Update for Norton Ghost 2003

[Marianne B.]

I know this is off-topic, but there seem to be a lot of posts about
Norton Ghost in this newsgroup and a lot of people here use it.

I own a legal copy of Norton Ghost 2003. I have it installed on
a PC that contains a lot of very valuable and private data, and
for that reason, the PC is not networked in any way, neither
Internet nor LAN. I bought Ghost so I could create backup
images of the harddrive and store them on an external USB
harddrive.

There is an update for Ghost 2003 that corrects some problems
with using external USB harddrives, but since the PC that I have
it installed on is not connected to the Internet and I don't want to
connect it to the Internet, I cannot use LiveUpdate to update
Ghost. I e-mailed Symantec and asked where I could find a
downloadable copy of the update so that I could use a different
computer to get the update and was informed that this was not
possible. So I have a few questions:

1. Do newer versions of Ghost 2003, like the one that comes
bundled with Ghost 9, have the update incorporated into
the program?

2. Does anyone know how to "capture" the update as it
downloads so that it can be saved as a separate file?

3. Is there anyway to "extract" the update from an updated
version of Ghost 2003?

4. Do others feel, as I do, that it is outrageous that Symantec
refuses to make an update file available for a program that
would not normally need to connect to the Internet?
(Even Microsoft provides its updates as downloadable files)

Another concern I have is that Symantec, by refusing to provide
an update in the form of a file, can force an upgrade any time they
want to by making the update unavailable via LiveUpdate. If I
then had to reinstall Ghost for some reason, I would no longer be
able to use it with an external USB drive because I would no
longer have any way to update it. OTOH, if I had a copy of the
update in the form of a file, I could continue to use it as long as
I found it useful.

Marianne

 

[Richard Urban]

I just installed Ghost 2003 (the version that comes with Ghost 9) and
performed a live update. There was nothing available.

So, I can state with some confidence that the included version is the
latest.

Now I can use Ghost 9 to put my operating system back the way it was prior
to my little experiment (-:

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Richard Urban" <[email protected]>

| I just installed Ghost 2003 (the version that comes with Ghost 9) and
| performed a live update. There was nothing available.
|
| So, I can state with some confidence that the included version is the
| latest.
|
| Now I can use Ghost 9 to put my operating system back the way it was prior
| to my little experiment (-:
|
| --
| Regards,
|
| Richard Urban
|
| aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard
|
| If you knew as much as you think you know,
| You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
|


Richard:

Could you please check and see if that is Ghost 2003.793 or a later version.

Norton Ghost --> Help --> About

There is a bug in Ghost 2003's Ghost Explorer utility, 2003.775, when used on WinXP SP2 that
Symantec REFUSED to resolve. I know this because Ghost Explorer v7.0.0.245 does not have
that bug and Symantec could have easily distributed it (or a variation of it) via
LiveUpdate.

Please execute...
"C:\Program Files\Symantec\Norton Ghost 2003\Ghostexp.exe"

Help --> About

And reply with the version number.

TIA

 

[Richard Urban]

Hi David,

It is Ghost 2003.793. No updates are available through live update.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Richard Urban" <[email protected]>

| Hi David,
|
| It is Ghost 2003.793. No updates are available through live update.
|
| --
| Regards,
|
| Richard Urban
|
| aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard
|
| If you knew as much as you think you know,

OK Thanx.

Now what about Ghost Explorer, what is its version ?

Please execute...
"C:\Program Files\Symantec\Norton Ghost 2003\Ghostexp.exe"

Help --> About

 

[Anna]

I know this is off-topic, but there seem to be a lot of posts about
Norton Ghost in this newsgroup and a lot of people here use it.

I own a legal copy of Norton Ghost 2003. I have it installed on
a PC that contains a lot of very valuable and private data, and
for that reason, the PC is not networked in any way, neither
Internet nor LAN. I bought Ghost so I could create backup
images of the harddrive and store them on an external USB
harddrive.

There is an update for Ghost 2003 that corrects some problems
with using external USB harddrives, but since the PC that I have
it installed on is not connected to the Internet and I don't want to
connect it to the Internet, I cannot use LiveUpdate to update
Ghost. I e-mailed Symantec and asked where I could find a
downloadable copy of the update so that I could use a different
computer to get the update and was informed that this was not
possible. So I have a few questions:

1. Do newer versions of Ghost 2003, like the one that comes
bundled with Ghost 9, have the update incorporated into
the program?

2. Does anyone know how to "capture" the update as it
downloads so that it can be saved as a separate file?

3. Is there anyway to "extract" the update from an updated
version of Ghost 2003?

4. Do others feel, as I do, that it is outrageous that Symantec
refuses to make an update file available for a program that
would not normally need to connect to the Internet?
(Even Microsoft provides its updates as downloadable files)

Another concern I have is that Symantec, by refusing to provide
an update in the form of a file, can force an upgrade any time they
want to by making the update unavailable via LiveUpdate. If I
then had to reinstall Ghost for some reason, I would no longer be
able to use it with an external USB drive because I would no
longer have any way to update it. OTOH, if I had a copy of the
update in the form of a file, I could continue to use it as long as
I found it useful.

Marianne

Marianne:
I can feel your pain since it's also been somewhat of an annoyance to me
that one could not simply download and install the Ghost updates should one
prefer that option. On the other hand it *has* been a simple and relatively
quick process to just click on the Ghost LiveUpdate link and the update
would automatically be downloaded/installed to the program without any
subsequent user intervention. I guess for the overwhelming number of Ghost
users who have internet access this update process is rather desirable.

But I can understand your situation and dilemma. The latest version of Ghost
2003 is, as David has pointed out, 2003.793. That build is not really new. I
can't recall exactly when it was released but it was months & months ago,
possibly late summer or early fall 2004. Actually it was the previous build
as I recall (I can't recall its release date, but I think it was somewhere
around May, 2004) that corrected a problem with using Ghost 2003 with USB
external hard drives in a USB 2.0 environment. That build, as I recall, was
2003.780. Working with that build, I can't recall having any problems
cloning the contents of an internal HD to a USB 2.0 external hard drive. And
a worked with a fairly large variety of USB EHDs.

Is it possible that you have the 2003.780 version? And have you run into any
problems cloning your internal HD to your USB EHD or vice versa?

If worse comes to worse, consider using the Acronis True Image program as
your disk imaging program. I recently started to work with that program
after having been a long-time Norton Ghost user. I use that program, as I've
used the Ghost program, for one exclusive purpose -- to directly clone the
contents of one hard drive to another hard drive. I do not make "incremental
backups", I do not create disk images on CD-DVD media -- I perform
disk-to-disk clones for backup purposes. I mention this because I do not
know if your needs are different.

Over the years that I've used Ghost, I have found that program simple to
use, and more importantly effective in what it does. I've probably used the
program to clone a wide variety of drives more than a thousand times. When I
use Ghost I perform the cloning process using a Ghost bootable floppy disk
or Ghost bootable CD. I prefer using that form of media rather than Ghost's
Windows interface. I like the simplicity and portability aspects of such.
It's just a personal preference.

I was curious about the Acronis program since I read such favorable reviews
in the PC magazines and from contributors to this newsgroup. I've only
worked with the program a few weeks and I'm quite impressed with it in one
particular area - its speed of cloning. It's considerably faster than Ghost
as it clones one drive to another (including EHDs), perhaps by as much as
50% faster based upon my initial experience. Cloning speed is an important
factor for me.

There are a couple of negatives (for me, at least) involving the ATI program
(as compared with Ghost) which I won't go into here, but if you're
interested I'll expound on them in a subsequent posting.

Otherwise, I really don't know any practical workaround for you concerning
downloading/installing the Ghost updates. The obvious one, of course, is to
"upgrade" to the Ghost 9 version, which, as you may know, includes the Ghost
2003 program on a separate CD. That would give you the latest 2003.793
build.
Other than that, I can't think of any other practical workaround.
Anna

 

[Richard Urban]

Ghost Explorer ver 2003.793

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Richard Urban" <[email protected]>

| Ghost Explorer ver 2003.793
|
| --
| Regards,
|
| Richard Urban
|
| aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard
|
| If you knew as much as you think you know,
| You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

OK -- Then they released a newer version of Ghost Explorer 2003 in Ghost 9 for Ghost 2003.

I can't figure out WHY they have not released Ghost Explorer 2003.793 via LiveUpdate. Even
with the latest LiveUpdate I have Ghost Explorer 2003.775.

Luckily I have access to Enterprise Ghost and I use Ghost Explorer from the Enterprise
version to mitigate the WinXP SP2 bug.

Thank you for your assistance with those versions Richard. It was appreciated.

 

[Sam]

Anna, would very much appreciate your information as to the negative aspects
of the ATI program. Thanks, Sam.

 

[Anna]

Anna, would very much appreciate your information as to the negative
aspects of the ATI program.

Thanks, Sam.

(Just so other readers of this thread understand its background -- as I
recall, the OP (apparently not the current one, "Sam"), complained about the
fact that she was unable to install updates to her Ghost 2003 program
because she was not connected to the net (and didn't want to be for security
reasons) and therefore was unable to download and install the update file.
Symantec requires the use of their LiveUpdate feature in Ghost in order to
access their web server which automatically downloads & installs the update.
In other words, there's no update file that one can download separately and
later install).

Sam:
As I indicated in my previous post, the "negatives" of which I spoke re the
Acronis True Image program apply to the way I use a disk imaging program
such as ATI, and may not be of import to you or other users of that program.
I use that program as well as any disk imaging program such as Ghost, for
one exclusive purpose -- to clone the contents of one hard drive to another
hard drive (both internal & external). I do not use those programs to create
disk/partition images on CD/DVD media, nor am I interested in incremental
backups. I also prefer to use the program (for cloning purposes) using the
program's bootable floppy disk and/or a bootable CD, rather than the Windows
GUI. It's simply a personal preference of mine. I like the simplicity and
portability aspectsof using a floppy disk or CD to perform the cloning
process rather than the Windows interface.

So...
1. Unlike Symantec's Norton Ghost, you cannot create a single bootable
floppy disk in the ATI program to carry out the cloning process, although
you can create a single bootable CD to do so. I would like to have this
additional flexibility.

2. More importantly, AFAIK you cannot *directly* clone multiple partitions
from one HD to another HD using the ATI program (as you can with Ghost).
For example, say you want to directly clone the contents of your source disk
to a specific partition on your destination disk. I have not found a way to
do this with Acronis. And based upon the corresspondence I've had with the
developer, this capability is not present in ATI. You can only clone only on
a disk-to-disk basis. Using Ghost, it's a simple matter to do so.

As I say, the above might not be important to you or others. As I previously
stated, I've been quite impressed with the Acronis program in terms of the
speed in which it carries out the cloning process. It's considerably faster
than Ghost (by a factor of nearly 50% based upon my initial experience). And
that's important to me and I'm sure others. Also, using various machines and
different drives, I've had no problems with the two dozen or so clones that
I've created with the program.

I'm a long-time user of the Ghost program. Over the years I've used various
versions of that program to clone the contents of more than a thousand
drives I would estimate. I've found the program simple to use and effective
in what it does. I've often remarked that I wish every program I use (or
will use) had Ghost's simplicity of operation and effectiveness in its
results. But I have to admit that the cloning speed of that Acronis program
is *very* appealing.

Hope this helps...
Anna

 

[NobodyMan]



Don't post binaries to this text newsgroup. I didn't want this stupid
text file on my hard drive.

 

[Richard Urban]

You can't use the delete key??

When you go to your web sites there is all sorts of crap loaded onto your
computer (cookies, temporary internet files etc.). Do you mind that? Of
course not! You keep going back there anyway.

So, cut the man some slack. He wouldn't post it unless he thought it was
pertinent. I do so sometimes also.



--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "NobodyMan" <[email protected]>


| Don't post binaries to this text newsgroup. I didn't want this stupid
| text file on my hard drive.

Too f'n bad. !

Kilfile me and you will not see future attachments I post on Microsoft's News Server.

 

[NobodyMan]

From: "NobodyMan" <[email protected]>


| Don't post binaries to this text newsgroup. I didn't want this stupid
| text file on my hard drive.

Too f'n bad. !

Kilfile me and you will not see future attachments I post on Microsoft's News Server.

You miss the point. Too bad.

I wish I could live in your "I'll do whatever I want world."
Unfortunately, I was brought up to respect rules.

 

[NobodyMan]

You can't use the delete key??

Sure I can. I shouldn't have to, though. This is a text group, not a
binaries group.

When you go to your web sites there is all sorts of crap loaded onto your
computer (cookies, temporary internet files etc.). Do you mind that? Of
course not! You keep going back there anyway.

There's a huge difference between web pages, where you KNOW that is
going to happen, and a text USENET group, where you know it isn't
supposed to happen.

So, cut the man some slack. He wouldn't post it unless he thought it was
pertinent. I do so sometimes also.

Then both of you violate the rules. Stop violating the rules.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "NobodyMan" <[email protected]>


|
| You miss the point. Too bad.
|
| I wish I could live in your "I'll do whatever I want world."
| Unfortunately, I was brought up to respect rules.

I do what I am allowed to do, not just what I want.
The rules are set by Microsoft not you and Microsoft allows attachments -- PERIOD !

Now killfile me !

 

[Tom]

From: "NobodyMan" <[email protected]>


|
| You miss the point. Too bad.
|
| I wish I could live in your "I'll do whatever I want world."
| Unfortunately, I was brought up to respect rules.

I do what I am allowed to do, not just what I want.
The rules are set by Microsoft not you and Microsoft allows
attachments -- PERIOD !

Now killfile me !

Pay no attention to that idiot! He ate too much broken glass before coming
here this evening!

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Tom" <[email protected]>


|
| Pay no attention to that idiot! He ate too much broken glass before coming
| here this evening!
|

;-)

 

[Plato]

Pay no attention to that idiot! He ate too much broken glass before coming
here this evening!

Once had a hound dog we used to bring to our shooting saturdays at the
dump who ate the broken beer bottles when we ran out of ammo. Went down
OK, but it was a pain for him getting the glass out the next day or so.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Once had a hound dog we used to bring to our shooting saturdays
at the
dump who ate the broken beer bottles when we ran out of ammo.
Went
down OK, but it was a pain for him getting the glass out the
next day
or so.

Eating broken beer bottles isn't a great thing to do, but it
might be better than eating ammo.