Ghost Solution Suite

I used my Ghost console to create a Deploy Anywhere iso image. It works quite well to create and restore images. But I have had two cases now where someone opened the boot CD with Windows Explorer to browse the CD. They did not run any executables. But somehow this wiped out the current Windows Master Boot Record. Any suggestions? Is there something that needs to be changed in the way the CD is created? It seems clear I can not open it and see what files are there that could cause issues?

 

Ken.

Awesome! Hang on to that one for April Fools!

;)

that certainly is a new one...not sure how that could've happened other that highly unlikely coincidence.  I guess that's what you get for trying to look at trade secrets:smileyhappy:  Might need a dev or someone to answer this.

Hi Ken,

 

I would be interested in taking a look at the iso. I have posted upload details to your forum private message box.

 

Thanks,

Xan

Still collecting infomration on this, it seems both did a number of things, not just browse the CD. And they did it with both Ghost 8 and Ghost 2.5. They were trying to verify an images integrity and used Ghost32.exe from both a ghost 8 and a ghost 2.5 CD to verify a Ghost 8 image.

Once it was verfied OK, he closed Ghost and got a messsage that he must run checkdisk. From there, he only had three empty partitions listed. Boot to "No Operating System".

Let me know if you would still like something uploaded, I may try this myself (I have a spare hard drive for my laptop).

Thanks Ken, the iso upload would be useful just in case this is something very specific.

 

Update: After offline investigation with Ken, I determined that data will be written to drive 1 when performing an image check on any image which has been created with any of the following switches: -ia, -id, -ir, -ial. The problem will also occur when performing an image check of any image which contains a file system type other than NTFS, FAT, EXT2/3.

 

Components affected are versions 11.5.0.2113 to 11.5.0.2154 of: Ghost.exe, Ghost32.exe, Ghost64.exe, and Ghost for Linux.

 

What happens in the circumstances above is that that Ghost will begin writing data, starting from the offset of the first ia partition in the image, to the same offset on disk #1.

 

When booting from a local drive, drive #1 will usually be the local hard drive. When booting from a usb flash device, drive #1 will usually be the usb flash device.

 

To determine if a particular image will trigger this problem when the Check Image File function is used, open the image in Ghost Explorer:

a) If a warning* dialog appears immediately stating that this image was created with the -ia or similar switch - then the image will trigger this problem if checked.

b) If a warning does not appear, look at the partitions displayed in Ghost Explorer. If one or more of the partitions are displayed with a red question mark icon* then the image will trigger this problem if checked.

 

I have provided Ken with an updated build to resolve this issue.

 

A Live Update release is now planned for mid January to resolve this issue.

 

*Note: The red question mark icon in Ghost Explorer is used to indicate a partition created using sector-by-sector imaging. Ghost sector-by-sector imaging is used in any case where Ghost encounters a partition type other than NTFS, FAT, or EXT2/3. The purpose of the warning dialog is to inform users that Ghost Explorer cannot view the contents of partitions other than NTFS, FAT, EXT2/3.

 

Regards,

Xan

Updated message to reflect versions 11.5.0.2113 to 11.5.0.2154.

Hi Ken

 

 

This issue has been resolved in live update 3 for GSS 2.5.The live updates released for GSS 2.5 have been cumulative so far, so you would need to download and install the first and second GSS live updates (help -> live update) before the 3rd is available for installation.

 

Regards,

Xan