Ghosting!

[P2Mc28]

Instead of having to reformat/reinstall/etc. Windows every X months, I saw that someone has a ghost of their system, minus drivers, and get their system up and running in less than an hour after an overhaul. I wanna do this too!

Since I've never dealt with ghosting before (I understand what it is), is there anything I should know, or any tips you could give me? I was thinking I'd just create the ghost on a small (10-20 gig) hard drive and have all my documents, media and whatever on a seperate drive.

Also, what program should I use? Is there some freeware out there that works just fine (didn't notice any in the freeware thread) or should I go out and buy a retail one?

Thanks in advance guys

 

[Nothinman]

How about figuring out why you're required to format and reinstall every X months? Don't get me wrong, imaging your machine is a great idea but if you find yourself reinstalling (or now reimaging) every few months you have other issues that you need to work out.

And most people call it ghosting because the software being used is Ghost, now owned by Symantec. There's also DriveImage, but I believe Symantec bought that too so I don't know how long it'll be around if it even still is. And there are free tools for Linux, but I wouldn't trust them with NTFS since MS doesn't want to make it easy to interoperate with them.

 

[TDiddy]

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3513_7-5658888-1.html?tag=cnetfd.ld

 

[P2Mc28]

I know the reason I have to reinstall Windows every so often (generally 6+ months unless something goes haywire). People put stuff on my computer, I get rid of it, they put it back on. This shouldn't be happening after this next reinstall since the "family" computer should be up and running soon . . .

And as for the term "ghosting," I figured it was the same thing as "imaging," but wasn't 100% and didn't want to sound like a moron talking about one thing but meaning another

 

[EagleKeeper]

Untill the family systems shows up, restrict the accounts from installing anything.

Then activate anti-Virus protection, firewall and spyware.

That will protect you from misc troublefrom within the family.

Explain that it is for their own good. Tough Love

 

[dunkster]

Check out 'Image for DOS' and 'Image for Windows' here: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/

IFD is inexpensive (less than $20) and 30-day demo is fully functional. Runs from bootable floppy or CD. Compatible with CD, DVD, USB, IEEE 1394 and recognizes hardware RAID controllers and network devices.

IFW runs from Windows, but will require the free PHYLOCK utility to lock the partition when imaging your OS partition.

I have both. I use IFD weekly to image my OS partition to DVD media, and have restored my OS partition several times with this program. Absolutely reliable. Zero involvement with Windows - zero bloatware.

Hope this helps!