Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (
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how IS that stock in Symantec doing these days?
"Art" <Anonymous@notanisp.com> wrote in message
news:aYCdnVP4O4pQ9bjcRVn-oQ@adelphia.com...
>
> "Lordy" <spam_box@gmx.net> wrote in message
> news:Xns954B769AD15Dlordybigfootcom@130.133.1.4...
> > "Art" <Anonymous@notanisp.com> wrote in
> > news:KMudnRqS9osiN7ncRVn-vg@adelphia.com:
> >
> > >> Thats what I was thinking. Probably a good thing as far as
Ghost is
> > >> concerned. It totally hosed a Dell system I was working on when
I
> > >> tried to backup w/o a boot floppy.
> > >>
> > >
> > > I am constantly puzzled by the continuous negative comments such
as
> > > the one expressed by "Lordy" as well as frequent misinformation
that I
> > > come across on the various newsgroups that deprecate Symantec's
Norton
> > > Ghost program. My experience with that program has been, and
continues
> > > to be, completely counter to the negative views expressed by so
many
> > > posters.
> >
> > I've used ghost happily for years from boot floppies. When it was
easy
> > to find a W98 boot floppy lying around! Prior to my latest
incident I
> > would be in your camp..
> > The irony is when backup softare trashes your brand new baseline
build
> > (that you was trying to ..er ..backup like the good IT
Professional you
> > are), the memory tends to stick.
> > Prior to that no problems with simpler, MS-DOS based ghost boots.
>
> Lordy:
> I'm totally mystified by your statement that "When it was easy to
find a W98
> boot floppy lying around..." then (I take it) Ghost was a program
you could
> live with. What in the world does a Win9x/Me Startup Disk have to do
with
> Ghost? To use the Ghost cloning program from a floppy (as I do), you
simply
> create the Ghost boot floppy from the Ghost program. That takes all
of three
> minutes or so. With your source and destination disks connected, you
simply
> boot with the Ghost floppy and a half a dozen or so keyclicks later
the
> cloning process begins. It's that simple, is it not? You can just as
easily
> create a Ghost bootable CD and undertake your cloning operation
through that
> means. All this talk about altering the MBR, creating virtual
partitions,
> Linux Kernels, Knoppix CDs, partimage, "defragging" NTFS partitions,
etc.
> are beyond my comprehension.
>
> Let me reiterate what I stated in my previous posting -- I have
often
> remarked that I wish every software program I use was as simple,
> straightforward, and effective as Symantec's Norton Ghost program.
Let me
> state at the outset that I use Ghost for one and only one purpose -
to clone
> the contents of one hard drive to another. By making a bit-for-bit
copy (not
> technically precise perhaps, but correct for all practical purposes)
of one'
> s working hard drive, you have, what seems to me, the ultimate
backup
> system. I have used various versions of Ghost over the years,
including the
> present 2003 version. During that time I estimate I've cloned
various hard
> drives more than a thousand times. And done so with nary a hiccup.
Ghost's
> ease of use together with reasonable speed make it a joy to use.
>
> Art
>
>
> > Working from BOOT floppies (or better still boot CDS) has always
been
> > good but for BACKUP software to first alter the MBR and create
virtual
> > partitions - thats just asking for trouble if the OS its trying to
load
> > (PC-DOS) doesnt work well in the machine,
> >
> > IMO due to things like USB2,Firewire drives etc they should move
to a
> > mini Linux Kernel on a boot floppy/cdrom ..
> >
> > Right now I backup home machines partitions using a Knoppix cd and
> > partimage. (NTFS partitions need to be defragged first) - Although
I
> > have never tested them (Ouch!), but I do normal file (tar) based
backups
> > too.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > My particular nightmare was due to one horrible sequence of events
....
> >
> > 1. No W98 MS-DOS Boot Floppy to hand.
> > 2. PC-DOS boot floppy didnt work on Dell machine.
> >
> > 3. Me Thinking that the backup "via Windows" option would somehow
work
> > differently not realising it simply modifies the boot record and
creates
> > Weird Virtual Partitions at the end of a real partition.
> >
> > (At this point my Spider senses did start a tingling but I was
tired and
> > I trusted Ghost not to cause me any pain)
> >
> > 4. PC Subsequently fails to boot
> > 5. All rescue options fail (ghrecover (or something like that),
> > FIXMBR etc nothing worked.
> > 6. Booting with a Knoppix CD and using fdisk showed some of the
horrible
> > stuff ghost did.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Lordy
>
>