Ghost Newbie Question

[DeadSeaSquirrels]

I am a real newbie at Ghost (that is never done it). I've been reading up on some posts, but I am still a bit confused with the Floppies and such. I am wondering if I have to install Ghost to actually use it. Because if I have to install Ghost on the master drive then all my images will always have Ghost on it, correct? That's not a big deal, just wondering.

Also when I want to restore the Ghost image that i created, do I have to install Ghost itself to use the functionality, or can i boot it up from a bootable Ghost Image. From what I've read, it looks like some people are talking about just using a bootable Ghost image, but I got confused in the details. If I have to install Ghost, then that kind of defeats the point (if my hard drive really gets so corruputed I can't use it anymore), because then I'd have to at the very least install the OS and Ghost, which takes up a lot of time already.

From what I can tell from some of the posts, you have to jump through some hoops to create a bootable Ghost image (CD), is that true? Can I get more information on that in laymen terms if possible. And also does anybody know if Ghost will work with a Abit KT7 RAID setup. I know Ghost doesn't "officially" work with RAID but I was just wondering if anybody has successfully done it with the KT7 RAID, and if so, if there are any tips I should know. Thanks for the information guys.

 

[tcsenter]

First, my experience with Ghost is only limited to versions 5.1D through 6.0 (2001). So I can't speak for 2002 and 2003 versions. I still use 5.1D through DOS mainly. Works for all the basic cloning/imaging stuff. Then I just burn any split/spanned images to CD-R manually using Nero in Windows instead of direct to CD-R using Ghost. If it works, why change....

You needn't "install" Ghost as you would other applications, with registry entries and the like. There are only two files needed to use Ghost; the Ghost executable and your .env license file. Newer versions may have one additional file, I'm not 100% sure about newer versions, but I'm fairly sure those need not be "installed" either.

Also when I want to restore the Ghost image that i created, do I have to install Ghost itself to use the functionality, or can i boot it up from a bootable Ghost Image.

You can run Ghost from a DOS system via a bootable diskette or CD.

From what I can tell from some of the posts, you have to jump through some hoops to create a bootable Ghost image (CD), is that true? Can I get more information on that in laymen terms if possible.

Here are a few sources with lots of info:

How to Create a Bootable Ghost Rescue CD

Bart's way to create bootable CDs

Ratified Guide to Norton Ghost

 

[Smilin]

Yeah, it works with IDE raid controllers. It's transparent to ghost...just sees a drive.

You don't have to "install" ghost at all. All the files that come with it will work as standalone executables. Make yourself a bootable CD ROM and just add all the ghost files to it. Or just put ghost.exe and a few others on a floppy.