New here. I have 2 backups working with Ghost 15. One is a complete computer backup and the other is a selection of specific files. Both of these go to an external hard drive. When I look at the files on my external hard drive they have different file names? I thought my external drive would store the files like Windows Explorer and I would be able to click on them to open them. I know I can use the Restore option in Ghost, however I thought I could use my external drive to move these files to another computer. Any suggestions on how to do this? Thanks
Welcome to the forum. The first backup is an image backup (Backup My Computer) is this correct? An image backup will have a filename ending in .v2i for the base backup and .iv2i for an incremental backup against that base.
Your other backup sounds like a file and folder backup correct? File and folder backups have crtypic filenames ending in .fbf. The first part of the filename is basically meaningless and cannot be copied via Windows Explorer since you don't know what the "real" file is. Ghost keeps a catalog database to track all this so it knows how these files map to the "real" file.
You can restore files with Ghost to alternate locations, not just the original source location. From the tasks tab on Ghost select Recover My Files. Once you highlight the files you want to recover click on Recover and the next screen will allow you to choose whether to restore to the original or an alternate location.
If you double click on a .v2i image file it should indeed open up in "windows explorer" type view. Especially if you change the view settings to "detail".
Thanks Allen. You are correct about the 2 backups. However, here's the file names I have associated with the full backup: ARKWKBBQP8, ARKWKBBQP8_C_Drive001, ARKWKBBQP8_C_Drive001_i001, ARKWKBBQP8_C_Drive001_i002_s01. I'm not sure what the first one is. I'm assuming the second one is the base backup, the third one is an incremental backup. I'm not sure what the s01 is?
The second backup files do end in .fbf. I'm assuming the only way to find the file you're looking for is to do a search in Ghost recovery? I only did this backup because I thought I would have faster access to these files via windows explorer. Since this doesn't seem to be the case, should I scrap this backup and just recover these files from the full system backup if needed? Thanks again.
Thanks for the information. Your list does not include the extensions. Does the first one have a .sv2i extension? It looks like that is what it probably is and if so it is just an informational index file used by Ghost. It does not contain any backup data and in fact if the sv2i file was not even there it does not affect the ability to use the actual backup files which are .v2i (base) and .iv2i Incremental).
Regarding the last file, the i002 part looks like an incremental but I've never seen one that ends like that. The i002 tells me that there should be a second backup set but it should end in .iv2i, not 's01'. Are these all the files on your backup drive? There should also be a ARKWKBBQP8_C_Drive002.v2i for the base backup of this set.
As far as the file and folder backups, it sounds like these are for the same drive as the image backup, correct? It so, then NO you don't need it and you would be better off to discontinue file and folder backups particularly for the system drive. The image backup does in fact include all this.
You might find this thread useful as it explains more about image backup vs file and folder backup with Ghost.
Ok, I'm starting to figure this out. Sorry I didn't include the file extensions, I had to go into my settings in Vista and turn them on. I understand what you are talking about now and everything seems to be working. I will discontinue my file backups since I really don't need them. That was a great post you sent me. I run the system backup once a week and have the start new recovery point set to quarterly. Will this overwrite the other files every quarter or just create a new one? Also, I have the offsite backup enabled to an online storage site. I keep getting the following error messages:
Thanks for the update. Regarding the quarterly backups, you can configure Ghost and tell it how many recovery points to allow. If you go into Run or Manage backups from the tasks tab, highlight your backup job, then select Edit Settings. Click next 2 times and you will get the Options page.
Near the center is something that says "Limit the number of recovery point sets saved for this backup". Enter the number of backup sets you would like Ghost to keep. I recommend 3 or more and you definitely should do at least two. Please note that this is the number of recovery point sets, not the number of backup files. In other words a base backup (.v2i file) and 10 incrementals (.iv2i files) built on that base constitute just one backup set.
You can also have Ghost globally manage based on free space available on your backup drive. Go into Tools > Manage Backup destination, then click settings on the page which pops up here. On this page you can select your options for global monitoring of disk space usage.
Regarding the FTP, as Dave mentioned you should check your settings. Specifically check your settings in Tasks menu (not tab) and select Options then Configure FTP settings. Ensure everything is set correctly as per your online service. Then in Run or Manage Backups, recheck your FTP settings there also. On this page you should not need to select the port number in the string for the connection to your FTP site. That should be set in the Global Options page I just referred to.
Let me know if you still have trouble getting this to work and I hope you have a good broadband connection to do this offsite backup.