TrueImage 8 vs. Ghost 9?

I have been trying toget Ghost 2003 and V8 to image my sata raid 1 drives for months and with no luck at all.

I am now reluctant to even try Ghost 9.

I am amazed a great prodcut like ghost has gone this way!

 

And then there's the problem that Ghost 9 restore REAL slow, if at all - I lost my C:\windows folder, because GHOST 9 would not restore it, even though I could browse it fine with the Ghost Explorer.

ARGH - I waited a half hour to pay $30 for assistance before giving up.

NEVER BUY SYMANTEC PRODUCTS - they are a corrupt organization.

 

I'm a sad sad guy...

In 8+ years building my own systems and loading/upgrading my own software I have NEVER lost any data for any reason. I have always managed to copy data from one system to the next; I have never had a damaging virus; I have never lost my system to spyware...etc. Most importantly, I had never had a backup.

About a week ago, I thought I had lost everything though when my power went out and my computer would not boot. Turned out to be pretty easy as the mbr just got corrupted probably due to my gig of RAM but it was a wakeup call and I decided to purchase GHOST 9.0 and run a backup. I have a P4S800D-E board and I have two 200gb SATA drives which I was running in Raid 0. I really didn't need it and after some reports in the last few months showing very little gains with this config and showing the possibility of data loss, I decided I would kill the RAID and reload.

I had a brand new IDE 120gb drive I had purchased to upgrade my TIVO and I installed it in my system to save the backup file. I ran ghost the first time and it worked great. I was able to browse the image folders and make some changes but I got so busy with it, I made so many changes I decided to just burn a new image of my drive. I ran the backup and the next day I started with the reload. ***I NEVER THOUGHT TO TEST THE BACKUP...AFTER ALL, I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING BAD ABOUT GHOST-HECK, ITS SOLID AT WORK!! AND THE FIRST BACKUP WORKED FLAWLESSLY***

Well, I got all reloaded tonight and when I went to get my image off the ide drive, I get the famous "Internal Structure of the PQI is Invalid" crap. I scoured the Symantec website and found nothing except, "Oh yeah, this might happen and their isn't crap we can tell you about how to fix it."

I went through the priority support BS and called for help but after about an hour, they never picked up. I then saw the part on the website where they say then take calls from 6-5PT m-f. Would have been nice if it said that on the phone but all I got was "please hold, we will answer calls in the order they are received". Buttwads!!!

So then, I find this site and my stomach sinks somewhere between my ass and my toes...I'm not sure exactly where it went. I now realize as with everybody else on here with SATA drives that this program doesn't work with them though they won't admit it.

I'm totally screwed. I've got a 14.5gb image that is totally useless. I've lost 4-5 years worth of emails, addresses, phone numbers, taxes, bank account info, resumes, training materials, pictures, mp3's....

I just can't believe it.

I know its not nearly as severe but I feel similar to someone who just had their house burn down and they can't do anything about it except lament over woulda coulda shoulda.

The best part is I paid $70 to get screwed and there is no way in hell Best Buy will refund it!!!

 

Oh dear, that's awful. Sorry to hear about your problems with the infamous "PQI" problem.

There may still be hope. I had an old hard drive (along with everything else in the PC!) fried last year. It was totally dead, but a data recovery company were able to get it all back. It cost about £200.

In the worst case scenario you would need to pay £1000+ to have a badly damaged disk opened in a dust free room, but apparently much of the data usually can be recovered, if you need it badly enough to pay that amount.

Have you asked data recovery firms if they might be able to examine the image file? NB the "PQI corrupt" images I made were still browsable/extractable within Windows.

Ghost 9 CAN work on SATA drives, by the way: my problem was the RAM. But this doesn't excuse the crummy customer "support" you've endured.

Anyway good luck!

 

What happened to the data in the master boot drive?

Rule #1:
Avoid imaging software that run IN windows. The image file is crap if the software cannot achieve a good "lock" on the copied partition. Stick with non-windows imaging software if you demand the highest degree of reliability. Checkout Bootit ng. And no, I'm not affiliated with Terabyte.

Rule #2:
KISS. Avoid complex imaging software that require .NET and over 20MB of HD space. Bigger program=more codes=more conflicts.

Rule #3:
Stay away from any product whose parent company is SYMANTEC. I'm going to say it again. This is a greedy acquisition company. It acquires and repacks a well-known product without giving second thought about CUSTOMER SUPPORT!

Just remember that ALL windows-based software must boot out of windows to restore a primary ACTIVE partition. Therefore, there is no true windows-based imaging software.

 

nod32_9

A little off topic, but would u recommend Image For Windows, or BootIt in place of Ghost and ATI 8?

Thanks

 

For nod32_9,

Your information has been great and is much appreciated. I started out using DI 5 and went up to DI 7, but now I don't have my old serial number or copy of DI 5. What do you think I could do to get my old serial number back and a copy of this? Also, can you burn images to DVD and have DI 5 still read them and restore them?

Thanks again.

Gary

 

IFW is still a windows-based program. Bootit ng does not run in windows. If you don't like Bootit, then give IFW a try. Note that the trial version of IFW does not allow you to restore to a PRIMARY ACTIVE PARTITION (often the C partition in the HD). You will need IFDos to do this. And you don't get IFD unless you paid for IFW!

I don't know if DI 5 will support DVD burning. My buddy has a DVD burner and DI 5. Will repost if I get a chance to run some tests. Post your email here if you need more help with DI 5.

 

Thanks and I might give BootIT a good try. Sounds good to me. Thanks.

Gary

 

I've followed your forum with interest since I bought a copy of ghost 9.0 and encounted the infamous PQI error whilst creating the image. The very first time I used ghost, the image was created fine, but when I did a full image again this pqi error came up about 75% into creating the image to a network drive. I have since asked for a refund on ghost since I spent enough time trying to fix this problem to no avail. I've just downloaded the trial version of acronis True Image, and so far I'm very impressed. The image was created about twice as fast as ghost and encounted no errors (this time to a usb2 drive instead of over the network so maybe that accounts for the speed increase). I checked the image and it is fine. Since symantec took over ghost, it seems to have become a floored product and I would not trust it again with something as important as backing up my computer.

 

Hi everyone,

My quest for a simple to use image copy program continues. I tried out Image for DOS which worked well on my first try but when I added a second image copy to my external USB 2.0 drive the validation process was never able to confirm giving me errors on each try. Also TBView was unable to read my first image copy - presumably my clean one - that I made a month ago.

This is pretty exassperating. I thought making a clean image copy would be a no brainer. I am not convinced that an Windows based tool can guarantee a clean copy. For example, how does a product like Acronis know that when it begins to copy, the image is "logically" consistent - e.g. the registry is in a consistent state. Do I need to take extra precautions when I begin a windows-based image copy? Is there another DOS-based program that I can try out?

ll I want is a really simple image copy program that I know that will really work for Christmas. Thanks for any help.

Rich

 

Ghost 9 beats TI 8 hands down in one category IMHO. DVD burning. I must have the ability to burn to DVD for this particular pc and TI just can't work with any of the 4 or 5 brand DVD RW + and - that I have tried. I would give True Image the edge over Ghost in probably every other aspect, especially native NIC and RAID support with no drivers from me.

 

richrf, have you tried the DOS-based Ghost 2003? It worked well for me. It's included in the Ghost 9 package.

matthew, I really strongly suggest that you run the memory checking prog listed earlier in this thread; unbeknown to me I had a bad RAM module which was entirely responsible for the PQI errors. This isn't to say that Ghost 9 is a perfect product, just that the PQI errors are caused by hardware, not software.

 

Hi iain,

Thanks for the tip. Is there a trial version of Ghost 2003 available anywhere?

Hoping you are having a great Thanksgiving.

Rich

 

You're welcome.

I'm not aware of a Ghost 2003 trial version -- though there may indeed be one -- but you might be able to get a cheap copy of the full program now that it has been replaced by Ghost 9.

The key difference between the two is that whereas Ghost 2003 can be run entirely from a DOS floppy disk (though it can also be controlled through an executable windows interface which will reboot the PC and do its work in DOS), Ghost 9 runs wholly as a Windows .NET service controlled by an executable program.

To be honest, if you can afford it, I would suggest getting Ghost 9 because the package will provide you with two very different ways of backing up the PC, from which you can then choose.

 

Did you give the 2nd image file a new name?

I don't rely on USB (even HI-SPEED) for mission-critical stuffs cause it can get FUNKY without any warning. It's always best to stick to SATA or PATA cable when you're moving huge amount of data. A quick-release internal hard drive bracket will allow the user to remove the slave hard drive in a few seconds.

There is a difference between IFW/IFD and Bootit ng. Bootit does not deal with windows. Do give Bootit a try if you haven't done so.

 

Hi all,.

I will think about getting Ghost 9. I am a but gun shy since everything so far has been a problem.

Yes, I renamed my files. Maybe USB is to funky for this kind of work. But the first copy went to easy and so well. Now all subsequent ones are bombing out. I just tried Bootitng. It got half way through and - KABOOOOM! Maybe I should wait until spring when the weather is better. My luck may change.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rich

 

May want to check out...

1.RAM modules. Marginal RAMs can take down a PC when the system is under stress. Search GOOG for MEMCHECK.

2.USB cable. You may not be able to see the damage.

3.USB driver. Reload and/or update as required.

4.Check the HD's website for new drivers/patches (if applicable).

5.Since Bootit runs outside of windows, I tend to believe that you have a hardware issue. I would also wipe the HD clean and give Bootit another try.

Good luck.

 

Thx for all the information that I gathered from this thread till now.
I started out using ghost 9 and looked on the net for some more information and by reading this topic I gave Drive Snapshot a try.
I must say that I didnt fully got to know ghost 9 cause Drive Snapshot is so simple in use that I started to rely on it immediatly.
Making images feels now so easy that I actualy do it The interface is bare to the bone but I think the options are all there. I am not an expert on this but this is what I like :

- You can make an image while running windows and it realy works (The author explains in a previous reply how he pulls it off).
I know some people will feel more safe doing it when the system is offline but this is going to be the standard in the future. Only the program MS exchange doesnt like it so you will have to shut it down

- Its fast : almost 1 GB/sec while backing up. I didnt remember the time for a restore but it was also over in a few minutes for my system partition of 6 gig.

- Support. The author replies within the next day. What are you going to do if you have a problem with a product produced by bigger companies? I dont want to put them _all_ in a bad light but It gives me a nice feeling that the author himself assists when there is trouble and not some helpdesk redirecting you to a faq.

The author is also working on the possibility to do incremental (or differential) backups too. Once the program can do this I personaly am going to use it as a backup solution instead of considering it as an imaging solution.

Give it a try and be amazed by its simplicity.

 

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to update and summarize my experiences so far.

My configuration is:

Windows XP SP2
Source: Single partition 40GB harddrive with 4GB of data
Target: Western Digital 80GB External USB 2.0


My experiences:

1) Acronis True Image 8 continually hung up my machine so I had to uninstall it.
2) Image for DOS (Terabyte Unlimited) gave me one good validated image on my backup USB 2.0 drive. I was able to read it using TBIView. After I tried performing subsequent images with different names I was never able to validate or TBIView the backup images again. I have performed all taskes recommended by IFD support including chkdsk and memtest. I have to look for another alternative.
3) Tried BootitNG. Was almost able to complete an image after three tries. the last one was 98% done when it failed. I decided it was too unreliable for my simple needs.
4) Tried Drive Snapshot. Gave me an cyclical error when it tried to verify the snapshot.

I think that external USB 2.0 drives are really difficult to use for snapshots. But I will give it a few more tries. On the advice of some other users, I will be trying out Ghost 2003 which comes in the latest Norton Systemworks 2005 pack. Ghost 2003 apparently runs under DOS. As it happens, Staples is selling it with several rebates today. After all the rebates, I am getting it for free (except I am paying $6 shipping) so I thought that if it was for free, I might as well try it out.

Does anyone know if there is a Ghost forum anywhere?

Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving!

Rich

 

Hi Rich,

Sorry BootIT NG did not work out for you. Here's one Ghost forum: Radified Forums. Radified also has a popular Ghost 2003 guide: Radified Guide to Norton Ghost.

Nick

 

Hi Nick,

Thanks a lot for the links. There seems to be loads of questions about Ghost also - including the inability to create DOS recovery disks as well as USB discussions. This should be fun also. Well, whatever. I'll give it a shot.

Thanks again for all of your help. This has been a trip.

Rich

 

All software have bugs. But if you have similar issues with various imaging software, then you may consider wiping all data (both HDs) and reloading windows. Install the imaging software and retest the system. Often this will fix the issues IF YOU DON'T HAVE A HARDWARE PROBLEM. These software should run well with a VIRGIN copy of windows.

That said, because you ALSO EXPERIENCE problem with a non-windows imaging software, logic tells me that the root cause must originate from your specific hardware configuration.

I keep an an as-loaded image file of WXP Pro SP1 to test for these mysterious problems. Per my previous post, you don't want to pump a lot of data through the USB pipe because USB is not a very stable platform.

 

Hi nod,

I would say each software product is exhibiting different problems. None seem to be reliable with USB 2.0. I noticed there were some discussions on the Ghost forum regarding USB. My mind is too tired now to work through those posts. I'll wait until I get Ghost and see what happens before diving into the forum. Maybe I will get lucky and just get an easy image copy and that will be that. I really only need one good one that I can rely on. We'll see.

Thanks for the advice.

Rich