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Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

  • 1.  Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Oct 28, 2014 10:31 AM
      |   view attached

    I have this software to do backups of my home PCs and I have used GHOST in the past. I was hoping to be able to create a bootable DVD that I can use to restore from image automatically a NOTEBOOK that I am constantly reloading which is used for testing applications and I perfer to start with a clean image. Currently I am using an old version of GHOSTCAST SERVER 11.5 to do this with a boot disk which allows me to re-image the notebook.

    I got the Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 based on reading on the Internet that it would allow you to make a boot disk which would boot and re-image the machine. The NOTEBOOK image is about 2.89GB - so will fit on DVD.

    I begin the installation after putting the CD in the drive. It pops up the install wizard and I choose the INSTALL GHOSE CONSOLE AND GHOSE STANDARD TOOLS option from the list. It begins the installation and then thows up the following message: YOU ARE INSTALLING ON AN UNSUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEM. YOU CAN CONTINUE WITH THE INSTALLATION.

    WHAT THE WHAT??? If unsupported, why continue??? My OS is Windows 7 Ultimate (x86) and it is listed on the webpage as a supported OS. So what gives?

    If I continue the installation it acts as if it is installing...gets to about 90-95% and BACKS OUT THE INSTALL - no reason why, by the time is all said and done - nothing gets installed.

    How do I fix this, and why does the install fail?

     

     

    Thanks,

    *BH*

    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    Install Error.pdf   13 KB 1 version


  • 2.  RE: Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Oct 28, 2014 11:36 AM

    Ghost solution suite 2.5 was released prior to windows 7 so as far as the installation checks are concerned, it will be an unsupported operating system, especially if you have an older version and not the latest LiveUpdate build which is 11.5.1.2266. This build does include some specific enhancements for Windows 7.

    The reason that the install is backing out may be unrelated. I recommend checking the application event log where the reason may well be recorded. It is possible that some dependency is missing from your system as Windows 7 has a somewhat different make up to earlier editions.



  • 3.  RE: Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Oct 28, 2014 03:23 PM

    EdT,

      Thanks for the reply.  I had already seen this article on SYMANTEC.

     

    Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH110740

     

      It indicates that installation is possible - then you have to LIVE UPDATE it get the new version...however, it does not install on the machine.  So no LIVE UPDATE to run.

     

      Any suggestions?  Anyone else?  SYMANTEC??

     

    Thanks,

    *BH*



  • 4.  RE: Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Oct 28, 2014 06:17 PM

    Additional update to this...

      I decided to try the CD on another WIN7 ULTIMATE (x86) computer (my laptop).  It installed over there and would let me run the LIVEUPDATE.

     

       I do not want it installed on the Laptop....so I uninstalled it.

     

      Now the question remains - why will it not install on my desktop?  I have tried 5 times and all 5 times, it fails to install and backs-out the process leaving nothing on the machine.

     

      How can I find out what is causing this.  There is by far less software installed on the laptop than there is the desktop.  Where is this log you are referring to?

     

    Thanks,

     

    *BH*



  • 5.  RE: Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Oct 29, 2014 05:05 PM

    To bring up the event viewer, just run "eventvwr" either from a command line or directly in the start menu's run box. Then select the application event log tab.  Look in there for messages pertaining to your attempted installs.  If you have not been into the event viewer before, then by all means post any of the messages relating to the failed install(s). Clearly if you have tried 2 or 3 times without success then repeating the exercise is not going to magically fix whatever problem exists on your system. Unfortunately, there still exist some badly written apps that can "damage" the files on your machine by replacing newer versions with older versions, so trying to install on a machine with lots of apps is statistically more likely to fail than a machine with fewer apps, or even a totally new install.

    Ultimately, if your aim is to make a boot disk, you can do this on any machine including your laptop and then use it on whatever systems you need to. Just bear in mind that GSS 2.5 is a very old product and uses WinPE V2, based on the vista kernel, for making the boot image. (Forget DOS, it just does not hack it with modern hardware). Since you need to add Vista 32 bit drivers to your boot image to access your hard disk SATA chipset, you may now run into difficulties if your machine is too new to come with Vista drivers.

    So search this forum for articles by Terry Bu on how you can build a WinPE V3 boot system to work in the Ghost environment, as this allows you to use Win 7 32 bit drivers instead.



  • 6.  RE: Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Nov 11, 2014 04:01 PM

    EdT,

      Thanks for your reply.

     

      My ultimate goal is to create a BOOTABLE CD/DVD that will re-image a training laptop.  The image is Windows 7 Pro and the laptop is an IBM T61.

     

      What do you recommend to do this? 

     

    Thanks,

     

    *BH*



  • 7.  RE: Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Nov 12, 2014 12:42 PM

    Have you considered using a virtual machine as your training environment?  You could use either the free Microsoft virtual PC or VMWare Workstation.  The VM can then be reset to a previous snapshot without any overhead in terms of machine rebuilding and this solution is used extensively in some of the training and demonstration environments I have seen in operation.

    If there is a specific reason for actually reimaging the entire hard disk, or at least a partition of the hard disk, I would strongly recommend using an external USB hard disk rather than a USB flash drive, due to the much greater performance of the external hard drive. I have used the small pocket 2.5 inch external drives as technician rebuild tools, using a WinPE boot and an hta file to provide a basic GUI for the techs to select a build, etc.

    You can use the basic Ghost files with WinPE or use the native imagex utility that comes with WinPE and is free.  If your laptop has sufficient disk space you could put the image on a second partition and just have the machine dual booting.

    My article here: https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/readyadventures-winpe  describes how I did this using the version of WinPE that comes with Ghost, albeit building it from scratch using the Microsoft download (free). There is also a link to an updated article that uses WinPE V3 which is compatible with Win 7 drivers.  It all depends on how much time and technical expertise you have.

    If you want an "off the shelf" solution that is up to date, check out Paragon Partition Manager.



  • 8.  RE: Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Nov 12, 2014 02:01 PM

    EdT,

       I have indeed considered that and we did that for a while....but it is a pain in the a$$.

     

      There are other reasons that I want to create a bootable DVD to do this is that I have training PCs that we re-image constantly...currently we are using GHOST 11 (GhostCast Server) and it takes 8-12 hours to pull the image down to 4 machines over the network.

      I am looking for an easier way to re-image these computers as they are already dual boot XP and W7. 

     

      If you have an alternative to that...I am all ears (or eyes).

     

    Ideally I would like to have a DVD that I can boot with that has the IMAGE on it - or a 16GB FLASH DRIVE maybe that I can boot with, then pull the image right off the flash drive.

     

    *BH*

     



  • 9.  RE: Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Nov 14, 2014 02:05 PM

    Again, I point you at my article as referenced above which describes how to create bootable media using any one of a number of different solutions. Once again, I would suggest that a portable hard disk offers much better performance than flash drives, and can be made bootable just as easily as a flash drive.  Also has better storage capacity when it comes to larger Win 7 or Win 8 images.



  • 10.  RE: Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 - Will not install

    Posted Dec 10, 2014 05:09 PM

    If boot disks are your end result you should consider the new boot disk creator. 

    http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH223404

    You will need an active support contract to open a case and get the download information but it should install with out issue.   You will need to be on a x64bit environment to build x64 boot disks but that isn't a big deal if you don't have that you should be able to build x86 boot disks.   

    I would consider this rather than spending any further time on the full solution when all you need is the boot disk creator.  

    Cheers.