Partition imaging software.

[Ricardo]

Hello,
I am just buying a new machine based on Intel Core 2 Duo. Wonder what kind
of operating system to choose. Up till now have been absolutely satisfied
with XP Pro. An important feature for me is the possibility to make a system
partition backup in the form of image. Do you know if the old good Norton
Ghost 2003 will manage to backup a Vista system partition?
Someone advised me to get a Vista Business with the downgrade option to XP
Pro so as to have a rescue option if a problem with software compliance
occurs. What is that exactly: I get two independent intallation disks,
right. And the deal is... that the price for two disks in a package is less
than for the two bought separately, right?
Thanks in advance for all your help. Kindest regards,
Ricardo

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I am just buying a new machine based on Intel Core 2 Duo. Wonder what kind
of operating system to choose. Up till now have been absolutely satisfied
with XP Pro.

If it were me, I wouldn't think twice about it, and would get Vista. I
think most people should be a lot slower about doing an upgrade to
Vista if they are happy with XP, but for a new system--absolutely.

An important feature for me is the possibility to make a system
partition backup in the form of image. Do you know if the old good Norton
Ghost 2003 will manage to backup a Vista system partition?

There is nothing "good" about any Norton/Symantec product. Although
the latest version of Ghost can do this (I've heard of compatibility
problems with Ghost 2003, I recommend staying as far away from
anything Norton as possible. Acronis True Image is a far better
product.

 

[Richard Urban]

If you go with Vista you will need a current imaging program. The older ones
are not compatible with the new iteration of the NTFS file system used in
Vista. TrueImage HOME 10.0 build 4940 is 100% compatible with Vista.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[Ricardo]

If you go with Vista you will need a current imaging program. The older
ones are not compatible with the new iteration of the NTFS file system
used in Vista. TrueImage HOME 10.0 build 4940 is 100% compatible with
Vista.

Got it. Thanks!
Regards,
Ricardo

 

[Ricardo]

If it were me, I wouldn't think twice about it, and would get Vista. I
think most people should be a lot slower about doing an upgrade to
Vista if they are happy with XP, but for a new system--absolutely.




There is nothing "good" about any Norton/Symantec product. Although
the latest version of Ghost can do this (I've heard of compatibility
problems with Ghost 2003, I recommend staying as far away from
anything Norton as possible. Acronis True Image is a far better
product.

Well, Norton Ghost 2003 has never let me down, you know. Have heard a lot of
good opinions on Acronis True Image though. Thank you so much for your
advise!
Regards,
Ricardo

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Well, Norton Ghost 2003 has never let me down, you know. Have heard a lot of
good opinions on Acronis True Image though. Thank you so much for your
advise!

You're welcome. Glad to help.

The problem with Norton Products is that they don't *always* cause
problems, but are often a time bomb waiting to explode. For example, I
said the same thing as you do about Norton Anti-Virus for many years,
and pooh-poohed the advice of others who told me how terrible it was.

Then I got bitten. I will no longer have any product by
Symantec/Norton on any of my computers, and always recommend against
them to others.

 

[...winston]

Ricardo,

Norton Ghost 2003 should not be installed on Vista.
Ghost 12 is the only Vista GUI compatible image program from Symantec.

Ghost 2003 cd can not be used on Vista either.

If you really wish to pursue this route, here are some specifics..See *Recommendation* at the end.

You must create a Ghost boot floppy or a bootable cd with Ghost.exe under Windows XP or Windows ME or Win98SE(if Win98SE or WinME you also need to supply a Win98 MS-Dos disk; WinME startup disk is not compatible) prior to considering use of Ghost 2003 . That will allow use of 2003 for imaging the Vista drive.
If you dual boot XP and Vista you will need to image both drives. If you need to restore then restore both drives(XP and Vista)

Caution:
a. Do not use any drive manufacture partitioning programs that install drive overlays. Ghost 2003 does not handle them.
b. Label each drive or partition
c. ensure your destination partition has sufficient space(Fat32 or WinXP NTFS partition will make the files easier to read in Ghost 2003)
d. Ghost 2003 can only write 2GB files(so consider carefully before using Ghost2003 for Vista which is has a larger default installed footprint size than other Windows O/S.

* Recommendation: Due to the above constraints, it makes more sense to purchase current software for imaging Vista(Ghost 12 or Acronis True Image 10 are the primary third party applications).

..winston


: Hello,
: I am just buying a new machine based on Intel Core 2 Duo. Wonder what kind
: of operating system to choose. Up till now have been absolutely satisfied
: with XP Pro. An important feature for me is the possibility to make a system
: partition backup in the form of image. Do you know if the old good Norton
: Ghost 2003 will manage to backup a Vista system partition?
: Someone advised me to get a Vista Business with the downgrade option to XP
: Pro so as to have a rescue option if a problem with software compliance
: occurs. What is that exactly: I get two independent intallation disks,
: right. And the deal is... that the price for two disks in a package is less
: than for the two bought separately, right?
: Thanks in advance for all your help. Kindest regards,
: Ricardo
: