Question about Norton Ghost

Marty Weiner

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To celebrate the release of Norton Ghost Version 10, my PC is has decided to display signs of dying.

The problem is that my old PC doesn't have a CD burner. Is there another method (like serial port to serial port) that I can use to transfer files?

I haven't bought Ghost yet but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks.
 

Brock

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Do you have USB? Even version 1.0? If so I would get an external HD and copy it that way, easy to do and great for back-ups
 

fluorescent

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Are you just trying to transfer files off the old system? Or are you trying to clone your old system on to the new one?
 

K A

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If you have another PC you can use temporarily you can take the dying hard drive out of the old computer and put it as a secondary drive into a different computer. This would cause it to show up as drive C,D,E, whatever is the next drive letter. Then you could use Ghost on that drive to back it up.
 

Marty Weiner

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Brock said:
Do you have USB? Even version 1.0? If so I would get an external HD and copy it that way, easy to do and great for back-ups

I have USB and I also have an Omega Zip 250 which I use to back up my Quicken data.

I want to move all of my programs at one time from old PC to new PC. I don't need an external HD if my new PC's HD is big enough.

I don't know enough about Ghost except that it creates an image of my HD data. Will it work entirely through the USB connections?
 

kubolaw

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It sounds like you have a second computer to which you would like to transfer the files from you "dying" computer. If both computers have USB ports, you could try something like this:

USB Data Cable

I haven't used this particular brand, but I have tried similar products in the past and they worked reasonably well (tho somewhat slow if you're not at USB 2.0).

John
 

Marty Weiner

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K A said:
If you have another PC you can use temporarily you can take the dying hard drive out of the old computer and put it as a secondary drive into a different computer. This would cause it to show up as drive C,D,E, whatever is the next drive letter. Then you could use Ghost on that drive to back it up.

I don't have another PC, just the old one.

My plan is to buy a new one, put them side by side and use Ghost to do the transfer.

The problem is that the old PC can't burn CD's.
 

Marty Weiner

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kubolaw said:
It sounds like you have a second computer to which you would like to transfer the files from you "dying" computer. If both computers have USB ports, you could try something like this:

USB Data Cable

I haven't used this particular brand, but I have tried similar products in the past and they worked reasonably well (tho somewhat slow if you're not at USB 2.0).

John

John

This looks good since I have USB 2.0 but what software do I use to do the transfer? Can I move data from the Old C drive to the New C drive without a program like Ghost?
 

kubolaw

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Actually, in the one's I have used, it is like a network connection (i.e., no software required other than what came with the cable, just copy the files from the old drive directly to the new drive). I seem to recall having to install some drivers for the computers (which were running W98SE) to recognize the cable itself, and then having to run some included software to actually enable the computers to communicate across the cable. After that it was just a matter of dragging and dropping the files.

John
 

gregw

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My suggestions would be that you buy your new PC, then install your old/dying hard drive as a 2nd hard drive into the new PC, then just copy the files directly from the old/dying drive to the hard drive in your new PC.

You won't need Ghost or any transfer cable by doing this, and it will be the fastest way to copy data from one drive to another...
 

Roy

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Take a look at USB memory sticks. One Gig memory sticks can be had for $50-$75 at Fry's. Your computer will recognize the Memory Stick as an external drive and assign a drive letter to it. Transfer your files to the Stick just like you would a floppy drive, second harfd drive, etc..
 

FlashGordon

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gregw said:
My suggestions would be that you buy your new PC, then install your old/dying hard drive as a 2nd hard drive into the new PC, then just copy the files directly from the old/dying drive to the hard drive in your new PC.

You won't need Ghost or any transfer cable by doing this, and it will be the fastest way to copy data from one drive to another...

This is the best method and most new drives come with a disk copy utility to move your data from the old drive to the new one. Norton Ghost will also ghost from drive to drive within the same PC, if you do not get the copy software with the new drive.
 

Marty Weiner

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gregw and Roy

These are both very good ideas but, after giving it some thought, I think that I'll go with installing my old harddrive into the new PC as a secondary drive.

Once I transfer the programs and files, I'll remove the old HD and dispose of it properly.

Will the existing ribbon cable on the new PC accomodate multiple HD's?
 

Lynx_Arc

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I used to use a tiny little program for copying all the files from drive to drive. You have to partition and format the drive manually and it only supports win9x OSes.

If your motherboard supports the drive type (most likely parallal ata66/33 etc you should have two channels. I usually just remove the cable from the second channel and run a hard drive on each channel which can speed up I/O instead of having to worry about jumpering master/slave on one channel
 

Sigman

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Marty Weiner said:
John

This looks good since I have USB 2.0 but what software do I use to do the transfer? Can I move data from the Old C drive to the New C drive without a program like Ghost?
Looks like it comes with it's own software [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](Superlink & Virtual Network) [/font]to use. This is a pretty good price.

I used Detto IntelliMover with the same type cable and it's a smooth way to do it! Pretty painless!
 

db

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Windows XP includes a transfer wizard.
http://tinyurl.com/2or8z
I think that it'll get your settings, and data files.?

With regards to transferring the "programs", you're probably gonna be better off running the install/setup for the programs on the new machine.
Most Windows software writes stuff to the registry, and just copying from the install directory of the old system to the new one, likely won't work.

When Imaging with Ghost, Drive Image, etc. it creates an Image file that contains the contents of the drive or partition being imaged.
(sorta like a .zip file, but done at the sector level, rather than the file level)

These imaging utilities are very good for restoring a system to a previous state as they can replace the entire contents of the Hard Drive.

I think that these utlilities include an application that lets you extract files, and directories from the image.

I've used a product called AlohaBob at work in the past to transfer system settings, and programs; it worked reasonably well. I think that was going Win98 to Win98. Not sure how well it would work when upgrading the OS. It's supposed to transfer installed applications.
http://www.alohabob.com
You would need a way to interconnect the 2 machines. Ethernet, or USB transfer cable for example.

If you're shopping for a new PC, watch the Dell deals at http://www.bensbargains.net/
( if you're interested in Dell, at all.. )

Some folks may find the LangaList e-newsletter informative. Drive Imaging and backup has been covered pretty well in it.

Hope that this helps....
 

pedalinbob

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Roy said:
Take a look at USB memory sticks. One Gig memory sticks can be had for $50-$75 at Fry's. Your computer will recognize the Memory Stick as an external drive and assign a drive letter to it. Transfer your files to the Stick just like you would a floppy drive, second harfd drive, etc..

Ok, that is a totally cool idea--simple and relatively inexpensive.

Thanks Roy.

Bob
 

BuddTX

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From what I have read, Norton ghost 2003 (or 7.5), is among the most stable, idiot proof, version that one could want.

As others have said, if the OLD hard drive is still working, install the NEW HD as the MASTER and the OLD HD as the slave, and use the GHOST BOOT DISK and clone the old HD over to the new HD. I have done this many times, and it works FLAWLESSLY. The Ghost DOS graphical interface is a tad quirky, but it is ROCK SOLID! Other forms to back up (USB DVD burner, USB external HD) will also work with 2003 (7.5) but will take more time. The fastest way is Master/Slave configuration. Actually, I have never tried this, but if you had both HD on seperate IDE channels, it might even be faster (both drives as the master).

I have read that with the later versions, Symantec completely re-wrote the program, actually PowerQuest's DriveImage is what I believe that Symantec purchased.

Version 9 had a lot of bad reviews
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B0002RQ5AU/ref=cm_rev_sort/103-9814106-9480649?customer-reviews.sort_by=-HelpfulVotes&s=software&x=10&y=12

Do not know how version 10 is.

I had read LOTS of good things about Acronic True Image 8.0. So when I had to do a mission critical clone of a server, I purchased the program, and tried using it, and it failed on me, so with the clock running out, I used the disk to disk GHOST 7.5, and it worked perfectly.

Ghost is one of those programs that does one thing, and it does it very well.

I am always trying to find the "latest and the greatest", but the more I have tried other programs, the more I like ghost 2003.

AND, you can get Ghost 2..0 for a SONG! Do a google search for Norton Systemsworks 2003 (or Symantec systemsworks 2003) Professional, and it is included with the program, along with 1 year of Anti Virus updates. I think I bought my disk for 10 busks online.
 
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