Ghost Solution Suite

I have some loaner laptops that need fresh images placed on them.

I do not need to save the data.

Can I just ghost them with frsh iomages or Must they be decryted first?

Moving this to the Ghost Solution forum for better visibility.

You will probably need to reformat their drives first to restore the boot sector to something that regular boot media can recognise and work with.

If you find you cannot delete the existing partitions and reformat the drives then it may be necessary to decrypt the drives first. A lot depends on how the encryption is implemented.  If you have an encryption method that uses the hardware TPM chip then it may prove impossible to use the machine unless it is unlocked first.

The unit is encrypted with Guardian Edge a product that I am not familiar with.

In the past I used a product my Mcaffee and we simply reimaged the drive and was done with it.

Is anyone familiar with how Guardian edge works and can tell me if a simple ghosting will work?

Much apreciated.

For completeness, you should provide the exact version of Guardian Edge you are using. Like you, I am unfamiliar with this product, but a quick Google shows that Symantec acquired this company in June 2010.

So if you go to the Security Community in Connect, and find the Endpoint Encryption forum, you should be able to get further information about Guardian Edge from the security specialists there.

If you already have a WinPE boot CD or USB stick that supports this model, you could boot to a WinPE command prompt, run DISKPART and try deleting and recreating the primary partition on the encrypted hard disk. If this works, then you can move straight to reimaging. If the hard disk cannot be accessed, then assuming the correct SATA drivers are loaded, you will need to decrypt first.