question about norton ghost

1) The data that is stored and recovered in an image is not altered by the processor used. That being said, your new system would likely be confused about the new hardware it sees when it is expecting others. Look into clearing the drivers before making the image so that Windows will be prepared to try to install new drivers on the new system.

2) All you really need to make a perfect image backup is a Linux LiveCD and the DD command. If you don't want to get your hands dirty, look into G4L or Ghost for Linux, it gives a much nicer wrapper for the whole experience. Also, since it accesses the drive at a low level, it can image any hard disk, since it does not actually try to read what is on the disk, it just copies it (an example is if you were to copy something written in Kanji, even if you don't understand what it is you are copying, when someone who does sees what you've copied, they can still read it (assuming you made no mistakes in copying the symbols)

good call i think that the universal restore is just what i need. ill research it more but thanks for the heads up.