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    Ghosting Vista help

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by shadows72, Jan 2, 2009.

  1. shadows72

    shadows72 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey everyone i need some help, what program should i use to ghost my vista? i was wondering how to create a disk that can restore all my programs, drivers, settings, and other stuff like that. does does restoring a ghost image reinstall all programs and drivers?
     
    shadows72, Jan 2, 2009
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  2. dbam987

    dbam987 wicked-poster

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    Ghosting means making an exact image of your drive. Basically everything gets copied. In the past I've used Norton Ghost 2003 which worked quite well at creating full backups and restoring them cleanly. If you have a Seagate harddrive as your main drive, then I recommend the DiscWizard utility that is on their website for creating backups. Works very well.

    http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwizard
     
    dbam987, Jan 2, 2009
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  3. shadows72

    shadows72 Notebook Enthusiast

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    does norton ghost 2003 work with vista? or is it boot level? so just for clarification all the programs an drivers that i have installed will be reinstalled if i restore the image? does is have an option to burn to dvd? thanks for all the help
     
    shadows72, Jan 2, 2009
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  4. dbam987

    dbam987 wicked-poster

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    It's been a long while since I've used Norton Ghost 2003, and I'm not sure at all on if it will work with Vista. It does make a complete copy of your data files, program files, windows files, and drivers. It does support burning the data to DVDs as well. Check on Symantec's website if they have a newer edition available. If you are looking for a free drive backup software, try out Drive Image XML ( http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm). I haven't tried it though. Anyone use Drive Image XML?
     
    dbam987, Jan 2, 2009
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  5. booboo12

    booboo12 Notebook Prophet

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    I haven't used Drive Image XML (wanted to try it but both the backup process and creating the BartPE disk for restore purposes seemed waaay too complicated), but if the OP is running Vista Business, our Ultimate, he can use CompletePC Backup to create a disk image. It's in the Backup and Restore Center (type that in the Start Search box on the Start menu to get started)

    Another good program is Acronis True Image.
     
    booboo12, Jan 3, 2009
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  6. shadows72

    shadows72 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have created a backup using acronis, but how do i burn it to a dvd?
     
    shadows72, Jan 3, 2009
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  7. booboo12

    booboo12 Notebook Prophet

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    Apparently, all current versions of True Image have integrated DVD burning of backup images: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/faq/burn-to-dvd/

    However, looking at their online forum, it appears that it's still best to set Acronis to split the backup images then burn through your own DVD burning software: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=227990&highlight=Burn+DVD (DeepBurner works pretty well)

    Many say you should forgo DVD's altogether and save your backups to an external hard disk: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=222134&highlight=backing+dvd

    I haven't used Acronis (I use CompletePC Backup)
     
    booboo12, Jan 3, 2009
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  8. shadows72

    shadows72 Notebook Enthusiast

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    thank you i have got this working you guys are a great help
     
    shadows72, Jan 3, 2009
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