Boot Ghost from a USB Flash Drive

[ToastedMilk]

Hey all, was wondering if someone knows how to do this.

I took my SanDisk cruzer mini 512mb USB flash drive this morning and configured it to work as a DOS cd-rom boot disk. Works very well so far. Now my curiosity is up and I want to take it a step further.

My organization does a lot of Ghost imaging. I want to able to load the cruzer with the NIC's we use for the workstations we support and have it boot into Ghostcast based on the model of PC/laptop I select from some sort of (bootloader?) menu.

Has anyone tried this with any luck? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[clear4dep]

I spent several hours working on this exact issue. I was able to get the computer to boot from the drive, like you. We got it to run ghost (we just copied all the files that go onto the ghost boot disks onto the flash drive). However, the problem lies in the way this ghost boot disk loads the proper network drives for the NIC. We were never able to get it to work properly. We are using Ghost 8.0, so this problem may be easier with a newer version of ghost. Eventually, we just resorted to using usb floppys to load ghost and run ghostcast.

 

[ToastedMilk]

I finally got this to work after almost giving myself a concussion from repeatedly banging my head on my desk.

Basically, after the flash drive was bootable I edited the autoexec.bat and config.sys to display a boot menu and then pointed to the location of the drivers. Simple DOS IF/THEN comands. My last command was to open Ghost. It works now for all of the models of machines we run and Ghostcast comes up fast and slick. Goodbye floppies!

It's possible! I knw now that I should have documented all of it since I don't know if I could replicate everything I did.

 

[clear4dep]

Hey toasted, awesome job getting it to work. We had like three guys working on it for a whole day and we couldn't do it. We thought about that, modifying the autoexec but we never got around to it. If you have time, would you mind e-mailing me the bat and sys files so we can check it out and see if we can get it to work on our machines? That would be really cool, since you did all the work already LOL! Thanks. It will really impress the guys at work!

 

[clear4dep]

Oh by the way the e-mail address is clear4dep@comcast.net! Thanks a bunch.

 

[ToastedMilk]

Email sent

 

[knu2]

could you send the bat and sys files to this email address as well

knu2@myway.com

I've stumbled upon this problem just this morning and been trying to get this work until I read your posting. Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[networkman]

I configured a 128meg PNY memory stick to boot up with a DOS style menu of nic drivers, where you could select the one you want and then it would load into the Ghost client, where we would then connect to the server for the appropriate Ghost session.

One thing I've noticed so far is that the process boots and loads so quickly that sometimes the network connecting isn't finished establishing before you're ready to connect to a Ghost session -- I think this related to the Cisco switches we use in how they establish a connection initially - just takes a few seconds longer is all.

I've been toying with buying a larger USB drive(flash or hard) and doing the same thing again, but putting the .GHO files(images) on it and eliminating the server from the mix, which would be good for single machine imaging.

I'm at home right now, but when I get into work(@4pm EST), I'll post a link to the util I used to make it bootable, as well as the config.sys/autoexec.bat I used for the menuing.

BTW, our Ghost is v8.0 Enterprise edition.

 

[networkman]

Okay, a little bit later than I expected, but here's the info:

First off, the utility I used successfully is available for download from HP's site and has worked on every USB storage device I've tried.

I chose to use Windows 98SE as my boot O/S of choice. And yes, I am absolutely certain that any number of you out there can probably find a zillion shortcuts to simply my files, but since it worked for me, I'm happy.

Here are the config files:

CONFIG.SYS

[menu]
menuitem=INTEL, These are the Intel VM 10/100 drivers
menuitem=BROADCOM, These are Broadcom v7.5 drivers
menuitem=3C509, These are the 3Com ISA 10bT drivers
menuitem=3C905, These are the 3Com PCI 10/100bT drivers
menuitem=DL360, These are Compaq NC3163 drivers
menuitem=8139, These are the Realtek 8139 drivers

[INTEL]
DEVICE=\intelnet\protman.dos /I:\intelnet
DEVICE=\intelnet\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\intelnet\e100b.dos

[BROADCOM]
DEVICE=\broadnet\protman.dos /I:\broadnet
DEVICE=\broadnet\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\broadnet\B57.dos

[3C509]
DEVICE=\3C509NET\protman.dos /I:\3c509net
DEVICE=\3C509NET\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\3C509NET\elnk3.dos

[3C905]
DEVICE=\3C905NET\protman.dos /I:\3c905net
DEVICE=\3C905NET\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\3C905NET\el90x.dos

[DL360]
DEVICE=\DL360NET\protman.dos /I:\dl360net
DEVICE=\DL360NET\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\DL360NET\n100.dos

[8139]
DEVICE=\8139NET\protman.dos /I:\8139net
DEVICE=\8139NET\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\8139NET\rtsnd.dos

[COMMON]
LASTDRIVE = Z



AUTOEXEC.BAT

@echo off
set dircmd=/ogne
SET TZ=GHO+05:00
path=a:\;a:\dos
prompt $p$g
MOUSE.COM
if %config% == INTEL goto INTELBT
if %config% == BROADCOM goto BROADBT
if %config% == 3C509 goto 3C509BT
if %config% == 3C905 goto 3C905BT
if %config% == DL360 goto DL360BT
if %config% == 8139 goto 8139BT

goto FAILED

:INTELBT
\intelnet\netbind.com
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE
goto END

:BROADBT
\broadnet\netbind.com
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE
goto END

:3C509BT
\3c509net\netbind.com
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE
goto END

:3C905BT
\3c905net\netbind.com
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE
goto END

: DL360BT -- Note the space between : and D - otherwise I get a
\dl360net\netbind.com
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE
goto END

:8139BT
\8139net\netbind.com
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE
goto END

:FAILED
echo Unknown boot menu selection
goto END

:END
cd

You can easily copy the above text into a Notepad file and then save it accordingly.

 

[crono11]

I just ran into this problem couple days ago and haven't be able to figure out how to set the usb flash drive to work. Wonder if it's possible for u to send the .bat and .sys file to me as well. Thank you a bunch.

crono@mail.wsu.edu

=)

 

[montag451]

crono.
welcome to the forums.

look above your first post ever on anandtech................................

teehee

 

[ToastedMilk]

Mine looks a lot like Networkguy's - kind of like comparing homework. I also added a few other DOS utilities to my flash drive for more functionality.

On top of that I put other apps like Ad-aware, Spybot, Firefox, and our Symantec products on the drive so everything I need is in one place in case I can't get to the network.

Works like a charm.

 

[networkman]

Oh yes, I do have other utils on my drive too, as the Ghost exexcutable and related drivers only take up like 3 meg of space or so.

I also did a little thinking and realized there wasn't much point in leaving the 3C509BT drivers in place, since any machine new enough to support USB bootable drives probably had onboard LAN anyway and might not have an ISA bus slot to put said card in.

 

[RoadKill69]

Just a few comments...

I was able to use Windows XP Pro's Disk Management to change the USB Flash Drive Letter to "A" - Then I was able to use Norton Ghost 2003's Boot Disk Creator to write files directly to the USB Drive. I had to pick MS-DOS instead of PC-DOS. When I picked PC-DOS, the drive wouldn't boot.

My next quest is to get a multi-boot menu for my USB Flash Drive. Symantec's Boot Magic won't recognize the flash memory as a hard drive, but Norton Ghost will. I'm thinking of this: I'll setup a few partitions on one of my spare hard drives with a boot menu, then I'll just ghost the hard drive to the USB Flash Drive. Does anyone think this will work?

I haven't really found anyone who's set up a multi-partition boot menu on a USB Flash Drive, but it sure would be usefull.

 

[pelon2005]

Hello ,
My name is Salvador and i would like to know if you can send me the autoexec.bat files and the config.sys that you modefy. please

 

[networkman]

It's really that hard to copy the text above into Notepad(or similar) and then save the file with the appropriate name?!? :roll:

 

[pelon2005]

i'll try to copy the text and it didn't worked

 

[networkman]

What part didn't work??

Copying the relevant text into Notepad and then saving it as either config.sys or autoexec.bat (as appropriate) DOES work just fine. You will of course need to edit it to make any changes relevant to your configuration, but straight copying of text into Notepad and a simple "Save as" works just fine.

 

[pelon2005]

BROADBT
\broadnet\netbind.com
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE
goto END

The thing is that in my file, i got the net use command and other stuff :

path=a:\net
loadhigh a:\net\smartdrv.exe 4096
a:\net\net initialize
a:\net\netbind.com
loadhigh a:\net\umb.com
loadhigh a:\net\tcptsr.exe
loadhigh a:\net\tinyrfc.exe
a:\net\nmtsr.exe
a:\net\emsbfr.exe
rem:a:\net\net logon
a:\net\net start


net use g: \\ammtl1ght01\ghost$
g:

And i wanted to make a usb flash drive bootable.

thanks

 

[networkman]

Actual configuration of config.sys/autoexec.bat is up to you - I only provided mine as examples.

As for making a flash drive bootable, I posted a hyperlink in my first post and here it is again:

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/hpcpqdt/us/download/20306.html

 

[pelon2005]

path=a:\net
loadhigh a:\net\smartdrv.exe 4096
a:\net\net initialize
a:\net\netbind.com
loadhigh a:\net\umb.com
loadhigh a:\net\tcptsr.exe
loadhigh a:\net\tinyrfc.exe
a:\net\nmtsr.exe
a:\net\emsbfr.exe
rem:a:\net\net logon
a:\net\net start


net use g: \\ammtl1ght01\ghost$
g:

When i create my USB boot drive i have to change the A: by C: and the boot menu 98 is very slow. When i start the HP NC6000 laptop or DC5000 Desktop with the first device to be the USB drive, i will be able to map the ghost drive and do my ghost, but like i said in the top, the windows 98 screen takes a lot of time to get to the ghost map drive. Do you have an idea how can i make it go faster...

Thank you very much for your help i appreciated.