Dell vs Ghost 2003

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01101001

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
102
Dell vs Ghost 2003

I have a brand new Dell Dimension 3100 here. In a quest for
an invincable backup solution the very first thing I did was
install Ghost 2003 to burn an image of the C drive to DVD.

I've been using Ghost for years and have never had an issue with
it. I have used it on several Dell machines in the past as well.
However, this time around the Ghost operation failed to complete
and I am now stuck in an endless cycle. I've called Dell Support and
(half an hour later) was given what I thought would be the magic
bullet: Ctrl+F11. This should take me to a menu where I can at
least reinstall the OS. The problem is that Ghost supercedes
even this command and I cannot get into the recovery menu.

I tried setting the 1st boot device to CD/DVD to run a bootable
Ghost CD ... and it almost starts ... then hangs.

Dell Support eventually conceded that Ghost 2003 may have issues
with their PC Restore utility -- which just happens to be another
Symantec product.

The Symantec Support phone # I was given by Dell is no longer in
use. :-/

So I searched the Symantec site for a solution -- found another
magic bullet -- instructions to elleviate the problem by running
ghreboot.exe.

Soooo, I rebooted the machine, the Ghost operation starts and I hit
F1 to take me to a prompt. The instruction was simple: To bypass the
Ghost operation, type 'ghreboot' and hit Enter.

Guess what? The screen hangs and does NOT take me to Windows.

If anyone can offer a solution I haven't tried, I am all ears.

Thanks!
 
reinstall with the Dell CD and then uninstall the PC Restore app, then image with Ghost?
 
Basically you really screwed things up with Ghost here. That model comes with a preloaded Ghost Utility (accessed by pressing CTRL+F11) and when you tried to restore a ghost image it didn't work because of what was already there. The partition is locked so that you cannot copy it and try to use the Dell preload on another system.

In other words, you are going to have to reformat with a clean install of Windows XP, and then install Ghost and create the images.
 
Thanks for the responses.

If I had known the utility was a Symantec product, I would have done some research before using Ghost 2003. Arrgh!

Since Dell was kind enought NOT to include a restore CD I will have to call them up tomorrow and request one.

So, is all this to say that I cannot use Ghost 2003 on this system ... or that it IS safe to use if I uninstall the Dell PCRestore Utility once the OS is restored?

This just amplifies my disgust with these so-called 'backup' utilities. They're useless if you can't get into Windows (and they don't protect against HDD failure). With a valid Ghost image, none of that even matters.
 
You can fix the boot sector and re-enable the Ctrl-F11 option with a program called dsrfix: http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm

I've had problems with Ghost 2003 on different systems, worst was my last Gateway 7200X. I use Ghost 2002 now because there are fewer problems.
 
Thanks, pxc! I'll give that a serious read in the morning. By the sounds of things it could lift me right out of this dilema. Much appreciated!
 
Just a bit of advice for the future. Don't ever install Ghost. This isn't how it should be run, and in the corporate world, where Ghost made it's name, you will never find it installed. You should always be running Ghost from a bootable DOS disc, or using the ghost32.exe file to run it from a PartPe disc or ERD Commander, etc. If you don't ever install it, then there won't be any software conflicts. You don't need to waste any space on your drive, nor have the app running all the time either.
 
Versions prior to 2003 all ran from disks, so there wasn't a choice. If I remember correctly (its been a while) those earlier versions would not allow burning to DVD. The DVD image is what I was endeavouring to acquire.

I also like the convenience of running Ghost from Windows -- click, click, pour a coffee. I use a bootable Ghost 2003 CD if I cannot get into Windows.

This particular machine has no floppy drive, only one optical drive and (as yet) only one partition. Given that, it would be impossible to get that illusive DVD image

Ghost does not "run all the time" actually ... and it consumes a mere 13.1mb of HDD space once the tutorials are removed.

Off to see if I can re-enable Ctrl+F11.
 
All previous versions have DOS apps with them. I starting using Ghost way back in the version 4 days. I used to make my own custom discs anyway. I'd take the image files, stick them on a DVD and add any other utilities I wanted, such as Ghost Explorer.
 
01101001 said:
I also like the convenience of running Ghost from Windows -- click, click, pour a coffee. I use a bootable Ghost 2003 CD if I cannot get into Windows.
Click to expand...
How's that working for you now? ;)

I'd agree with djnes, don't run ghost from windows. Maybe I'm being "old" here, but imaging from inside the OS is just asking for issues, which I have seen several (adding one this to my mental list).

It's a handy feature, but you can create a boot disk that's give you similar functionality.

Insert boot disk.
Reboot windows.
Let the boot disk create image (IIRC will even reboot on completion with settings).

So, insert disk, click, click, pour coffee. :)

If the dell fix doesn't work, I'd recommend getting (may have to pay) the restore CDs from dell, good luck.
 
Good day, gentlemen. :D

a) I discussed the problem with the owner of the pc and his wish is to go the Dell route to get the machine up and running again. We've ordered the restore CDs and should have them soon enough. There was no mention of a charge for the disks, btw.

b) I've never had a need for custom disks, all I need is a valid image file. Taking a previously created image file and sticking it on a DVD has never worked for me. If Ghost did not create the image directly to the disk, it will not restore it. If need be, I would copy the image file to a partition and then run the restore process. Once a month or so I will run Ghost to create an image on an available partition (fast and easy to restore) ... then I will re-run the process directly to DVD (slower to restore, but its an irreplaceable hard copy).

c) As far as running Ghost from Windows, I understand the concerns. However, this isn't an imaging process that does not exit out of the OS to run. It isn't like some imaging software (Acronis, for example) that remains within Windows, copies active files and even 'updates' image files. No thanks, I agree that would be asking for trouble.

You're right, Phoenix86 -- this isn't working so well for me now. But the circumstances are different, aren't they? If I had been aware that Dell's PC Restore Utility was a Symantec product (and therefore not compatible with Ghost 2003), I would simply never have run it. It was a hidden 'gotcha' and it got me. LOL We all live, we all learn. Would anyone like to guarantee that running Ghost 2003 from a bootable disk on this machine would not clash with Dell PC Restore?

Ghost has always been an invaluable & dependable tool. I've used it on many computers including a couple of Dells without issue. In spite of this little fiasco, I'll continue to use it as I have ... just not on new-model Dell machines. ;)
 
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