TrueImage 8 vs. Ghost 9?

has anyone done a fair review comparing these two, with pros/cons of each? They seem quite similar in capabilities, just wondering if there have been any review. Please no flames just looking for unbiased info & opinions.

 

Just pray that you never have to boot from the Ghost 9.0 CD, you will need the patience of a saint since the WinPE based boot takes forever! As always YMMV.

 

As long as you are praying, you might also pray that you never try to use TI on a SATA drives in a RAID configuration. There is no or at best very limited support for this configuration.

I'm still waiting to see if Ghost 9.0 supports RAID

 

Ghost 9 is basically a continuation of the superb Powerquest Drive Image. Once you open the program -- it's all Drive Image from there. So any comparisons to OLD Ghost versions should be discarded.

One feature I like is its ability to mount images as just another drive letter so that the backup copy looks just like the original drive as a folder. If imaging a data partition for backup - this makes it really simple.

I've been a user of Drive Image 2002 from Powerquest and love it. Ghost 9 is just the next version (they purchased Powerquest for the DI technology which offers imaging with much greater simplicity than the old Ghost).

 

I have used TI on my RAID 0 array many times. It works great.

Running an Asus P4C800E-Deluxe, and two Maxtor SATA drives in a RAID 0 array. That was one of the reasons I switched from ghost 2003, to TI, it supported my RAID array.

Tipton

 

Hi luv2bsecure,

I used the "old ghost" 2003, and to me it was as simple as it can get. You could fit all files required for imaging and restoring, on a single floppy. You did not even have to install ghost on your system. The ghost boot floppy was quick to boot, and I never once had a problem with it untill I set up RAID. I have read all over the different online forums that the boot up time when using the Ghost 9 boot CD is super slow. I have not tried it personally, so it could very well be rumors. I think ghost 2003 users are going to have a hard time adjusting to ghost 9, since its actually a new version of drive image. It will be like switching to a whole new imaging solution.

Tipton

 

I picked up Norton Ghost 9 three days ago and have been running it ever since. I also use True Image v7.. Here are my initial thaughts...

Ghost 9 - forget the name its too misleading. Do a google search for Drive Image 7 and look at the screenshots. Replace all Drive Image graphic art with Ghost branded art... tada.. there you have Ghost 9... Ghost 9 IS drive image period! Only new trick it can do is to read the old ghost format.
You cannot make your own boot cd - you have to boot from the supplied rescue cd - windows recovery environment based (3 mins to boot).
You cannot MAKE images from this boot cd - very important point IMO!
You can ONLY make live images from the running windows xp partition. Ghost must be installed obviously along with the .Net Framework for it to run...Bloatware IMO! You can guarantee there will be no updates to this CD!

Incremental backups are nice. All images have worked and restored ok I should add..

Personally, I like to keep it simple - I like a boot cd - I like up to date builds... I trust imaging best when windows is not active.

I still use True Image 7!!

It seems True Image 8 has its problems and I for one hope they release a new version to address these problems soon.. as Acronis seems to be losing a very important thing... customer trust and loyalty...

I hope the can turn that around.. and quickly...

I used to recommend Acronis to everyone... now I am not so sure I can... at least at this time...

 

I didn't know that - what a horrible idea! You are right about Ghost being just the new Drive Image, but in this case they removed the ability to boot from CD in Powerquest's last build of Drive Image 2002. Big mistake by Symantec, imo.

 

Ok. My impressions are as follows:

Ghost 9 is only usable for work under Windows. It can easily be replaced by ntbackup, which is provided with NT4 upwards. The Recovery-CD is not able to create images. You can't build your own startdisk.

Ghost 2003 is delivered in addition with the Ghost 9 package. I was not able to create a bootdisk working with my 2 external USB 2.0/Firewire harddisks (Oxford chipset). I've tried all possibilities with this bootdisk assistant. For networking you need third party software not provided with Ghost 2003 CD (msclient).

Trueimage 8 has some bugs. I only tried the test version, the boot-cd wasn't able to access my network. It needs DHCP and DNS, networksetting can't be changed.

Trueimage 7 needs 5 floppy disks, the newest update 6 floppy disks. The Recovery-CD works good with network transfer and my USB/Firewire harddisks. Oh, the original version (build 555) crashed, but the latest update fixed this error. Now you can't change the network settings anymore as it is in TI8.

Did I mention that I took Ghost back to the store and bought Acronis TrueImage 7 instead?

Regards,

 

Also note that Ghost 9 seems to always seems to be running in the background. It installs an icon in the system tray and there is no option available to disable it.

 

This is true, ghost does always seem to be running in the background all the time, cosuming around 18MB plus 6MB for the tray icon. Doesn't seem to make the system sluggish however...

Some other thaughts...

Ghost Boot Cd - I cannot access my network (I call it "HOMENET") - it only seems to show up networks named the default "WORKGROUP". I cannot find a way to get around this at all..

Incremental ghost backups are small and seem to work fine. No bad images so far..

I should point out that I have still not decided between keeping Ghost running or going back to trueimage 7.0 (from cd only).

Can anyone comment on how TrueImage 7.0 is if you only create backups from the boot cd - does incremental work? How does it know what sectors have changed if its not "monitoring" through windows - just the boot cd?

Anyone?

 

I found the same problem. The workaround is to map a network drive to your \\server\share. Type this in rather than browse. Server = the computer network name which has the backup image. Share = the network name of the folder. After this, the new drive will show up in browse windows

I assume you mean TrueImage 8.0 because of the incremental capability. My advice is to stay far away until they clean up what they have. Ghost 9.0 works but I wish Semantec had folded Drive Image into Ghost rather than Ghost into Drive Image. I think that the short run solution is Ghost 9.0. The long run solution might be True Image 9.0.

 

Mr. Blaze has a post about a Maxtor external drive with a 1-button disk to disk copy.
I use V-Com's Copy Commander, similar idea:
Shutdown and Turnoff system
connect the IDE drive to receive the copy
insert the V-Com diskette and boot to diskette
copy the RAID1 disk array to the IDE disk
turnoff system
disconnect the RAID1 array drives
remove the diskette
turnon system and boot to the IDE drive - ready to go
shutdown and turnoff system
disconnect IDE drive, reconnect SATA RAID1 drives
turnon system and boot to RAID1

This approach does require a second drive of the same capacity, but it's easier to store and keep track of than CDs and DVDs and it's ready to go as quickly as switching connections.

I have NTI BackupNow which creates bootable CDs, but it's nowhere as easy to use and had file name length limits which were troublesome when trying to restore the image to disk.

I also like the Maxtor alternative, but won't likely use it since what I have works very well.

I had to use the "restore" last weekend after the problems with AdAware 1.04, when somehow my registry hive became corrupted.

JMWODT

Jim

 

TI is also running in the background. It just doesn't put a icon in the systray so most people never know it's there.

Here's a discussion on what hidden TI processes are running and how to get rid of them:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=43266

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I've tested both, TrueImage was an amazing discovery for me because I've used Ghost from years and it was one the most reliable system for me.

I was waiting all the time to have a test with the new Ghost 9.0 vs TrueImage, yesterday I made the test and I'm very disapointed with Ghost 9.0, my expatation wheren't very high, if Ghost 9.0 would perform as good has TrueImage 8.0 server I would be a very happy man, because the licence of the server version of TrueImage is a little pricy for me.

But the bad news for me is that Ghost 9.0 has dissapointed me over all the line. Very classic interface, functionality: nearly a TI replica. Very slow: patition image of 27Gb to an usb 1.1 HDD took nearly 5 hours!!! Acronis True Image has spend 1h20 min less to make the same image, both with the default settings and the top of the bill: the Ghost image was 4Gb bigger than the Acronis one...

Very disapointing, I will have to purchase that pricy licence from Acronis

After years of Ghost we will definively switch over to Acronis True Image, the only expectation I still have is to find a product who can make an image from an Compact Flash or other memory cards...


Thank you for your attention

 

Ghost 9.0 is not the equivalent to True Image Server: try Symantec/Powerquest V2i; but a few hundred $'s more...

What Server OS are you running?

 

See GHOSTTRAY.EXE in the Task Manager

Starts in registry with with HKLM / Software / Microsoft / Windows / Current Version / RUN

 

I have been running Acronis TI8 (Latest ver.) and Ghost 9 on 2 pc's. On 2 seperate ocassions, I have had to re-install TI8 because it cannot find my registration number. During this time Ghost 9 has not had any problems. I no longer have that warm and fuzzy feeling when using TI8. Its time to put TI8 to rest. I image my drives weekly and need imaging software that I can depend on. Good by TI8 forever.

 

Hi All,
It seems that I shall have to spend a few $$$ and buy Ghost, TI screwed me up, I agree with rths!
Cleaned up XP Home with AdAware, Spybot, and then used TI to make an image of 'C' to a second HD which verified OK, then burnt a DVD of that image, which also verified OK.
Installed XP SP2 from a Microsoft CD and all seemed well for a few hours until I found that Benign wasn't working and the system suddenly slowed down.
Restored 'C' using the HD IMAGE - TI said restored OK but the reboot failed, frozen on XP splash screen. Last Good no good, into Safe Mode to try System Restore - didn't restore.
Desperate now, tried a restore of 'C' using the Acronis CD to boot, and tried to restore from the DVD image. TI would not recognise its own image on the DVD as a *.tib file!!! I ended up doing a repair installation of XP.

During this repair I found that the failures to boot were caused by my Olitec (Conexant chip) pci modem which has been transferred from machine to machine for more than four years, in spite of the Logo testing warnings. Apparently SP2 is more severe on this warning, because everytime I clicked on 'Install anyway' the machine shutdown and rebooted.

After all was sorted I slipstreamed an XP installation. Unfortunately, Sonic Record Now 7.0 DeLuxe would not burn a bootable CD, and after making four coasters I gave up, downloaded the demo of Nero 6, and burnt a bootable CD no problem, and first time.
So, Ghost and Nero here I come!!

Roger

 

Does Ghost 9 image NTFS volumes and can be used with WinXP running NTFS? I always understood that earlier versions did not. Maybe I had the wrong idea.

 

Yes Ghost 9 does claim to image NTFS partitions within Win XP. In fact, it has no option for imaging them outside of Windows!

This is because, to respond to the earlier query about the tray icon, Ghost 9 runs as a Windows system service, not a stand-alone executable. So yes, it is always running - the tray icon isn't the service that actually carries out the imaging; it just lets you access the settings.

BUT - having said all this - I have had MAJOR PROBLEMS running Ghost 9 and am at my wits' end! It is unreliable to the point of uselessness. 9 times out of 10 it willl image 'successfully' but then report that 'the internal structure of the PQI file (ie. the backup image) is invalid or unsupported'. This happened on a brand new install of Windows XP on a SATA hard disk that had been scrubbed clean. Ghost was the ONLY program installed.

It seems from what I can gather that Ghost might not support SATA drives at all - let along RAID ones, but I don't know what RAID is; please could someone explain? I have only one drive, not an 'array'.

I've found various posts on the net mentioning that Ghost's technology (i.e. drive image) didn't support SATA in its last version. However it is all very mysterious because I do not see why it would work some of the time and not at other times.

I won't bore you with all the details of my system, I have troubleshooted it down to within an inch of its life and am sure it is not caused by any other program or service incompatibility.... but needless to say ANY tips or help would be immensely appreciated.

Thank you and goodnight!
iain

 

Ghost 9 sucks. I've had nothing but problems and errors as I've been testing the purchased version. I'll probably get a refund. I originally tested Acronis, and shelved it because of lack or support; however it turns out Symantec has a least as crappy support, but not even a forum. It's ridiculous. I've sent three emails for support. The manual is cursory. The website sends you first to the "knowledgebase" which is just a re-write of the user guide. There are no real problems / resolutions in it. Full explanation of functions and interactions is not available. Give up on that and try and contact support. LOL! Good luck finding the email address or form. Ok, you found it. Select Ghost 9 from the pulldown....hmm strange, the resulting form doesn't have any related problem categories for Ghost. It only list OS compatibility, antivirus this, and other product topics - nothing related to Ghost. I always pick compatibility anyway, because the damn program isn't compatible with anything. Submit and get the standard autoresponder that they will get back in 4 or 5 days! LOL! System down - that's nice. Well, you can pay support. But I read from someone that tried that option that it sucks also. Perhaps they will eventually get back to you. I haven't gotten that far. They make it too difficult, and obviously don't want to free support Ghost 9 via email.

 

Hey, can I throw in Roxio's GoBack 3 into the mix? I use it and i like it well enough. I can't say about Ghost thogh, they can't run at the same time. Ghost doesn't need CDs ... it takes over your MBR (so say byebye to autobooting into linux - you'll always need a boot disk). Any thoughts?
Of Course, Norton has bought it also, and I think it ships with certain versions of Norton System Works 2004, quite like Ghost.

 

Ok, the rant continues. I was first posting the previous to see if it would work without a signup. It did so I will continue with my Ghost 9 expose:

Crazy errors!? I am using XP SP1 with SATA. I have 2 large internal satas and the backup drive is a larger USB external drive. Drive 1 has partitions C,D,E,F,G,H & Drive 2 is M external are N,O,P

1) It seems to backup well, I mean the logs look nice and say 'image successfully created', etc but then I look on the disk in the folder and there is nothing there. Well, that happened one time. Why? I don't know.

2) One night I ran a backup image of drive 1 and logged off XP - then I went to sleep. Next day I thought all would be cool, but Ghost was no longer running (even in the taskbar!). All partitions had been completely backed except the main system C was partial. For some reason it died. Does a User Logoff kill it? It shouldn't.

3) Another thing I tried was right clicking on the Ghost 9 task bar icon and choosing 'Back up Now' (note this command isn't in the User guide). I did this first on drive 1, and it seemed to work great. Next I did the same for the second drive 'M' and I thought it was working, but oddly it had backed up Drive 1 images (partitions) again. I thought it was a fluke. I rebooted, and made sure I selected Back Up Now 'Backup of M:' and it did the other drive again!

4) Ghost 9 requires the .Net Framework which sucks

5) Seems to take a lot longer to backup than Acronis - especially if you verify and ask for highest compression compared to the same for Acronis.

6) Within Ghost in the 'Drives' View my drive 'M' has a red X on it as though it has a problem; however there is nothing wrong with the drive (as far as I can tell). Drive 'M' is a Maxtor 120gb sata with no data on it and NTFS format. Once again - LOL

7) Biggest problem is even though I have created full backups (actually baseline backups) I am unable to restore all partitions to drive 1. I have successfully restored the main C system partition but not the others. I was able to boot on this and XP looked normal except the other partitions weren't there and icons related to other drives were greyed out. It is very confusing how to do this, which options and screens to do this with. I've tried a number of times and can't get it to work. I've looked in the user guide and all over the online site for faqs, etc. I have sent in support requests to Symantec, and so far no replies for help. Oh, BTW I am a database administator with 10 years experience, and also build my own pc's. If I have difficulty then there is a problem.

Other than the few bizarre things I get the impression the program would work. It has a lot of features, but I can't use it if I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong (assuming I am), and I can't get quick feedback from tech support.

Right now I am leaning back to Acronis TI 8. If I can purchase and get it to backup restore as a test in full then it will probably be worth it even without the support. I did a test with the trial and it seemed to work great; however the trial wouldn't let me test a full restore so I'm not positive yet.