Ghosting Hard Drives 1

[PKinghan]

Hi everyone,

Using Norton Ghost I've ghosted a hard drive with W2K, MS Office 2000 and other necessary software onto several PCs of the same model. This has saved me considerable time in rolling out these PCs. However I would like to know if there was a way of storing a hard drive image on a server for example to avoid having to use an actual, physical hard drive each time I want to roll out a PC. Can anyone help?

Thanks

P

 

[mithrilhall]

You can dump a ghost image on the network and ghost from there. That's how we do it here at work.

 

[jeremybarker]

I would suggest going onto symantec's site and get some answers direct from the source. There is a way to push an image across the network. You will need dos drivers for the network cards. Won't get too specific, symantec will have all your answers.

 

[PKinghan]

thanks for that. Mithrilhall, what version of ghost do you use to dump the ghost image onto the network?

 

[gabe036]

I have already done this here's how to:

1. Copy image file upto network server

2. Use Ghost console to build a Network Boot disk

3. Edit autoexec.bat on floppy add these lines

A:\NET\CMDS.EXE USE Z: \\%Your SERVERNAME%\ghost
Z:
cd tools
ghost.exe

 

[LadyH]

If you purchase Ghost, you can then multicast, which means you can image numerous systems at one time. I work for a college and we do entire labs at one time, very time saving. When you purchase Ghost (or use the limited demo) you can create the multicast boot disk with the software and save yourself alot of headaches.



pcheather@yahoo.com

 

[PKinghan]

Hi LadyH,

Thanks for that...I'm not actually sure what the procedure is for what you describe. I've never done this before. I was wondering what version of Ghost you are using...are you referring to Symantec Ghost Corporate edition 7.5? Can you enlghten me as to how the multicast boot disk works?

Thanks for your time, it's much appreciated!

Paul

 

[LadyH]

Yes, we are currently using Ghost 7.5, it is the only release that supports XP at this time. Once you install the Ghost software to your system, you will see several different applications installed. One is for creating the multicast boot disk and contains the files needed for numerous types of nic cards, both for desktop and laptop. It would take a bit to explain the process, but I will tell you that it is pretty intuitive and once you have it down, you will love it. An overview of the process: Create a master image and send it to the network using the Multicast server (one option, I prefer to use a network boot disk and then run Ghost from the network, seems to take less time). Once the image is created, you start a multicast server and use a multicast disk you've created with the software to connect the systems you want to image to it through the network. Once you have all of the systems connected to the server, you can send the image to them, when its done, reboot and proceed with whatever else you need to do (rename, add individual software...). This is the best tool we have in our department and you couldn't believe the time it saves in the lab environent. We put this application to use in both the instructional and administrative sides of the college. When new administrative systems come in, drop an image on it an drop it in place. Very convienent since we do not install systems with a factory installed OS.

pcheather@yahoo.com

 

[shinjuku]

Hi Guys -

I've really enjoy reading your tips. I too am using Ghost for imaging W2k but I was wondering if there is a way too make it work faster I'll explain. After I image my machine and reboot I have to allow it to process and put in the license numbers and answer a few more questions. Is there anyway to set up my imaging so it perhaps just ask for the license, name of Pc and that is it. In other words shorten to process?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[videobruce]

I have used Ghost for a couple of years but ever since I switched over to 2k I had problems with it. Even Symantec admits to it.
Now I use Drive Image............far better.

 

[mawelsh]

I've seen a few problems with Ghost and Windows 2000. It's important to use Sysprep 1.1, a Microsoft utility that's available on their site to prepare your images for duplication. It has a ton of options for customizing your image, and it flips the SIDs for you. This has eliminated a problem with getting an "inaccessible boot device" error on startup after ghosting an image.

The other issue I've seen with Ghost is that sometimes after you bring the image down, the default user profile doesn't work properly. I'm still trying to figure out why...

 

[mawelsh]

shinjuku

Sysprep 1.1, available from Microsoft will allow you to specify everything and your image will setup completely unattended, rebooting itself just once. You're then left with a machine ready for use, or to join the domain, customize for a user, etc.

Another trick I use to reduce the size of my images is to delete the swap file after running sysprep, but before Ghosting the image. C:\pagefile.sys can be safely deleted (several hundred megs) as it will automatically be recreated.

Sysprep is at

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr...echnol/windows2000serv/downloads/syprep11.asp