Ghost versus Drive Image? Use of VNC - for remote control?

[Joe Donaldson]

Does anyone have an opinion of Ghost versus Drive Image or another
program? I have used Ghost and like it but I may need to service a few
people's PC's (acquaintances who give me a little spending money while
I look for a job)..

Ghost can boot to DOS and restore-not sure about NTFS though in
version 2003.

Drive Image I think per the box can backup and restore while in
Windows. But what if the person cannot get into Windows?

_____________

Remote control of a PC.

IS VNC okay to use from my Win 2000 Pro (non server) cable modem PC to
a dial-up PC that might have AOL running in background? I assume I
could get them to give me their IP address by running WinIPconfig or
IPconfig. Not sure which commands to run on Windows ME, XP, 98.

Perhaps there is a better alternative without buying PC Anywhere for
every PC.

___________________

Any other good software for Registry backup, compacting, cleaning,
looking for errors perhaps equivalent to Norton SystemWorks Pro, a
program called RegCleaner (not from Microsoft) and www.superwin.com?


Thanks for any help. Just trying to help some folks so I can earn some
money while sending out resumes in Charlotte, NC. Hard job market out
there.
Really hard-networking, recruiting, head-hunters, friends, etc..

Thanks Joe

 

[I'm Dan]

Does anyone have an opinion of Ghost versus Drive Image or
another program? I have used Ghost and like it but I may need
to service a few people's PC's (acquaintances who give me a
little spending money while I look for a job)..

Ghost can boot to DOS and restore-not sure about NTFS
though in version 2003.

Drive Image I think per the box can backup and restore while in
Windows. But what if the person cannot get into Windows?

Backing up and restoring from within Windows is not always a desirable
thing. If you're working on other people's PC's, I would steer clear of any
solution that requires you to install *your* program on somebody else's
machine -- especially DriveImage 7 because that also requires Microsoft's
..NET upgrade, a 80MB download if the client doesn't already have it. Also
note DI7 only works with XP (DI 2002 is included in the box to overcome this
limitation). The DOS-based versions of Ghost 2003 and DriveImage 2002 are
small, quick, and as easy to use from a DOS boot as they are from within
Windows, and don't require you to install something on the client's machine.
The one thing you lose working from DOS is possible access to USB or network
drives. BTW, both can image NTFS partitions, even when working from DOS.

If you're trying to save your pennies, you'll do much better with BootIt-NG
(www.bootitng.com). Forget about DI and Ghost, this is better than either,
is less expensive than either, and includes partition management functions
as well (ala, PartitionMagic). And even better, it works with USB and
CD/DVD burners, all from a floppy boot.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Does anyone have an opinion of Ghost versus Drive Image or another
program? I have used Ghost and like it but I may need to service a few
people's PC's (acquaintances who give me a little spending money while
I look for a job)..

Ghost can boot to DOS and restore-not sure about NTFS though in
version 2003.

Drive Image I think per the box can backup and restore while in
Windows. But what if the person cannot get into Windows?

_____________

Remote control of a PC.

IS VNC okay to use from my Win 2000 Pro (non server) cable modem PC to
a dial-up PC that might have AOL running in background? I assume I
could get them to give me their IP address by running WinIPconfig or
IPconfig. Not sure which commands to run on Windows ME, XP, 98.

Perhaps there is a better alternative without buying PC Anywhere for
every PC.

___________________

Any other good software for Registry backup, compacting, cleaning,
looking for errors perhaps equivalent to Norton SystemWorks Pro, a
program called RegCleaner (not from Microsoft) and www.superwin.com?


Thanks for any help. Just trying to help some folks so I can earn some
money while sending out resumes in Charlotte, NC. Hard job market out
there.
Really hard-networking, recruiting, head-hunters, friends, etc..

Thanks Joe

I have used DriveImage and Acronis TrueImage extensively. Both
can deal with NTFS partition, i.e. they will create/restore images
of NTFS partitions, and they can store image files on NTFS partitions.
Older versions of DriveImage will not recognise WinXP NTFS
partitions.

Both DriveImage and Acronis TrueImage can be run off a
recovery diskette or CD, allowing you to restore an image onto
a blank hard disk.

About remote access: WinVNC can be run in reverse takeover
mode. If your client knows your own external IP address then
he can connect to your machine as a "listening host" so that
you can see his screen on your own PC. Note this:

- ipconfig.exe tells you your internal IP address. It says nothing
about your external address.
- There are tools that will resolve a domain name into a dynamic
IP address. Both the tool and the domain name are free.

Post again if you need more details.

 

[TMitchell]

I've been using Drive Image 7 on my home W2K Pro PC, but am not
satisfied. Following all the instructions, I am never able to restore
from within Windows as advertised, and the restore causes my machine to
recognize a new OS (Machine ID) each time as if I did a complete format
and OS re-install. This causes me to have to re-install a number of
programs that require Registry linkage between their serial numbers/key
codes and the Machine ID. A real pain, and no one at
PowerQuest/Symantic has been able to offer any suggestions at all. Is
anyone else experiencing this problem or have a suggestion for solving it?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I never restore from within Windows, on principle. My restorations
from rescue CD never fail.