is not an issue for me, all computers have dedicated back-up drives in them. I routinely move selected images off to a USB drive connected to my router from all computers as another restore possibility. Nothing on my computers are going to be more than a pain recreating if there should be a disaster. I don't use USB drives and alternate them into a safe storage area to handle disasters. My data and stuff just isn't that important. I also burn DVD's randomly saving photo's and needed documents and put them in a safe place. The main use for a backup is to recover from a virus or accidently deleted files.
It's been stated here by a Symantec employee that Ghost 16 will be released in "Quarter 1 of 2013".
I know that does not narrow it down much but I would hope it's early in this quarter.
From what has happened in the past it is usually not long after the SSR version is released, all the features are complete at that point and only minor changes are necessary.
If you don't need to image your system in an ongoing basis, you may be able to just boot to the Ghost 15 recovery disk once in a while and image your system. Or setup a dual boot and continue to use windows 7 to image your windows 8 partition.
That might get you buy until Ghost 16 is released and we know how much it costs.
Some places run specials for Norton products, Red here posts a lot of notices for free after rebate offeres or other discounts.
Dave
I know that this discussion is meant to be primarily for Norton Ghost, but since we've also been discussing the closely related Symantec System Recovery 2013 desktop edition here I thought that I would just share my experiences with it so far since I've now had a whole day to play with it.
First, it looks almost exactly like Ghost 15 or SSR 2011. There are a couple of very minor differences, but essentially it looks identical so if you are familiar with Ghost 15 there should be just about no learning curve.
I've found that the creation of native 64-bit recovery media works very well. No longer do I need to locate 32-bit Vista drivers for my storage and network devices so that alone is a huge plus for me. Having USB 3 support is also wonderful. In theory, I should be able to perform some very rapid restores of large volumes now from external HDs far faster than with USB 2. More on that later.
I've now successfully performed multiple full backups and incremental backups including verifications with not a single glitch. I've successfully converted several of these into VMware workstation Virtual Machines and these all work perfectly. One note on this topic: I notice that the only option for creating a VMware workstation VM is for creation of a workstation version 8 machine. I'm running VMware WS version 9 and it converts the disk image in mere seconds so the VMs created by SSR 2013 will work fine with version 9 as well but you will want to make sure that you have at least version 8 of VMware Workstation if you are going to do any virtual conversions. If you are going to do any work with Win 8 or Server 2012 you will then want to ensure that you are using version 9.
Also, in previous versions I found that I could only convert the very latest backup into a VM. For example, if I had a full backup and 5 incrementals, I could only convert the last backup in that series. That was really lame if you discovered that there was a problem such as missing files, a virus, corruption, etc. and you wanted to create a VM out of a previous backup. SSR 2013 now seems to allow creating a VM from any one of my backups.
I've also configured my backup of my volume holding my virtual machines to run a script that suspends my VMs, starts the backup, then restart the VMs once the volume snapshot has been taken and SSR 2013 is handling that perfectly as well.
Another previous annoyance seems to have been cleared up as well. If I would perform backups to external media, say an external HD, and at some point I wanted to retire that external drive, it was a royal pain to remove that backup destination if it was not physically connected to the machine. That no longer appears to be a problem.
The one really important test remaining now for me is an actual complete restore of a system. I've got a candidate machine where I'll be restoring about 1TB of data via USB 3 so I'll be curious to see how long that will take. I hope to do that test either tonight or tomorrow at the latest.
Aside from that one test, so far I'm exceptionally happy with the SSR 2013 tests I've run so far.
- Hannes
If you do run into that problem again about converting an image with multiple incrementals, here is how you can work around it.
Select the incremental you want and double click it to open it in the image explorer.
On the left side you may need to click the image name to get all the buttons active. Then use the "copy" feature to make one image file out of the base plus selected incrementals. Use that new single image as the conversion source.
Dave
Please post what you decinded to do and what SW package... i am in the same boat.
Your not in my boat because I don't like Windows 8.
If I get a touchpad I'll use it but on a desktop I find it a pain, Windows 7 works so much better for me. I like my start menu and aero.
I do like the new version of SSR, I guess the best thing right now is to use that free for 60 days and in the meantime hope Ghost 16 comes out or we can find a good price for SSR 2013.
Or boot to the Ghost 15 recovery disk once in a while to make cold images and in between the images do some kind of file and folder backup for all the data that changes between images.
Thats the way we used to do it in the olden days before you could make in image from inside windows.
Dave
> Your not in my boat because I don't like Windows 8.
> If I get a touchpad I'll use it but on a desktop I find it a pain, Windows 7 works so much better for me. I like my start menu and aero.
I don't have Windows 8 either but I have read several positive reviews about a product called Start8 that brings back our favorite start menu:
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/
redk9258 -
I've used Classic Shell for a couple of months now, installed in two computers running 64-bit Windows 8 Pro. One is a homebuilt water cooled behemoth, the other a Toshiba netbook. If you like the Windows 95/98 GUI, you'll love Classic Shell. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the Windows 95/98 GUI - Windows Explorer gave you access to everything, and you could customize the quick launch however you wished.
Change for the sake of novelty has been a real aggravation with Windows. I own two Jeep Cherokees ('87 and '96), both equipped with 4.0L fuel injected straight six engines. The shell is the same, both solid performers and extremely reliable. Doubtless they'll both outlast me.
The classic interface works smoothly and eliminates all the confusion Microsoft has launched since XP. I know this thread is supposed to be about Ghost 15 issues in Windows 8, but I find a number of Windows 7 issues resolved in Windows 8. The 3-D graphics support and UEFI Bios support are a couple of compelling reasons to prefer Windows 8. With Classic Shell, one can have the best of both worlds - an excellent OS and an enduringly functional GUI.
Hey, Microsoft - is anybody out there listening?
nepenthe
Has anyone tried to purchase SSR 2013? I cant seem to find it anywhere... I even tried to call Symantec, but since i am not a business it has been difficult at best.
Any suggestions would be helpful (even other products at this point). I have 3 computers with Windows 8 (and old Norton 15) and need to continue to backup.
Thanks,
ROb