I've used almost every version of Ghost that's been released over the past 7 years and am currently using Ghost 14 on my wife's VISTA based laptop. I've never backed up selected files and folders--always did a full system image--and have a question about restoring from a File & Folder Backup Image.
If I do a File & Folder backup where I select all folders except our documents, then have to do a restore due to a Windows system problem, a virus problem, or hard drive crash, will the File & Folder backup image have everything needed to restore the operating system to the way it was when the backup was done?
Here's why I ask. On most of our computers, I keep all our documents on a separate partition and/or physical drive from the OS, program files, etc. That makes it very easy for me to backup and restore our documents separately from the OS. But my wife would like to keep the documents on her laptop on the same partition as the OS and programs. So I'm wondering if I could use a File & Folder backup image to exclude just her documents from the backup, but still use those backup images to recover the OS, same as if I'd backed up the entire drive to a system image. I realize that the documents excluded during the backup would not be included in the restore--but apart from that--would it get me back to a bootable, working version of the OS?
Thanks, Allen. It's not the answer I was hoping for, but I had a hunch that's what it would be. That's why I've kept all our personal documents on separate partitions from the OS on all our other computers. It allows me to make frequent full backups of the OS (I prefer them over incrementals) and to do so fairly quickly because the OS and apps don't take up nearly as much space as our documents. Ghost has probably saved my behind half a dozen times over the years--usually after a Windows Update that left a PC unable to boot even in safe mode, but there have been a couple of times I never determined the cause of the failure.
The bottom line is I like to use Ghost for the OS, but for our documents I like to use other apps that don't require a specific app to access the documents once they're backed up and/or archived. I guess I'll have to convince my wife of the benefits of partitioning her hard drive.
Thanks, Allen. It's not the answer I was hoping for, but I had a hunch that's what it would be. That's why I've kept all our personal documents on separate partitions from the OS on all our other computers. It allows me to make frequent full backups of the OS (I prefer them over incrementals) and to do so fairly quickly because the OS and apps don't take up nearly as much space as our documents. Ghost has probably saved my behind half a dozen times over the years--usually after a Windows Update that left a PC unable to boot even in safe mode, but there have been a couple of times I never determined the cause of the failure.
The bottom line is I like to use Ghost for the OS, but for our documents I like to use other apps that don't require a specific app to access the documents once they're backed up and/or archived. I guess I'll have to convince my wife of the benefits of partitioning her hard drive.
Hi Rausdahl,
You are welcome. And yes I know what you mean, Ghost has saved me many a time as well!
Please mark the relevant post which you believe contained the solution by clicking on the green Solution button that only you can see. This will allow others to know the problem is solved and quickly get to the solution when they search the forums.
I've used almost every version of Ghost that's been released over the past 7 years and am currently using Ghost 14 on my wife's VISTA based laptop. I've never backed up selected files and folders--always did a full system image--and have a question about restoring from a File & Folder Backup Image.
If I do a File & Folder backup where I select all folders except our documents, then have to do a restore due to a Windows system problem, a virus problem, or hard drive crash, will the File & Folder backup image have everything needed to restore the operating system to the way it was when the backup was done?
Here's why I ask. On most of our computers, I keep all our documents on a separate partition and/or physical drive from the OS, program files, etc. That makes it very easy for me to backup and restore our documents separately from the OS. But my wife would like to keep the documents on her laptop on the same partition as the OS and programs. So I'm wondering if I could use a File & Folder backup image to exclude just her documents from the backup, but still use those backup images to recover the OS, same as if I'd backed up the entire drive to a system image. I realize that the documents excluded during the backup would not be included in the restore--but apart from that--would it get me back to a bootable, working version of the OS?
