Ghost Solution Suite

Hi

is there any way to recover a gho file without any ghs files as someone in their infinite wisdom decided to delete them. Or is there a way to re-create the GHS files based on the gho?

thanks in advance!!!

If your fileset consisted of a GHO file plus one or more GHS files then you have NO chance of recreating the GHS files from the GHO and I think that recovering anything from the GHO without the final GHS file is also unlikely.

Basically, if you are imaging a hard disk using a DOS boot, the maximum file size that can be created on a FATxx partition is 2Gb, so a larger image is stored as a series of files starting with a GHO and then further GHS files, each up to 2Gb in size, until the entire image has been created.  Each of these 2Gb files hold a subset of the files in the image, and if I am not mistaken, the final GHS file stores the directory of all the files imaged and which of the GHO or GHS files they were compressed into.  I am sure Nigel Bree will correct me if my understanding is incorrect.

Depending on where these files were stored, are you unable to recover them from a backup (if server based) or by using an undelete utility (if workstation based) and if the machine in question has not been used extensively since the files were deleted. As I'm sure you are aware, files are not actually deleted when you delete them, all that happens is that the area of disk where they are stored is marked as "available" and the file entries in the directory are removed. Hence if there has not been much disk activity since the deletion, it may be possible to effect a recovery of the files The more the machine is used, especially if there is not much free space on the hard disk, the higher the chances that the "free space" holding these deleted files will be overwritten by new data.

For me was very useful this free program

http://www.undeletedeletedfiles.com

Probably way too late for any undelete operation unless the deleted disk was taken out of use immediately after the deletion, but thanks for the link.

You can do a restore to a disk or partition and get the data that was in the gho.   Any data that was stored in the ghs files is lost.   Don't expect windows to boot or programs to function but if the only copy of some documents or pictures or what have you was in the gho this would be one last ditch effort to get it back.

Restore the gho.   Once you get an error that ghost can't find the ghs then put the hard drive in an external caddy and plug it into a system with an running OS and see if you can browse to the partial restore and copy any files out of it.

Keep in mind that windows and the programs will be corrupted.  This is just an attempt to get at the data that may have been in that first GHO.    Hopeuly if you figure 50% compression you may have ~ 4 gigs of data in this 2 gigs of gho.      I have had to do this in the past when a ghs was corrupted and for what ever reason was the only copy of the data.   It isn't the most desireable way but when you are stuck in this situation it is worth trying rather than totally giving up.     But you may not have any useable data if ghost can't at least build the partition table from the first GHO.     You may need to run a check disk on the partion restore before you are able to pull any data out of it.

cheers.