Andrew Schwabe's Blog - Windows Vista

Using Ghost 2003 with Windows 7

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:12:00 -0400

A while back I did a blog post regarding how to use Ghost 2003 with Windows Vista to do partition based backup and restores. Since Vista came out, you can't install the Ghost 2003 application in windows, and you need to use a bootable CD. Since then I have upgraded to Windows 7 (and on a side note, i DO notice many improvements over Vista, and it seems to be running pretty stable and smooth). I tested all my old documentation and determined that Ghost 2003 works with Windows 7, just as it did with Vista. So good news people, you CAN still use that old copy of ghost 2003 to backup/restore your Windows 7 machines.

So here is how to do it:

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Speeding up Windows Vista

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:00:00 -0400

I have finally put a copy of vista on my machine, and I have a few observations:

It is pretty
It is different enough from Windows XP that some things are hard to find
The continual nagging and "are you sure" questions drives me crazy
It is slow

I wouldn't call it more efficient, but it is the newest windows, so we all better get confortable with it.

Here are some _wonderful_ resources I found online that allowed me to get vista running on my pc at about the same speed as winxp, and I am pleased to say that it is a bit more stable than XP as well. After all, vista is based on the windows 2003 kernel, which has been very powerful and reliable.

Turn off the nagging:

The continual popups are from a new service called "UAC" or User Access Control. Read this article (and google it for more info) and learn what it is, and deceide if you want to turn it off. It may make your PC more vulnerable, but I will accept that risk. What you do is up to you.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/12/19/turn-off-or-disable-user-account-control-uac-in-windows-vista/

Turn off services, change the UI, etc, etc.

Here is a great guide to streamlining Vista, turning off services that Vista assumed you wanted, and some other neat tricks like using a USB memory key to speed up application access. I was thoroughly impressed with the impact these changes had.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2110595,00.asp

Overall, I was very hesitant to move forward using Vista. It seemed too bulky and multimedia heavy to be productive. Plus windows explorer is different!! (I don't know why MS did this -- poor decision in my opinion). These updates will help to have a manageable and usable windows vista machine.

Happy computing

Using Ghost 2003 with Windows Vista

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:56:00 -0400

If you do a few google searches for "ghost" and "vista" you will find a ton of posts. What I have found frustrating is the lack of clarity on one particular issue:

"If you back up a windows vista partition using ghost 2003 (dos based) to another drive or partition, can you restore it and have a bootable vista OS ?"

Answer: YES it works -- see below for how to do this.

There are many people who say if you clone a disk (i.e. you have two hard drives, clone A to B), that ghost 2003 works fine with vista, but nobody has clearly stated how and if it works on a partition to partition basis.

Here is how we setup all our computers: The primary drive is split into 2 partitions, C: is for the OS, and D: is for files and backups. In this scenario, the OS drive can be backed up to the D: drive using ghost.

This works great for any windows until Vista came around. Now all of a sudden, changes to the boot sector make it more difficult.

So here is how to do it:

Make sure your system is installed so that you have a C: and a D: partition
- Note, we set this up so that all your "work files" are on D, so that if you restore a different OS, you can still access all your files. This way you can have multiple configurations for your computer, one for work, one for games, one for fooling around, etc. and never lose any data.
Make a "Bootable ghost CD" (or floppy disk, but our computers don't have disk drives anymore).
- Here is some info on how to create a bootable ghost cd.
- FYI you will need the bootable ghost CD because windows vista HATES ghost 2003, so its not easy to install it. If you have a bootable CD, you have no worries, and just boot from the CD any time you want to backup or restore your system.
- If you really have a hard time making a bootable ghost cd, email me, and I can help you out (for a small paypal donation).
Backup your OS (all windows):
- Boot up with your "Bootable Ghost CD"
- Select "Local Partition to Image"
- Pick your source drive and partition, destination drive and filename.
- Get coffee.
Restore your OS:
- Windows 9x, 2000, ME, XP, 2003, linux, others:
  - Boot up with your "Bootable Ghost CD"
  - Select "Local Partition From Image"
  - Browse to and pick your ghost disk image
  - Pick the destination drive and partition
  - Get more coffee
  - When done, select "Reset computer"
- Windows Vista
  - Boot up with your "Bootable Ghost CD"
  - Quit ghost (should leave you at an A: prompt)
  - Type in "ghost -fdsp" (will re-launch ghost with alternate settings)
  - Select "Local Partition From Image"
  - Browse to and pick your vista ghost disk image
  - Pick the destination drive and partition
  - Get more coffee
  - When done, select to "Reset Computer"

And thats it. I have found that this works very well with all modern windows versions, and with the few small differences, works great with vista too. Since we can boot into ghost from a CD, we don't have to install it anymore either. Now we can all have 10 OS's on our laptops and switch at will.