Ghost, also known as a “clone” tool or disk backup software, is a paid application from Symantec. You can purchase it from software retailers or use the free version available in the Hiren’s BootCD toolkit.
To get started, you will need a Hiren’s BootCD version 7.0 or higher, with the latest version being 8.2. This CD already contains the Norton Ghost tool. Computer 1 (which has the full program installed) must have a CD-ROM drive.
There are two methods to perform Ghosting from computer one to computer two.
Method 1: (If you have knowledge of hardware assembly and your machine is out of warranty) Follow these steps:
Step 1: Remove the hard drive from computer 2 and connect it to computer 1 as a slave (if your hard drive is IDE ATA). If you are using SATA, connect it to a second SATA port.
Step 2: After connecting the hard drive, enter the BIOS to check if the computer has detected both hard drives. If not, troubleshoot until computer 1 recognizes both drives.
Step 3: There are three scenarios:
1. If both hard drives are identical in size, you can start Ghosting immediately. Here’s how:
Boot the computer using the prepared Hiren’s BootCD. You will see a list of numerous tools available on the CD. Select the number corresponding to “Disk Clone Tools,” and you will find a list of various disk cloning tools. Choose Norton Ghost 8.00.
Proceed by selecting Local -> Disk -> To Disk. When prompted for the Source Disk, select the drive containing all the data. The destination will be the newly connected hard drive.
Note: The information on the destination drive will be overwritten using the Disk to Disk mode. If you are Ghosting hard drives with NT-based operating systems (Windows 2000/XP/2003), make sure to accept the option to clone the Pagefile.sys file. This function is available in Ghost versions 8.00 and above. Windows 2003 requires Ghost version 8.02.
2. If your two hard drives are different or identical, but you want to change the partition structure.
First, use PartitionMagic to partition the hard drive of computer 2 according to your preferences. This tool can be found on the Hiren’s CD under Disk Manager Tools.
Proceed by Ghosting from Partition -> Partition. The program will prompt you to select the source disk (Source Disk), then the partition containing the information (Source Partition), and finally the destination disk (Destination Disk) if there are two physical hard drives with a partition containing information to copy to.
If not, you can also copy a partition to an Image file using Partition -> To Image. This file will have a .gho extension. Be sure to confirm that you want to include the Pagefile.sys file in the image file. After creating the image, you can restore a partition from the .gho file using Partition -> From Images… to extract it to a partition that is nearly intact.
Note: The amount of information in the source partition must not exceed the capacity of the destination partition. Ideally, both partitions should be of equal size or the source partition should be smaller.
Method 2: (If you do not wish to disassemble the computer).
Carefully follow step three, which guides you on how to Ghost a disk partition to an Image file. Transfer this .gho partition file from computer 1 to computer 2. Then, boot computer 2 with the Hiren’s CD and perform the reverse process, Ghosting from an Image file back to a disk partition. This .gho file is usually quite large, often exceeding 1GB. You can burn it to a CD or preferably to a DVD. If possible, use a portable hard drive for convenience.
For safety, when returning hard drive 2 to computer 2, boot Windows in Safe Mode and use the Scan for Hardware Changes function in Device Manager before restarting in normal mode. Windows may reinstall some hardware drivers, so be prepared with your Windows installation CD. This step is necessary to reset the ID for Windows XP on your new computer (computer 2).
Always remember to back up your data and exercise extreme caution when distinguishing between hard drives, especially when dealing with two identical drives.
Good luck!
TRAN HUY
