Imaging

[zanter8]

Ive got the image made (this is my first image so bare with me plz).  When i open the file i saved it on, on my external harddrive. there are like 6 files there all the same size. are all 6 files the image or just one ...or what? 

thnx

[zanter8]

Well they are the same size within a few MB's ...and 5 out of 6 of them are GHS files..is that normal? and one GHO file

[contrex]

Although you didn't say, I happen to know you're talking about Symantec/Norton Ghost.

What you have got is a "spanned set" Ghost image. Ghost is set up by default to make files that do not exceed a certain size. (2 GB I think.) For various reasons including filesystem size limits.

If you make an image and call it Image.gho, the Ghost program creates that file. If the file would get larger than the maximum size, the Ghost program then makes a ghs file called Image001.ghs, then Image002.ghs, and so on. Often the last ghs is smaller.

This is normal, and you need the gho file and all of the ghs files if you ever need to restore the image.

[zanter8]

o ok.. and yes im using ghost. sorry i didnt mention that.  and the reason its 2gb and not bigger is DOS only supports files that are over 2 gb.  i just need to know ..since a DVD is 4.7 gigs and a the files are 2 gb ...can i burn 2 files to one DVD and make it where when it says "insert imagedisk (#)" that it will know its on the disk and it find itself so to speak.

[contrex]

  i just need to know ..since a DVD is 4.7 gigs and a the files are 2 gb ...can i burn 2 files to one DVD and make it where when it says "insert imagedisk (#)" that it will know its on the disk and it find itself so to speak.

Yes that is right. That's how it works. To do a restore, Ghost first reads the first (gho) file and extracts from that. If the job isn't finished, it looks in the same directory for the second, third, etc (ghs) files. If it finds them, it just carries on without asking you.  If you had (say) 6 files spanning 3 dvds it would ask at the end of the first and second disk.

When you are making the image, when Ghost has written the last .ghs file, at that point it knows how many there are altogether, and it writes that information into the first (.gho) file, so when you do a restore, as soon as it opens that first .gho file, it knows exactly how many files it expects to find.

When you make a Ghost image, if you choose to let Ghost write the files direct to CD or DVD as they are made, you can see this in action, because after it has burned the last disk, it will ask you to insert the first one again, so it can update the .gho file and finalize the disk. I do this with DVD-RWs once a week.

[zanter8]

o ok. Overwriting the DVD-RW's is a great idea.  Thnx again. 

[zanter8]

ok. one more ? and im done.  The first disk needs to be bootable i presume.  i have a Bootable DOS disk but no ghost on that disk.  I know i need to put Ghost and DOS and at least the GHO file on the first DVD and if room the 0002.GHS file.  but ...do i just copy/paste the things off of the DOS disk and add to it? ..I tried making another Bootable DOS CD with Ghost on it ..but it wouldnt boot for some reason.

[contrex]

Making a bootable CD-ROM or DVD is more than just copying files, you have to burn the disk in a special way.

I don't know how you are booting into DOS in order to run Ghost. I use a bootable floppy with CD-ROM support. (Things are easiest if you have a floppy drive on your computer). That way I don't have to worry about creating bootable CD/DVDs myself.

You burn the DOS Ghost.exe program onto the first disk along with the first (gho) file, and if there is room, the first .ghs file. (you can make sure there will be room by adjusting the gho/ghs file size when creating the image)  Then, when doing a restore, you can put the first (or only) disk with your Ghost image in the DVD drive, and boot from the floppy. When the DOS prompt appears, just run Ghost.exe off the CD or DVD and select the .gho file, and it will do the rest, asking you to change disks where necessary.

Or, you can do it another way. You can ask Ghost to burn the images directly to DVD(s). If you do this it will ask you if you want to make the (first) DVD disk bootable. If you answer "yes", it will request that you place a bootable floppy disk in the floppy drive, and use the files off that in creating the bootable CD/DVD.

Furthermore, if you have Ghost installed in Windows, there is a Ghost Boot Wizard in your Program Files\Symantec\Ghost folder which will create a boot floppy for you if you need it.

[zanter8]

I dont have a floppy on my laptop    But i have a bootable DOS CD (and floppy but to no use on my laptop).  The only thing Im going to have a problem with is trying to make the first DVD bootable.  B/c even if i get a external floppy. theres no guartentee that if my computer crashes ....itll even read the USB ports.  Thats the reason I want to get it off of my External HD and put it on DVDs.  Any Idea of how to make the DVD bootable? 

thnx for all the responses so far

[contrex]

I found this, which though complex looking, will enable you to create bootable DVDs & CDs for use with Ghost images.

http://ghost.radified.com/bootable_cd_dvd.htm

If you have the Ghost retail CD you can use that as a source of the boot data when Ghost asks you to insert a floppy.

[zanter8]

Thnx man.  That doesnt give me the actual "Files" i need to make a  bootable CD. lol. ill find it somewhere.

I appriecate the help dude.

[contrex]

haven't you got a bootable Ghost CD? they are on there. They are also on any bootable CD-ROM. I thought you had one.

"The Ghost 2003 Retail CD is itself bootable, along with the Ghost v9.0 Restore CD. With v2003, using the -ghostoncd switch copies the executable (ghost.exe) to the root of the CD. The -bootcd switch bypasses it asking for a floppy and just copies it directly from the CD boot image."

from the link I gave you.

You need

IO.SYS
MSDOS.SYS
COMMAND.COM

You may also use

AUTOEXEC.bat
CONFIG.sys

[zanter8]

Well, I have a bootable DOS CD ..which i tried to copy and then add ghost to all of that ..but it wouldnt boot for some reason.  It still had everything on it. but when i put the original in...it boots fine.

[contrex]

You can't just copy the files, as I said before. Ghost can create a bootable DVD if you tell it where the files are, which you previously copied off a bootable CD or floppy and placed in a folder on your hard drive.

[zanter8]

Its saying that the "boot disk" (my bootCD) needs to have Ghost.exe on it but i dont have ghost on that CD.  i tried to put Ghost on my bootable floppy on my desktop and it wouldnt fit. haha. ugh.