Creating a Hard Drive Image using Norton Ghost

This is a tutorial of how to take an image, or backup, of a computer using Norton Ghost. I have used the Ghost program in the past and always found that the best recovery scenario was to use a restore floppy. It always worked just fine. This is a review of the Norton Ghost hard drive imaging process.

I downloaded the program from the Symantec site and installed it with no problems. I have a bad habit of not reading the directions and just trying the program. I don’t believe it should take a 5 hour training course to use a program that I am semi familiar with. This is what I found.

After the installation, live update and a reboot, this screen came up.

Easy Setup

I plugged in a Lacie external hard drive and Norton Ghost found it with no problems.

New storage device found

As you can see on the next screen, Norton scanned my system and recommended this strategy. Of course, I took the recommended settings.

recommended settings

The recommended settings on this screen looked like what I wanted to accomplish so I accepted it and clicked next.

Define Backup Wizard

Of course I wanted to choose my C Drive.

Choose Drive C

I had to think about this next screen for a minute. The recommended setting looked like what I wanted but the other choice said that I should always create an independent recovery point. I took the recommended setting and clicked next.

Recovery Point Type question

Norton Ghost chose my external drive as the backup destination.

Backup Destination

Then there were a couple other screens that really didn’t tell me much so I took the defaults to get to the next screen. This screen just tells you what the program is going to do. It looks good to me at this point, so I checked the Run Backup Now checkbox and smacked the Finish button.

Completion of the Define Backup Wizard

All is going well. As you can see, I can still work while the program executes its commands, which is a great feature.

Progress and Performance

When Norton Ghost was finished with the image, I checked to see if the file were indeed where it was supposed to be. It was.

View Image File Created

So far, so good. Norton Ghost created an image on a separate drive so that I can store that file in a safe location in case something happens to my computer. Now let’s see how Norton Ghost does at a restore of this image in the next tutorial.

On a scale of Bytes to Brontobytes, Norton Ghost hard drive imaging gets a Petabyte. The imaging process worked but there were a lot of steps that could have been eliminated to make the disk imaging process easier.

Norton Ghost 14

Norton Ghost 14 - Too many unexpected things can happen to your computer that would make you wish you had this program. If your hard drive crashed, Ghost would be there to restore your data to a new drive. If the Operating System (Windows) crashed, Ghost 14.0 can restore it back to a working state in minutes! Check the Norton Ghost Restore Process. For a limited time, you can Get 10% off of Norton Ghost 14.0 just for entering the following coupon code when you order:
Code: SYM2010NEW This is a limited time discount - Enjoy!

For a limited time, you can Get 10% off of Norton Ghost 14.0 just for entering the following coupon code when you order:
Code: SYM2010NEW This is a limited time offer - Enjoy!

See all of the Advanced Backup and Recovery features of the new Norton Ghost 14.0

$Symantec\'s Norton Ghost 10.0$

Post your comments or questions about Norton Ghost

Comments	Date
By wilson	2009-11-09 13:09:13
it waz good
By anil dutt sanwal	2009-10-01 23:44:26
about the ghost image process.
By Niel Gifted	2009-09-15 15:10:50
I have vista system now, and I am going to update to Windows 7 next month. Do you think that Noron Ghost 14.0 will do the job if I want to go back to vista in case I don't like Windows 7.0? Also, how long does imaging take to restore you system for a HDD, with 250 GB, Running on Vista Premium? thank you
By Ken	2009-07-20 21:05:28
I have Norton Ghost 12. Somehow I've managed to get 2 of my external HD's selected as a backup destination, when I only want 1 of them to be. How can I convince Ghost I don't want the other drive to be a backup destination? (It has my video files on it.)
By Eric D	2009-05-30 20:30:36
Forgot to ask the obvious, does Norton Ghost 14 work automatically in the background second by second recording all changes to the system without having to manually or schedule points for it to remember? Again, does it do exactly what GOBACK used to do? Also can it keep this backup file on the same partition with the OS as GOBACK does or do you have to put it on a seperate drive or location?
By Eric D	2009-05-30 20:20:28
I have used GoBack for many years, even before it was purchased by Norton. I currently use Norton GoBack 4 on my windows XP with great results. It has saved my system hundreds of times. If I install ANY type of software that either I do not like or may cause problems for my system, I just tell GoBack to put my system back to a time previous to the install. It also works if your system is taken over by a virus or any other problem. MY question is, does Norton Ghost 14 do the same thing as GoBack would do. That is, COMPLETELY revert the ENTIRE computer back to the exact state it was in at the point you choose? Any emails or any work done or saved or installed, any file that was created at any point that was after the GOBACK point no longer exists on the computer other than in GOBACK where you can retrieve it if you want. Does Norton Ghost 14 do that? If so, I WANT IT! if not, forget it!
By Syed Ansar Ghani	2009-05-10 02:30:09
Many thanks Randy, yup, i am restoring the whole backup which is roughly of 6GB in size. actually i need the original windows, i have toshiba x205, i installed Vista Ultimate, found it not good enough, now i want to revert back to the original windows that came with the laptop. didn't have original restore DVD that's why i created the ghost. but now its not working. thanks for your prompt response. Best Regards
By Randy	2009-05-08 08:14:28
Syed, Are you trying to restore the entire image or just some files? You should be able to restore the image using Ghost 14 but it will restore the original version of Windows. Not sure if it will restore separate files (backups) to a different version because I have never tried it. You say you lost your hard drive – that could be more of a hardware issue that would affect the Ghost Restore process.
By Syed Ansar Ghani	2009-05-08 07:12:11
hi, just read your article related to Norton ghost. you have explained it in such an excellent way. i have a question. i will really appreciate your help and guidance. Do we have to have the same version of windows at the point of restoring, the one we had at the point of creating backup? i had vista home premium when i created the backup. currently i have Vista Ultimate, and i am unable to recover it successfully. i stuck at some point during the process. i have approx. 6 GB of backup. does the size make any difference? 2ndly during the process it stuck, and i was forced to restart the system, due to this interruption or unsuccessful restore, i nearly lost my hard drive. found it after extensive process of hard drive utilities. one more point i want to mention here is that i created the backup using Norton Ghost 12 and now i am using Ghost 14. could there be any problem with the versions? i will be really thankful to you for your time and suggestions. Best Regards S.A. Ghani
By blogster99	2009-05-05 20:43:54
Your question above: An incremental backup point will back up your system again (lets say a week later (when you schedule it), and only back up the files that have been changed since the last backup. The other choice will perform a full backup every time. (every single file, which should not be necessary every time you back up). note: Not to worry about the first backup anyways, because when you run either option for the first time, your backing up all files (obviously). The first time, "either choice" is the same (logically).