back up with Norton ghost

[Guest]

I want to install Vista RC1 but my hard disc don't have 15GB free srace, to
create 2nd partition for Vista. I have take backup of my partition with
Norton Ghost. Can I install Vista (clean install) over XP and when I want to
uninstall it to restore XP with Ghost? Please tell me what to do.
Sorry for my english, I am from Greece.

 

[Theo]

Installing Vista over XP is a one-way street, there is no
backing up except to restore from an image as you note. You
might look for a partitioning utility to resize the
partition(s) your hard drive and make room for Vista, but if
you do this be aware it is not a simple process to restore
you system to a state before Vista. Vista has a boot
manager that changes some of the MBR. It can be reversed,
but you just need to be prepared for the complications.

The best solution would be to install another hard drive, if
possible, and install Vista on a separate drive. I disabled
my existing drives so Vista would not mess up the MBR and
boot.ini.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Theo.
Because i have Laptop the only solution for 2nd disc is an external Usb Hd.
Can I install Vista on USB drive? I don't have enough free space for vista,
and i don't make partition for Vista. I want format my drive, install Vista
and then format again and restore my XP from DVD with Ghost. Is this a good
idea or i have problem? I dont want to work with Vista, only for the
experience.

 

[Theo]

To the best of my knowledge Vista cannot be installed to a
USB hd. I have seen where several people have tried it. but
none were successful.

You can install Vista to try it out and then restore you
Ghost image to go back to XP. I don't know if Ghost can
restore the MBR and boot sectors to the pre-Vista, but I was
able to re-use one of my hard drives after installing Vista
by booting to a DOS prompt with a Win ME boot floppy. I
then deleted all existing partition(s) and executed the
command "fdisk /mbr".

You could also use a utility such as the free Active Kill
Disk at http://www.killdisk.com/ to clean the hard drive and
then restore your Ghost.

 

[Guest]

If i delete all disc, Ghost will create new MBR?
If I do upgrade from XP (no clean install), must I install all my programs
again?

 

[AJR]

Liakos - Answer is Yes.

 

[John Barnes]

If you do ghost, you have an option of restoring the mbr. Make sure you
check it at restore time. If you can restore XP you wouldn't have to
reinstall your programs. I haven't done a restore. Some have said they got
a bootable restore some had no luck restoring.

 

[Theo]

Ghost makes an image of your entire drive. So, no, you do
not have to re-install all your programs.

Although I think Ghost would restore the MBR, I don't want
to say definitely since I don't have Norton Ghost and I
don't know.

 

[ldone]

I have used Norton Ghost for this very thing and it restored XP to it's
former state. The image is stored on another partition or drive, just
depends where I feel like putting it.You might be able to put the image file
on a external USB drive. If you bootup w/floppy then the ext drive should be
visible if the floppy was made to show usb drives. I use ghost 2003