Norton Ghost image files (Windows XP Professional

[jimhaynes]

I am using Norton Ghost 9.0 to backup to an image file. (For several years I had been using PowerQuest Drive Image, which apparently has been acquired by Norton.) I have a base image file and I am doing nightly scheduled automatic incremental backups. I have never restored anything from an image file and I am wondering what experience people have with a restore from an image file. I have talked to someone who has cloned a drive with good success using Norton Ghost 9.0, but has not restored from an image file.

[JoeP517]

I've not had a problem restoring with DI or earlier versions of Ghost. I've restored folders, individual files, and whole systems.

Joe

[DocWatson]

I use Acronis True Image as opposed to Ghost and used Drive Image before this. I never had to restore an image using Drive Image and always dreaded having to use the DOS interface. Now True Image and I believe Ghost have a Windows interface that makes it a pretty simple thing to do to restore all or any part of an image, down to a single file. I had to use my backup image to restore my system in December when my profiles became corrupt and it worked like a charm. The restore took about 2 hours and after I got it back up and running it was like nothing had happened. If Ghost works as well, and I'm told it does, then an imaging program should be in everyone's toolbox or on their wish-list.

[viking33]

Like Doc, I use Acronis True Image and have used it to restore whole drives and individual files. Have not had any problems with restore and it sure has saved my bacon a few times when I got too exuberant with my changes and additions.
While I have Ghost along with my Norton Systemworks, I have never used it and rely on True Image.

[StuartR]

I have restored whole partitions using DriveImage, this involved booting the DriveImage CD and using the supplied GUI to map a network drive, select the image file and select a destination. Very easy, very intuitive.

StuartR

[bigaldoc]

As with Joe and Stuart, Jim, I've done restores of both individual files and whole partitions with Drive Image for many years - it was an integral part of my job. I never had the first problem, but of course, that was before it was taken over by Symantec. I can't imagine that they could have "hurt" the product, so you might want to use a test run for an example. I would hope you would be OK...