Ghost Solution Suite

I have looked at a bunch of forums answering different variations of this question but none of them have solved my problem.  I would like to create a cd boot disk that once booted runs automatically.  I know the command line to get it to run through ghost without having to do anything.  The real problem is getting the computer to load both the NIC, and the CD drivers.  I can get the nic with the network boot package in the boot wizard but it doesnt load the driver for the cd rom.  I think i can get the CD drivers when I do the 'CD/DVD Startup Boot Package with Ghost' but the nic wont work then.  Most of the forums I have run into are talking about ghost 8.0 or they now what files to edit and how to put them on the CD.  I'm pretty new to this and I'm using CD-R's so I cant really edit files after they are on the CD.  I have heard about PXE booting and creating/restoring images that way but it seems more complicated than just having the end user pop in a CD and select boot from CD.  Btw we have multiple plants across the US and I still wondering if this would be the best route...transferring that much info.

 

ps. Is the client machine going to take down the network when it is trying to find the ghost server?

Hi IT_intern,

 

which version of ghost are you using?

if you are using GSS2.5(Ghost 11.5), it is bit easier since you can modify the autoexce.bat, config.sys and you can also add extra files.

you can create network boot disk option and at the end you can add cd/dvd drivers manually and modify the config.sys

 

if you are using previous to GSS 2.5, It might be easier to use thrid party tool to burn bootable CD.

first create a network boot disk and select floppy as the output.

don't worry about 2nd floppy and modify the first floppy only.

(second floppy will contain second part of ghost.exe)

add cd/dvd driver to floppy and modify the autoexec.bat and config.sys to load cd/dvd driver.

 

use thrid party cd/dvd burning too and select bootable CD/DVD.

during burning process, it will ask for the bootable floppy.

put the floppy that you modified.

you can put the ghost.exe in the data area of the CD.

once CD/DVD is identified and given a drive letter, (i.e. mscdex from autoexec.bat)

you can run ghost.exe from a given drive letter.

 

this process might not be a straight forward process so if you have any further quetions, let me know.

 

regards,

James Lee

 

 

Do you just add the driver in the area where it asks to add any other files?  And you said to modify the autoexec.bat and config.sys to load the driver, how do you do that?  I am pretty new to this and dont know the commands/code for writing boot disks.

First thing always first - as James said you need to tell us which version of GSS you are using so we can provide you with set of instructions?

Cheers.

Yes it is GSS 2.5.  I can add extra files and edit the .bat and .sys files just before the disk is created.

In GSS 2.5 you have few options.

 

You can pick Winpe as your preos and then you dont need to worry about CD drivers. The only thing is to ensure that you have appropriate NIC drivers in Winpe. You can achieve this by using Ghost boot wizard and 'edit' winpe of your choice and add/remove new drivers. We have plenty of drivers in the library already but if for some reason your driver is not in the library you can always use 'import' button from Winpe editor from GBW to download it from manufacture and add one in.

 

With DOS it is abit more problematic because if you select 'CD/DVD startup boot package'  you have no option for NIC drivers. This is because most of the DOS options were intended for standalone boot configurations. The only options that will provide you with network connectivity for DOS are:'network boot package', 'Console boot partition' and 'tcp/ip' packages.

 

Hope this helps.

It helps a little bit, but I need to know how to modify the .bat and the .sys files so that the NIC driver will load in the WinPe or the cd drivers in the pcDOS(preferred).

As I said you modify Winpe via Winpe editor accessible from Ghost boot wizard via 'edit' button on the first page. You do not need to modify autoexec.bat for Winpe - there arent one.

For DOS you can modify autoexec.bat and other config files on the very last 'review' page. Click 'start editing' and modify contents. When finished click 'end editing' and create your package.