So...How many backups are enough?

Archive
21

Bob,

 

The Ghost 15 SRD does show partition labels. The same labels as seen in Windows. Unfortunately you have 3 partitions with the same label and at least 2 of these are the same size so it will be extremely difficult to tell them apart in the Ghost SRD. Change the labels to bob1, bob2 and bob3 or something similar. You also have a flash drive without a partition label.

 

There was a bug in Ghost 10 where under certain circumstances the USB external HD was missing in the Ghost SRD. I suggest you don't have any USB drives connected when you boot the Ghost SRD. Only connect the USB HD needed for the job after the SRD has loaded. Don't connect USB HDs that won't be used.

 

Here is the reference to Ghost 10. You needn't read beyond the first page unless you are an enthusiast...

 

http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1144131251

 

 

22

Andy:

 

On Feb. 5, 2012 prior to your post above  I set up new Norton Backups Ghost folders for each of my 3 external drives and included my drive nicknames in the file name. See circled items below.

 

If I need to restore files and folders from the SRD I can now  go directly to the back up folder based on my assigned nicknames without the confusion of Drive letter assignments noted above. 

 

I also edited each backup job to change the destination drive to the new name: For example "Norton Backups ghost Drive A." Once I could see backup jobs were backing up to the new folders I deleted the old folders. The Status tab on the home page has started a new history of backups starting 2/5/12.

 

This solves my issue with the SRD drive letter confusion as noted above. 

 

Andy said:

(If you were ever in a situation where drives were assigned different drive letters by Windows after a restore, it is fairly simple to go into Windows Disk Manangement and re-assign drive letters. To open, click Start  > "RUN..." and type diskmgmt.msc and press [ENTER].

 

I assume the restore would retain the original  Ghost backup jobs with in my case (I;), (J:) and (M:) so I would need to reassign these original drive letters or my backup would fail. Does that make sense?

 

 

Test of SRD -

I have used the SRD to test 3 files/folders that I backed up, subsequently deleted on C: and then recovered with with the SRD. Batting 3 for 3 for this recovery test. 

 


Backup jobs are running smoothly. 


Thanks for your help.

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AssigningNicknamestoNortonBackupsGhostFile020912.PNG

23

Brian, 

 

See my post back to Andy. I should have addressed that response to you as well. 

 

I will keep your post with my recover notes re attached drives at time of SRD recovery.

 

Does this post make sense?

 

Thanks very much.

 

Bob

24

Bob,

 

You still have three partitions called "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive". That will cause confusion as you will have to look inside each partition to see what folders are present. I don't feel partition labels should be duplicated (triplicated).

25

I've got several black MyBook USB drives that all look identical. Each was given the same name when I plugged them in, similar to yours, and it got confusing. I went into the copy room, got several different colors of Post-It notes, then stuck them on my USB drives. Each drive is subsequently labeled 'pink_USB', 'blue_USB', 'green_USB', etc. My coworkers get a kick out of my colorful array of drives. :smileyhappy:

26

Brian and Andy

 

Brian said

You still have three partitions called "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive". That will cause confusion as you will have to look inside each partition to see what folders are present. I don't feel partition labels should be duplicated (triplicated).

*************************************************************************************************************

Andy said

I've got several black MyBook USB drives that all look identical. Each was given the same name when I plugged them in, similar to yours, and it got confusing. I went into the copy room, got several different colors of Post-It notes, then stuck them on my USB drives. Each drive is subsequently labeled 'pink_USB', 'blue_USB', 'green_USB', etc. My coworkers get a kick out of my colorful array of drives. 

***************************************************************************************************************************************

These GoFlex labels are for external hard drives and were set up when the EHDs were connected to the system. See my 2/1/12 post of an image of disk management. The drive that has no label is a hidden partition on C. Ghost reads this as DellUtility(*.\) for backups.  Thanks to redk6258 for his help with this post.

 

For the Ghost backups I followed the user's guide instructions to nickname each drive I:, J: and M:, as  A, B, C.  Now that I have the Ghost backup folders labeled with the nick names I can identify the EHD by nickname by opening up the drives on the SRD and looking for the Ghost back up file labeled as A, B or C. This avoids the confusion of SRD reassigning drive letters that are different than assigned by the Windows registry.  I have also attached labels to each drive as suggested by Andy but not Andy's imaginative color scheme. 

 

Query/Comments:

I am trying for the best solution in consistency from my PC drive labels that morph into different labels on the SRD.

 

I think Yogi Berra said "If you don't know where you are, do don't know where you are going" or something like that. :smileyvery-happy:

 

Andy: Did you rename the EHDs on your PC to equal your colorful labels? When you use the SRD how do you determine which MyBook is equals to the colorful labels? I don't remember if the SRD shows the "GoFlex" name or only the drive letter. 

 

Brian: What would be your solution to my multiple label issue?

 

Thanks very much. Great discussion.

 

Bob

 

 

 

27

Yes, I gave them the label that corresponds with the color. Otherwise, they were all showing up as 'Western Digital MyBook', similar to how all of yours show up as 'FreeAgent GoFlex Drives'. Don't  rely on the drive letter, as this can change in the SRD. When you use the SRD, the label for the drive will match the name you gave it in Windows. So one my drives that shows up as PURPLE_USB in Windows also shows as PURPLE_USB in the SRD:

screenshot.jpg

28

Hi Andy:

 

Sweet. So, then I will name my drives with the unimaginative GoFlex A, ...B, ...C. and be good to go for consistency of  PC and SRD EHD labels.

 

Will I have to edit my backup destinations when I rename the  Goflex drives to A., B and C? My guess would be yes but I am willing to do this to solve the existing label inconsistency with PC and SRD.

 

As Brian points out this will save me from opening the existing triplicate named "GoFlex" drives to view my Ghost Back up folders A...B...C. 

 

This issue might be valuable to note in the user's guide.

 

Thanks for the quick response.

 

Bob

29

Your backups should continue as normal, even if you change the name. Ghost uses other methods of identifying the drive, so even if the drive label changes, Ghost will know it is the same drive.

30

Brain and Andy:

 

Below is my  revised labeling of my external hard drives. 

 

 Andy said:

Your backups should continue as normal, even if you change the name. Ghost uses other methods of identifying the drive, so even if the drive label changes, Ghost will know it is the same drive.

 

I needed only to restart one backup using recovery point set and this may not be related to changing the PC drive labels.

 

I will need to test with the SRD and let you know.

 

See screen shots below.

 

Thanks very much for your help.

 

Bob

DiskManagement02112012.PNG

 

 

ExplorerEHDs02112012.PNG

31

Andy:

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Bob said:

I will need to test with the SRD and let you know.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Bob's reply:

 

While I was in my  Symantec Recovery Disk   (SRD),  I could not figure out how to do a screen shot of the Symantec Recovery Point Browser (SRPB) - My Computer as you have done  in your 2/10/12 post above . 

 

To sum up through my test of the SRD:

 

I have tested the the SRD after renaming the GoFlex external hard drives A, B, C and are all visible in the SRPB. With each of the GoFlex drives appended with A, B, C there is now no confusion in the SRD based on the SRD's different drive letter assignments. See the screen shots  in  2/11/12 post.


I have tested file and folder recovery by backing up, then deleting 3 files/folders and then recovering these 3 files and folders without exception. Batting 3 for 3. 

 

Thanks to you,  DavidH, BrianK, DStain,  Redk9258 and others for the Ghost 15 instructions. Each of you have been a big help and I appreciate your persistence and time. Ghost 15 is a tough slog and with this help and pushing through the users guide I am confident that I can weather a full recovery.

 

All questions are solved to date.

 

If my system goes nuclear I will know where to get help.

 

Thanks again to all. 

 

Bob