The power supply on my desktop (Dell 9100 with XP Pro) failed and until that is fixed I need to restore several files on to my laptop (Dell XPS with Windows 7). I used Ghost 14 to do image backups (v2i) on to an external HD. Because Windows 7 doesn't like Ghost 14, I installed it in XP Mode on the laptop.
Though I can see the backup files (via Windows Explorer, etc.) on the external HD, I'm having difficulty getting Ghost to restore them. I click on Recover My Computer, then select "System" for the view and a date. For the system index file name, Ghost prompts for a look in "Console," whatever that's supposed to be. I do a "browse" in the appropriate directory on the ext.HD, and select the sv2i file. Then Ghost asks for Network Credentials, which I have no idea what user name and password it's looking for.
At one point, following a lot of trial and error, I got it to work and all the files in a particular partition were available for restoring. I successfully restored some files. Then I broke for lunch while Windows installed some updates, which required a reboot. After the reboot, I ran into a wall and cannot figure out how to access the backup files on the extHD.
I'm pretty sure it would run normally. Click it and see.
If not, I'm not sure if I would use it in XP mode. But I'm pretty sure I used it in windows 7 before.
If it was me, and that didn't work I would uninstall Ghost 14 and either try to restore files and folders from the ghost recovery disk or install the Ghost 15 trial.
The Norton Ghost Image Browser seems to be just the ticket. Before I got your answer, I installed it in the XP Mode desktop and it appears to be working. I'm going to try it on the Windows 7 desktop, too, because that would be a little easier to use than XP Mode.
I couldn't find any references to this Image Browser in the Ghost 14 User's Guide that came with the software or in the more extensive User's Guide that I downloaded. Not sure how I missed it.
It's a handy tool, I keep a copy of it on my removable drive for the same reason.
In case I need to open an image on a system that doesn't have Ghost installed.
It's real use was to be able to convert an older type of compression that was used with Ghost 9 but it comes in handy as a standalone image browser.
I'm glad it worked for you,
Dave
Edit- I think I was confused with "XP Mode". I was thinking of "XP compatibility mode " where you right click on the setup and select the compatibility mode to run it in.
Thats what I don't trust and always try to stay away from.
However, running something in XP-Mode (microsoft virtual pc) is OK. But of course Ghost 14 will not really work in that it will not make images of the real physical system, only the virtual system.
I ran the Image Viewer in the regular Windows 7 desktop and it was fine there, too, and actually ran even faster than in the Virtual (XP) Mode.
Is there an advantage in upgrading to Ghost 15, aside for it being functional in Windows 7?
When I get my XP desktop up and running once again, I plan to continue daily image backups of my data partition (the F drive) and weekly ones of my C drive (where the OS and program files are), as well as other partitions (for images, music, etc.) that don't change that often. Does this seem like a good idea or would it be better to do a full system backup rather than partition by partition? Mostly, I want to be able to access my data files in instances like this most recent case of losing my main computer but there will come a time when I need a new computer or, more importantly, I need to replace my hard drive and I want to minimize the hassle of reinstalling and customizing all my programs.
The big change in Ghost 15, besides windows 7 compatibility is the ability to be able to make a "cold image" using the recovery disk. In version 14 and earlier, the recovery disk can only restore an image. With version 15 you can make images with it as well. That comes in handy if you have a non-booting system, you can image it first to preserve any new files or data that may not be in your most recent image.
That said, it seems like Ghost comes out with a new version every year and a half or so. Ghost 15 has been out for around 14 months and Symantec never tells anyone in advance when to expect a new version.
I actually prefer partition images over whole disk images myself. Certain partitions like the ones for my backups don't need to be imaged, I just copy recent ones onto an external drive once in a while.
I also have some partitions that the data doesn't change much, I manually image them every couple months.
Then, like you, the ones that change a lot I want to image much for frequently.
I have in the past used Ghost or another image program to upgrade or replace bad hard drives, and for system problems.
I can change the hard drive and restore all the images in a couple hours verses a couple weeks it may take me to reinstall all my programs and get all my settings and data the way I like it.
Only time I ever ran into a problem was recently with my wifes laptop that died of a bad video card. She was running XP and these days all the laptops are Windows 7 and the one she wanted didn't even have XP drivers availible.
In that case I had to reinstall all her programs and like you just did, I extracted all her data and files out of an image and had to manually move them to the new windows 7 locations.
I finally got the new power supply for my desktop, so it's up and running. However, I've been trying to do an image backup of my data partition (F drive) but backup seems stalled at 2% as it tries to create a recovery point. The messages below the progress bar are "initializing" and "reconciling volume." I did a restart on the computer but ran into the same problem. Now I'm trying to cancel the operation but all it says is "canceling" without doing anything.
Should I uninstall and reinstall Ghost or is there a less drastic solution that hasn't occurred to me?
Ghost still stalled on me when I tried the one time backup but that may have been because it was still dragging its feet from that incremental backup that refused to finish the cancellation process. So, I rebooted and immediately went to the one time backup, which worked. Thank you. Once again, an excellent solution!
However, I don't know what would have caused Ghost to think there had been any significant changes since my computer had been idle for a five days waiting for the new power supply.
Another question: Because my external HD (2 TB) is getting a little short on space, what's the best way to get rid of old backups -- delete from Windows Explorer or is there a more elegant method?
Ed
PS With your chkdsk idea, doesn't that implies that something's wrong with the F drive. Wouldn't it be possible that the external HD had some "issues" and that's why Ghost was stalled? Anyway, that's moot since the one time backup worked.
Even though I successfully did a "one time backup" yesterday, once again this morning my incremental backup got stalled at 2% and is refusing to cancel despite my clicking on "cancel current operation." How should I cancel the operation that refuses to stop -- use Windows Task Manager to end process on VPRoSvc.exe and VProTray.exe?
Should I delete (through Windows Explorer) all recent incremental backups? Uninstall and reinstall Ghost? Something else?
The power supply on my desktop (Dell 9100 with XP Pro) failed and until that is fixed I need to restore several files on to my laptop (Dell XPS with Windows 7). I used Ghost 14 to do image backups (v2i) on to an external HD. Because Windows 7 doesn't like Ghost 14, I installed it in XP Mode on the laptop.
Though I can see the backup files (via Windows Explorer, etc.) on the external HD, I'm having difficulty getting Ghost to restore them. I click on Recover My Computer, then select "System" for the view and a date. For the system index file name, Ghost prompts for a look in "Console," whatever that's supposed to be. I do a "browse" in the appropriate directory on the ext.HD, and select the sv2i file. Then Ghost asks for Network Credentials, which I have no idea what user name and password it's looking for.
At one point, following a lot of trial and error, I got it to work and all the files in a particular partition were available for restoring. I successfully restored some files. Then I broke for lunch while Windows installed some updates, which required a reboot. After the reboot, I ran into a wall and cannot figure out how to access the backup files on the extHD.