norton ghost question...

[e_storm]

for those of you that have norton ghost....

Heres what I want to do:
current rig has 2 HDs, 10gig & 40gig. Windows is on 10gig.
New rig: gonna put the 40gig in this one.

Problem is most of my good stuff I want to back up is on the 40gig (installed programs, etc..). If I ghost the 40gig, install it in the new rig, format, and put windows on, then put the programs back on...will all the programs work once I put em on the new rig? I know nothing about norton ghost and don't want to waste the money if it can't even do what I need to.

I would just burn the programs I want onto a CD, but I'm under the assumption that you need registry keys, and various other entries in the windows .ini files for the programs to work. Plus I don't even know how to put a registry entry onto a CD and put it on another HD.

Any help is greatly appreciated. :)

[Jon]

If you mean to just copy the folders the programs are installed in to the new installation of Windows then no.

If you have the installable files then you can copy those back over and reinstall them all but all those programs have system files they rely on in different folders that won't be there if you just drop the program folder in the middle of a new Windows installation.

You're correct about the missing registry entries too.

You'll need to completely reinstall all of your programs.

If you want to ghost over the current image to a new system then that would probably work after you get everything straightened out since you will have different hardware being detected and such but I don't recommend that either.

[zoopa_man]

"If you want to ghost over the current image to a new system then that would probably work after you get everything straightened out since you will have different hardware being detected and such but I don't recommend that either"

If you take a ghost immage, move the drive, and then reinstall the immage in a new system it will work BUT you will still have all the old driver files form your old parts. I have found that this can cause some issues and problems.

My recomendation is this. If you have a new system it's always good to start form ground zero. That way there arn't any extra files lurking in the depths of your OS or hard drive. As soon as you get your new system up and going the way you want it...take a ghost immage...that way you will always have a fresh load to go back on.

Ghost is worth every penny and I would recomend it to everyone. I use it all the time. Unfortunately you have found one of the downfalls of ghost...An immage is an immage, Nothing more..just a snapshot of what you have...everything you have.

As for your installed programs I would try to locate the install files so you can do a fresh load on your new system. I know this is easier said then done...but it's worth the effort..a clean fresh load will work much better than a immage form another system. My worry is that you will have conflicts with the old device drivers and other hardware files form your other system.

If you can give me a list of what will be different in the other system I can help you out by telling you if I think something might cause trouble or not....It's worth a try in any case. Like I said, If it dosn't work great you can still use ghost to save you later.

[e_storm]

ok, fortunately for me norton ghost came with my new motherboard :D I think I'll probably just reinstall all the programs to save the hastle though. Thanks for the advice. :)