Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Vestibulum id ligula porta felis euismod semper. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Aenean lacinia bibendum nulla sed consectetur. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in, egestas eget quam. Cras mattis consectetur purus sit amet fermentum. Morbi leo risus, porta ac consectetur ac, vestibulum at eros. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Etiam porta sem malesuada magna mollis euismod. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in, egestas eget quam. Aenean eu leo quam. Pellentesque ornare sem lacinia quam venenatis vestibulum. Curabitur blandit tempus porttitor. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis.
Thanks for the reply, I do appreciate it. That solution makes a lot of sense, but I’ve sinced scrapped Ghost and used another piece of software to make the copy (worked first shot out of the box, btw). Thanks much.
Hello, I have the same issue with some "minor" differences:
Using Win XP Pro
Original hard drive is 250GB SATA drive (only want to clone the C: partition which is 70GB)
"Destination" hard drive is an 80GB IDE
The cloning process works like a charm, but when I disconnect the original drive and boot with the cloned destination drive, it gets stuck at the xp logo boot screen. I have tried Ctrl Alt Del but it doesn't work, neither does restarting in Safe Mode.
When cloning, I marked the make bootable and copy MBR options, but still not working.
Any help?
Thanks
Hello,
The subject pretty much says it all. I copied my primary drive to a brand new hard drive (I formatted it NTFS before I copied it) and now when I boot the new drive windows begins to load up and I can even put in my password at the login screen. However after that it goes to "Preparing Desktop" and seems to hang there. Eventually it will move past that to just a solid blue background with the mouse pointer.
If I do a ctrl alt delete while it says Preparing Desktop and bring up the task manager, I can launch explorer which will then load a "temporary desktop." This only has a few of my icons and I receive a windows bubble message stating that my profile could not be loaded. If I then look in My Computer I can see that the new drive is not listed as drive C:. In fact, there is no drive C: at all. For whatever reason when the drive was copied over, it did not set this new drive as C: and it remains the old drive letter I had prior.
I have seen a couple of people here with the "Preparing Desktop" issue, but no solutions. If it matters, I am going from an IDE drive to a new SATA drive on Vista 64 with Ghost 14. Any suggestions? I'm open to other imaging software if anyone has had this problem and solved it with another program.
Thanks.
I used Acronis True Image to copy C: to E:, then physically removed the old C: drive and plugged the newly imaged drive (previously E:) into that controller on the board, thinking that would make it C:, and came up with this same problem. Artdent’s solution worked perfectly for me. Thanks!
Hi All,
I just joined so I could add my solution to artdents. Follow his advice for editing the registry but just delete all the drives leaving A and B, restart the computer and all will work as it should. If you check the registry again all the drives will be listed. 
Artdent,
First i just want to say thanks for providing a very thorough & detailed solution that worked.
I've been a ghost user for many years; however, i was hoping i wouldn't encounter any issues with ghost14 with regards to cloning a disk. After all, simple process that's been around for decades which should be perfected by now.
Although it wasn't that clear initially, i did manage to copy c:\ drive to d:\ drive. I encountered same issue listed in title of this page
" Norton Ghost primary drive stuck at preparing desktop and blue screen ". I searched google and found this page.
Your solution worked like charm.
I just got off phone with symantec and they had a suggestion which i'm going to try...
In future, make sure the " NEW " drive, " Targe " drive doesn't have partition and cloning should be fine...
I'm going to purhase a new drive today, remove all partitions on new drive and try cloning again and see if it works. I'll report back on my results...
For those who may not know, too remove partition do following:
Click on start or round orb in lower left of computer screen
Right click my computer
Click on Manage
Click on Disk Managment
Select partition on new drive ( be careful you don't select data drive, etc... )
Right click on partition
Select delete volume
Well,
Can't tell you all how disappointed and frustrated I am with Synmantec & Ghost14. I've been user of ghost software since it first came out many many years ago and the fact that ghost14 cannot clone a drive without issues is simply unacceptable.
Symantec should have made a way for person to boot off dvd and then clone drives. That way there's no conflict with running processes, programs, etc...
I purchased three 1TB drives, all same manufacture and model
drive1
drive2
drive3
I installed vista ultimate x64 sp1 using dvd on drive1. I then installed all windows updates etc. I installed ghost14 next. I then proceeded to clone drive1 to drive2. Cloning went fine; howver, when i swapped drive1 ( boot drive ) with drive2 ( cloned drive ) i got problem described on this page ( Ghost primary drive stuck at preparing... ). I edited registry per ardent's previous message and everything was fine.
But since i plan on installing lots of software and multiple operating systems using vmware, i plan on cloning drives ( to ensure i have accurate copy ) on regular bases. So i tried to clone drive2 to drive3. Cloning completed without incident, but drive wouldn't boot.
I have cloned drives for more years than i care to mention using ghost for windows, " dd & dump " for unix / linux, and various other software applications. I have never encountered a situation like this from a well established company and mature product like symantect / ghost.
Going forward:
I'm going to try creating a disk image and restore from the image. if that works i may consider keeping ghost14; however, if not, i may ask symantec to give me refund seeing product doesnt truly work.
I'm also going to try creating disk image using backup in vista which i've used before ( to clone drives ) on other systems. If that works i may not keep ghost...
It's only a matter of time before windows comes up with more simpler and efficient program before they put ghost to rest just like they did pc-anywhere with remote desktop. And if symantec doesn't get virus scanning to work much better, microsoft will replace that with something too...
Sorry to rant, but it's extremely frustating purchasing a product that has worked flawlessly for so many years to encounter this. QA failed miserably concerning cloning on ghost14
I will say this though.... the support personnel at symantec were great ( patient and eager to help ) but support is only as good as product. Can't fix something that is broke...
To get the previous entry / note that i posted to work... I booted off windows vista ultimate x64 DVD, selected repair ( not install )
Saw following:
System Recovery Options
The following startup option will be repaired
Name: Windows Boot Manager
Indentifier: {long number here... }
The following startup option wil be repaired
Name: Microsoft Windows Vista
Indentifier: {different long number here than that above ... }
Windows Device: Partition=Not Found
Let windows do it's thing
Shutdown computer, Remove Windows Vista Ultimate x64 DVD
Rebooted and everything is fine now
The process isn't consistent. I can get it to work, but it's with lot of effort. Cannot produce same results repetively, over and over again using same process. I'm going to clone my drive back and forth between three drives every two weeks or whenever major change in o/s, config, or data on disk and i need this process to work with minimal effort and no flaws / gotchas ( thats why i boot immediately after cloning to confirm it worked )
drive1
* use for one two weeks
* clone to drive2 when major changes or every 2 weeks
* remove drive1
* boot off and use drive2
drive2
* use for one two weeks
* clone to drive3 when major changes or every 2 weeks
* remove drive2
* boot off and use drive3
drive3
* use for one two weeks
* clone to drive1 when major changes or every 2 weeks
* remove drive3
* boot off and use drive1
repeate process...
I need this process to be no brainer, no hazzle, no fuss....
Ghost 2003 and earlier always worked without any issues. I cannot imagine why symantec would not have preserved the option to clone from cd/dvd without having to boot into o/s... It's the simpliest and most efficient.
I suspect all parties concerned ( ghost, microsoft, etc... ) concerned about priacy and stealing and possibly money. Force one to buy enterprise software.
Windows Complete PC Backup doesn't appear to be any better either...
My concern is even though i’ve found several techniques ( workarounds ) to get drives to work, i’m wondering what else ghost14 didn’t do that it should or did do that it shouldn’t, even though drives boot correctly and check disk passes afterwards.
Three New Drives All same manufacture, model, size & type:
drive1 : SATA2/300 Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 7200rpm 32MB buffer
drive2 : SATA2/300 Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 7200rpm 32MB buffer
drive3 : SATA2/300 Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 7200rpm 32MB buffer
Option #1 - 1st clone
Vista Ultimate SP1 x64
C: drive1 src drive - SATA2/300 Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 7200rpm 32MB buffer
D: drive2 dst drive - SATA2/300 Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 7200rpm 32MB buffer
Ghost14
Copy My Hard Drive
Select SRC Drive C:
Select DST Drive D:
Check box - Set drive active (for booting OS)
Check box - Copy MBR
Select Primary partition
Drive letter D: ( should be C:, but can’t have 2 C:'s in one system )
Cloning completed successfully
Shutdown system
Removed Cables from both drives
Connect SATA data cable from C: to drive D:
No cables connected to drive C:
Powered on system
System booted
Logged in
Screen froze with following:
Preparing desktop and blue screen
Edited registry as Artdent suggested above
Drive booted without incident
because of character limitation, post continues below
continuation from previous post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Option #2 - 2nd clone - procedure recommended by Symantec
drive1 : C: removed from system
drive2 : C: - was D: from previous clone above Option #1
drive3 : D: - new drive not used yet
Vista Ultimate SP1 x64
C: drive2 src drive - SATA2/300 Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 7200rpm 32MB buffer
D: drive3 dst drive - SATA2/300 Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 7200rpm 32MB buffer
start > right click Computer > Manage > Disk Manager
delete partition on drive3 - D:
D: shows up as Unallocated
Start > Computer ( D: drive not listed since it doesn't have letter nor partition )
Ghost14
Copy My Hard Drive
Select SRC Drive C:
Select DST Drive D: ( shows up as *:\ )
Check box - Set drive active (for booting OS)
Check box - Copy MBR
Select Primary partition
Drive letter <none>
Cloning completed successfully
Shutdown system
Removed Cables from both drives
Connect SATA data cable from C: to drive D:
No cables connected to drive C:
Powered on system
System didn't boot, get following error
"Windows did not start correctly. A recent hardware or software change might
be the cause
File:\windows\system32\winload.exe
Status: 0xc000000e
Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt"
Shutdown system
Inserted Vista Ultimate x64 installation DVD
Booted off Installation DVD
Language: English
Keyboard and input method:US
Install Window:
Click on "Repair your computer"
Click on "Repair and restart"
System restarted without any issues
continue in next post
Continuation from previous post ( cuz of character limitation )
History
drive1 cloned to drive2
drive2 cloned to drive3
drive2 removed
drive3 set to C:
drive1 set to D:
Ran Microsoft Updates
Made Changes to VMWare virtual Servers
Used steps in Option #2 above to perform clone
drive3 set to C:
drive1 set to D:
Cloning completes
drive1 set to C:
drive3 set to D:
Successfully boot off drive1 ( C: )
Confirmed disk integrity with:
Check disk while in O/S
Check disk during boot
Saw following when running bcdedit when both drives are installed
Boot drive is c:
Boot MGR is D: hmmm?
Makes me wonder what else ghost14:
did, that it shouldn't
didn't do, that it should
C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=D:
path \bootmgr
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {1312f592-a9e6-11dd-80fa-e9ab9d7dd5bf}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows Vista (TM) Ultimate (recovered)
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {0fc4a124-caa2-11dd-b9b4-806e6f6e6963}
I removed drive D: booted again and get following
C:\>bcdedit
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device unknown
path \bootmgr
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {1312f592-a9e6-11dd-80fa-e9ab9d7dd5bf}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows Vista (TM) Ultimate (recovered)
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {0fc4a124-caa2-11dd-b9b4-806e6f6e6963}
To change partition to c:
C:\>bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=c:
The operation completed successfully.
To change description of windows loader:
C:\>bcdedit /set description "Vista Ultimate x64"
The operation completed successfully.
C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=C:
path \bootmgr
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {1312f592-a9e6-11dd-80fa-e9ab9d7dd5bf}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Vista Ultimate x64
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {0fc4a124-caa2-11dd-b9b4-806e6f6e6963}
sevenshoes,
I was thinking of purchasing Acronis.
How did you clone drives with Acronis in your previuos post:
1) booting from DVD/CD then cloning drives
2) logging into whatever O/S your using then cloning
Reason for asking, if you encountered the issue when performing #1 above that is very interesting and disturbing and there shouldn't be any conflict in drive letters when o/s isn't up and running
-sgrateful
cdau221,
What software did you use in your original post below
cdau221 wrote:
Thanks for the reply, I do appreciate it. That solution makes a lot of sense, but I've sinced scrapped Ghost and used another piece of software to make the copy (worked first shot out of the box, btw). Thanks much.
I like ghost14's ability to create image backups that are referencable; however, i'm looking for cloning software that works out of box, 100% of time flawlessly as you mentioned above
-sgrateful
Positive Note...
Although cloning still doesn't work nor perform as advertised and documented in manual, Symantec has contacted me several times and case has been escalated.
Sincerely hope their escalations, developmet & engineering teams can come up with fix or solution that works as listed in user's guide ( which is straight forward and very simple ).
I'm also hoping Symantec will restore original feature of being able to clone drives from simply booting off ghost cd/dvd then cloning drives. That should eliminate all these issues by by passing operating system conflicts or resource issues.
If they're concerned about piracy and theft of product, i'd like to suggest following:
Have users install ghost product ( in this particular case ghost14, 15, 16... ).
License product using key provided
Have feature to create bootable CD/DVD
Store some sort of key on CD/DVD based off cpu id and other system signatures unique to pc created on
User does following:
a) creates bootable CD/DVD
b) shuts down computer
c) installs new drive into system
d) boots off created CD/DVD
e) CD/DVD authenticates and confirms its running on system it was created on
f) presents user with option to:
f1) copy disk to disk - complete disk ( all partitions - allow user to select disk )
f2) copy disk to image - complete disk ( allow user to select source disk & target drive to store image )
f3) copy image to disk - complete disk ( allow user to select source image & drive to create )
Optionally, if they want to add feature to copy partitions that would be ok to...
Basically, all features that were present in ghost2003 which i used for years flawlessly without any incident.
Problem with ghost2003 from Symantec's view is lost revenue. Anyone could copy and use software without paying because there wasn't any validation / authentication built in.
Adding authetication i've mentioned above would eliminate lost revenue and piracy, while creating hugh customer satisfaction and usability, which would translate into more revenue and reduced support cost.
-sgrateful
Customer relations for ghost contacted me and said they won't be releasing a fix until the next release of ghost, whatever that will be ghost15, .... etc...
So for now if you encounter any of these issues, you'll have to try one of the workarounds listed here or else where on the web.
Best of luck...
-sgrateful
Hi
Been there done that and finally got a solution yesturday. Problem is that Vista still thinks your new disk has the same drive letter as when you copied the partition from the original Vista partition. The solution is to edit the registry, which is fairly easy.
1. Boot into your new Vista install in safe mode (F8 while booting gives you the option to do this) and wait for the preparing your desktop message to go. you should have a blank safe mode desktop.
2. Hit Ctrl Alt Delete and open task manager. then go to file, new task and run regedit.
3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\MountedDevices and you will see entries like this \DosDevices\C. These are your hard drives in your system all you need to do is cut and paste the values for the drive letter of your new drive (the letter it had when you put the ghost image on it) to the drive letter entry for your original vista install.
ie my vsta partition is c: and my new drive was I: when I copied the partition so I just copied the vales for the I drive and over wrote the ones for c:
4. Delete the whole key for the drive letter that the new image is on in my case I deleted the dosdevices\I:
So what you have basically done is told the vista install to stop thinking it is drive letter I: (or whatever it is for you) and start thinking it is C: like it should be,
5. Reboot and should work like a charm.
Hope this helps