[Lord Vader]

I regularly back up my primary laptop but mostly do its files and other important stuff. I've never used Ghost, however, to do an actual image backup of my drive, so I had a question or two about it...

1. Can I use it to completely back up EVERYthing?

2. Does it properly back up all programs (.exe, etc.) and other such things?

3. Is anything "lost" in the back up; that is, is there anything that doesn't transfer?

I ask because I'm looking at a new laptop and would like to take the current programs--some of them old ones--and reinstall them onto my new laptop, except that I don't have the installation disks to several of these programs. I was hoping something like Ghost would allow me to do this. This leads me to another question: I currently use XP Pro. If my new laptop has Vista, will Ghost even be able to transfer XP-based stuff to the new Vista-based laptop?

 

[Cholly]

Unfortunately, Ghost can't transfer individual programs properly, since much needed information is contained in the registry. If you don't have the original install discs, you are out of luck unless you're able to get support from the program vendor. About the only thing you'd be able to transfer would be data files associated with the program.
(Been there).

 

[Lord Vader]

Well, that sucks.

 

[Stewart Vernon]

If you literally mean what you said... that you intend to image the entire drive...

IF you have a single drive, and you image that entire drive as a backup with Ghost, then yes everything will be backed up and you could restore your system completely from that backup.

IF you have multiple drives, then what Cholly can come into play... For example: Drive C is the main drive, Drive D has programs installed on it. IF you only imaged Drive D, then you would only be imaging the contents of that drive... so configuration settings within Windows and its registry on Drive C would not be backed up... so restoring only Drive D could reveal some problems in some circumstances, but in many it will be fine as long as you still restore to a new Drive D.

 

[Lord Vader]

I am looking at doing the former--taking an exact image of my C drive on my laptop, then putting that onto my new PC. Sounds like according to your 2nd paragraph, I can do this. Now, the next question is: will this work if I image an XP system then wish to put it, or at least some of the programs, onto a Vista system?

 

[Cholly]

I am looking at doing the former--taking an exact image of my C drive on my laptop, then putting that onto my new PC. Sounds like according to your 2nd paragraph, I can do this. Now, the next question is: will this work if I image an XP system then wish to put it, or at least some of the programs, onto a Vista system?

In a word, no. The main problem lies with the registry data associated with the individual programs. The only thing you can do is an actual install of the programs, then if you want your old data, copy it over. Microsoft strikes again!

 

[Lord Vader]

So I won't be able to xfer current programs on my present laptop to a new one w/ Vista because of the registry issues, am I correct in interpreting what you said this way?

If the new laptop was using XP then I'd be fine, correct?

 

[CorkyMuldoon]

So I won't be able to xfer current programs on my present laptop to a new one w/ Vista because of the registry issues, am I correct in interpreting what you said this way?

If the new laptop was using XP then I'd be fine, correct?

Not necessarily. When you image your current laptop, you're essentially taking a "snapshot" of its current state & configuration - to include all your hardware device configurations & drivers. Unless the "new" laptop is a mirror image of the old one, it'll probably be a bear to configure.

I've never used Ghost for copying & transferring files, but I suppose that could be done.

If you're going to a new OS/different operating system, however, it's best to get your original installation media and start reinstalling your apps.

 

[LarryFlowers]

And it only takes a minor thing to mess it up...

The best use for a program like Ghost or Acronis isimaging a brand new computer before you do anything.

When I have used it, I took a brand new computer out of the box, booted it up and removed all the garbage software. I then did any customizations to the OS that I would like to, such as changing default font size etc., then I image it.

Only then do I install any other software.

My preferred solution to this is to partition the drive into a C & D. I move "users" to "D". This allows me to do a format C whenever and just reinstall OS and software.

 

[Lord Vader]

That would make sense. I could just partition the new laptop's drive into a C and D drive, then have the XP image of my current laptop on D and leave the Vista stuff on C, right?

 

[Stewart Vernon]

Sounds like we may be talking about different things here... When I think of using Ghost to image a drive, I mean it takes a complete bit-for-bit image of that drive... such that when restored it would be identical content to the original.

This is useful, for example, in case of a main hard drive failure. If you had a complete Ghost image of the original pre-crash drive... then you could buy/install a new drive, restore from the image, and be good to go!

Expect mixed results if you replace a component like a mother board or something that might require a reinstallation of Windows to properly pick up all the right drivers.

But it sounds like you (original poster and others) are talking about backing up files and either restoring those files OR moving those files to a new computer that might be running a different operating system. IF that is what you are talking about, then you'll always have the Windows registry to contend with that makes such things all but impossible to do unless you dig into the registry and export those program/installation-specific settings and transport those as well. It can be done, but I'm not sure the result is worth the effort.

 

[turey22]

Sounds like we may be talking about different things here... When I think of using Ghost to image a drive, I mean it takes a complete bit-for-bit image of that drive... such that when restored it would be identical content to the original.

This is useful, for example, in case of a main hard drive failure. If you had a complete Ghost image of the original pre-crash drive... then you could buy/install a new drive, restore from the image, and be good to go!

Expect mixed results if you replace a component like a mother board or something that might require a reinstallation of Windows to properly pick up all the right drivers.

But it sounds like you (original poster and others) are talking about backing up files and either restoring those files OR moving those files to a new computer that might be running a different operating system. IF that is what you are talking about, then you'll always have the Windows registry to contend with that makes such things all but impossible to do unless you dig into the registry and export those program/installation-specific settings and transport those as well. It can be done, but I'm not sure the result is worth the effort.

k so he can make a copy of his original hard drive, move it into his new laptop and it will work, even though his old operating system is xp.and his new laptop is vista? this will only work if he can " dig into the registry and export those program/installation-specific settings and transport those". if he had a c and d drvie and switch from one to the other, would the computer let him do that, since one is xp and the other vista?

 

[Stewart Vernon]

k so he can make a copy of his original hard drive, move it into his new laptop and it will work, even though his old operating system is xp.and his new laptop is vista? this will only work if he can " dig into the registry and export those program/installation-specific settings and transport those". if he had a c and d drvie and switch from one to the other, would the computer let him do that, since one is xp and the other vista?

IF he makes a complete image of his C drive and then goes to another computer and completely replaces that C drive with his image... then the new computer no longer has Vista on it... it would only have the content from the original image.

A drive image is an image of the entire drive... Backups might be an entire drive or just files. When you make a complete image of a drive everything on that drive is in the image. The registry is usually on the C drive (assuming that is where Windows is installed) so that is a part of a complete disk image.

When I was speaking originally of using Ghost to make a drive image, I was referring to imaging the entire drive... which (when restored) replaces entirely the contents of the drive restored to... As noted, sometimes different computers with different motherboards and peripherals might require a reinstall of Windows to "repair" the differences in device drivers.

It sounds to me like he isn't actually wanting to make a complete disk image, but rather just move files/applications from one computer to another... and that is a horse of a different color.

 

[turey22]

IF he makes a complete image of his C drive and then goes to another computer and completely replaces that C drive with his image... then the new computer no longer has Vista on it... it would only have the content from the original image.

A drive image is an image of the entire drive... Backups might be an entire drive or just files. When you make a complete image of a drive everything on that drive is in the image. The registry is usually on the C drive (assuming that is where Windows is installed) so that is a part of a complete disk image.

When I was speaking originally of using Ghost to make a drive image, I was referring to imaging the entire drive... which (when restored) replaces entirely the contents of the drive restored to... As noted, sometimes different computers with different motherboards and peripherals might require a reinstall of Windows to "repair" the differences in device drivers.

It sounds to me like he isn't actually wanting to make a complete disk image, but rather just move files/applications from one computer to another... and that is a horse of a different color.

k i see..yeah i know how to make one i just for some reason thought he wanted two drives on his computer...a C drive and D drive. thanks.

 

[Cholly]

HDMe is absolutely correct. Further, if you were to wipe the drive on the new laptop and copy the image of the old drive, you'd have a real can of worms on your hand, since the registry is going to be device specific, as are all the device drivers that would be loaded. The Master Boot Record would not be happy.

 

[wilbur_the_goose]

Vader,
If you don't have the installation disks, you're out of luck.

And, I (an IT pro) hate the Norton products. There are much better ones out there for the money.

 

[capegator]

Vader,
If you don't have the installation disks, you're out of luck.

And, I (an IT pro) hate the Norton products. There are much better ones out there for the money.

I'm about to do a new system build. I have Ghost and Acronis. What are the better programs you would suggest?

 

[Lord Vader]

It sounds to me like he isn't actually wanting to make a complete disk image, but rather just move files/applications from one computer to another... and that is a horse of a different color.

Actually, what I'd do is image my current laptop and take that image and apply it to one of the partitions of a newly-partitioned laptop, wanting to have, for example, my current XP system and all its contents on one partition, say "D," and Vista and its contents on "C," assuming this is possible.

 

[scuba_tim]

Vader, if you're still trying to do something like this, you might want to take a look at running Virtual PC on the vista laptop. Basically you can make a virutal drive of your old XP machine (Norton Ghost will convert a disk image to a virtual drive). Then you can boot this drive using virtual PC and have access to everything, programs, files etc. I've only played around with Virtual PC a bit, but some other folks may have more ideas.

 

[Lord Vader]

Hmmm...do tell me more.