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How to Clone Hard Drive using recovery disk with Symantec Ghost, Ghost Solution Suite, BESR, etc.

  • 1.  How to Clone Hard Drive using recovery disk with Symantec Ghost, Ghost Solution Suite, BESR, etc.

    Posted Mar 21, 2011 08:18 PM

    Hello,
    I need help with how I can I clone a Windows 7 hard drive using a recovery disk.  When I say clone I mean copy all data (and Partitions) from one hard disk to another hard disk by using Symaninc Product line.  I have done this in the past with old versions of Ghost recovery disk.  However the option isn't there in the recovery disk anymore.  I see that I can do it with the OS but that is not acceptable.  (Copying and OS installation within the OS is a bad idea b/c of changes and File locks.)  I want the WinPE version of local copying a harddrive like we had in the old Ghost 5 to 8 recovery disks.   

    My drive is showing signs its dying and I need to get this done ASAP.

    As such, and after being uncertain of which version would actually have the feature, last week I bought:
    - Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010
    - Symantec Ghost Soulation 2.5
    - Symantec Ghost 15

    I get the idea of turning features off in trial versions to ensure someone buys the product.  However once it is purchased, I'd like to see the options plaining put back.

    Please assist.
    Thanks,
    JBHaire52



  • 2.  RE: How to Clone Hard Drive using recovery disk with Symantec Ghost, Ghost Solution Suite, BESR, etc.

    Posted Mar 22, 2011 03:37 PM

    What hardware are you trying to image? Some vendors (eg Lenovo) have their own recovery systems which use a boot manager that can be difficult to clone. I found for example that Norton Ghost 15 cannot handle the Lenovo boot manager so this one would be a waste of your time if you have a Lenovo machine.

    If your hard disk is on the way out, I would recommend backing up all your data, as the rest can always be reinstalled but data once lost is gone forever.

    You can use GSS 2.5 to create WinPE bootable media so that you can boot your system from a CD or USB device and then image the hard disk using Ghost tools.

    For advice on Symantec BESR, there is a separate forum on Connect where you will find some very experienced people to advise you further. However, I believe BESR performs "hot imaging" with the host operating system running on your target machine, and personally, I prefer to have my target hard disk offline when imaging it.