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Ghost Tips
(Imaging / cloning hard disc drives using Symantec Ghost)

All of the information, instructions, and recommendations on this Web site are offered on a strictly "as is" basis. Remember "Murphy's Law." Please take the proper precautions before attempting any of the tips or modifications listed here.

Contents

Documentation: Symantec Solution Suite o

Ghost Solution Suite Tutorial

Universal Imaging Utility by Binary Research reduces HAL dependencies

Spanning Ghost Images

You can use the following parameters to run Ghost to allow splitting images into smaller parts.

ghost.exe -split=690 -auto -z2 -afile=NUL

Creating a Multi-NIC Boot CD

1. Create a bootable floppy disk containing:
• NDIS drivers for all the NIC's to be supported
• Optical drive drivers: (oakcdrom.sys, mscdex.exe)
• Config.sys
  • Menu to allow the choice of which NDIS driver to load
  • Load oakcdrom.sys (needed for access to IDE optical drive)
  • Load gcdrom.sys (needed for access to SATA optical drive)
• Autoexec.bat:
  • path=A:\;R:\
  • Load mscdex.exe to enable access to the optical (Drive R:)
  • Load mouse.exe
  • Ask user if -fni parameter needed for Serial ATA drives.
    SET param=-fni
  • Ask user to (L)oad an image, (C)reate an image, or (E)xit
  • Run Ghost.exe from R:
    ghost.exe -split=690 -auto -z2 %1 %2 %param


2. Create a non-compressed image (.ima) of the bootable floppy disk using WinImage.
   
   
3. Create a bootable CD-ROM project in Nero by selecting "CD-ROM (boot)"
• Use the bootable floppy disk image as the source for the boot partition.
  • Kind of emulation: Floppy Emulation 1.44MB
  • Load segment of sectors (hex): 07C0
  • Number of loaded sectors: 1
• Add ghost.exe, and any additional programs to the project.
  e.g. GhostSrv.exe, GhstWalk.exe, GhostExp.exe


4. Write the project to CD-R
   • Make sure to finalize the session, else the CD won’t boot.

Creating Bootable CD-ROMs for Restoring Ghost Images

See: How To Create A Bootable Ghost Rescue CD Tutorial

Nero File Naming Issues

Situation:

Wrote a CD-R with "pm-f.gho." (that's a minus sign between m and f). Nero v5.x changed the minus sign to an underscore, without warning, causing ghost.exe to not find the filename specified in ghost.bat, because the filename was changed by Nero.

Solution:
Use underscores instead of minus signs when naming files and using Nero 5.x.
See: Filename Length Issues with Spanned Images.

Filename Length Issues with Spanned Images

• When creating spanned images, only use 4 characters for the filename, else previous spaned files in the same directory will be overwritten without warning.

Recommendation

• Create a different directory for each image group using the computer name. e.g. NEC PowerMate ES 5200L
• Use 3 letters that uniquely identifies the computer, plus one letter for the image filename. If you start with A, you can get 26 different intact spanned images in the same directory. e.g. es5a.gho, es5b.gho
• Do not use a minus sign if you are going to use Nero 5.x to create the CD. See Nero Naming Issues for details.

Ghost Console: Remote Client Install

Remote Client Install allows you to avoid visiting each client computer to manually install the Ghost Console Client software. The installation can be done entirely from the Ghost Console > Tools > Remote Client Install...

The Symantec documentation says:

Remote Client Install only works on client computers that fit the following criteria:

• Computers running Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP Professional, and is a member of a domain.
• Computers running Windows NT or Windows 2000, and is a member of a workgroup.

Remote Client Install does not work for client computers that are running Windows 95/98/Me, Windows XP Home Edition, or Windows XP that are members of a workgroup.

See: How to install the Ghost 7.5 Client

Update: Oct. 2007:

Remote Client Install does work for client computers that are running Windows XP Professional SP2 that are members of a workgroup. I've done it myself using Ghost Console v7.5.0.335.

Update: June 2008

• Windows Firewall > Exceptions tab and enable "File and Printer Sharing"
• Symantec Client Security Firewall: Add the "network address" of your network to the "Trusted Zone."
• GSS Console is designed to upgrade the clients when ever you run a task, if the version of Console and Client are different.
  If they already have a client installed and connected to the Console, running a config refresh task is sufficient to upgrade the client. It is not necessary to run remote client install again. If you run any task, you will notice two additional steps in the task log, 'Client upgrade' and 'Product upgrade'. The only reason to run remote client install to a machine with the client already is if you want to redirect it to a different Console. o
• To view the debug console on the client: Press the 'ctrl' key and move the mouse to the upper left corner of the screen. This will make the client icon visible in the system tray of the client. Right click on the client icon and select "show debug console".

Update: July 2008

Workgroup/Domain and/or Computers not listed under "Tools > Remote Client Install…"

If the workgroup/domain or computers that are members of the workgroup/domain are not showing up in Console, try the following DOS command, from the console PC, to see if the the workgroup/domain and all PC's are accessible.

net view /domain:<WorkgroupName>

Reducing the Size of the Image

1. Delete the C:\Pagefile.sys using the Recovery Console

Note: Since pagefile.sys is a hidden file you have to use the following commands at the Recovery Console to delete it:

copy boot.ini pagefile.sys
del pagefile.sys

Configuring Ghost Console Tasks

Bind Client to a Different Ghost Console

To bind the client computer to a different Console Switching the client computer so that it can be controlled by a different Ghost Console requires replacing the file PubKey.crt, located in C:\Program Files\Symantec\Ghost\.

Note that performing a Remote Client Install from a different Ghost Console installation does not bind the client computer to that Ghost Console. The Symantec Ghost 7.5 Implementation Guide, page 160, is wrong in this situation.

Note: Unders Windows 2000 & XP, Modify and Write rights are required to modify files in the C:\Program Files\Symantec\Ghost\ directory. A regular User won't have those rights. Just login as an Admin.

• Stop the Ghost Client service:
  From the Command prompt run,
  • CD C:\Program Files\Symantec\Ghost
  • ngctw32 -stop
• Delete PubKey.crt. This file is located in the in the Ghost directory.
• Open the existing PubKey.crt with notepad and delete its contents.
• Save the empty pubkey.crt.
  If you use an empty PubKey.crt file instead of a PubKey.crt file from another computer, the Ghost Client will bind to the first Ghost Console that it finds on the network.
  Because Ghost 7.5 automatically updates the file PubKey.crt in the Ghost Boot Partition or Ghost Virtual Boot Partition every time a Task is run, manually replacing the PubKey.crt file in the Ghost Boot Partition is not necessary.
• Restart the Ghost Client service. Note that the Ghost Client service restarts automatically when you restart the computer. To restart the service without restarting the computer, use the following steps:
  
  From the command prompt, type ngctw32
  
  When you start NGctw32.exe, the Ghost Client uses the new PubKey.crt file to locate the Ghost Console on the network. If PubKey.crt is empty, the Ghost Console Client searches for an available Ghost Console.

You can find the whole article if you do a search for Document ID: 2001121715570925

I created a batch file, BindClientToDifferentConsole.zip, to zero out the pubkey.crt file, allowing the Ghost Console Client to bind to a different Ghost Console. You need to be logged is with administrative rights to run BindClientToDifferentConsole.bat.

How to move the Ghost Console to a different computer or retain Console settings during a reinstall

Document ID: 2001050812540225

Situation:

The Ghost Server (sometimes referred to as the Ghost Console) is installed on one computer, and you want to move the server to a different computer without losing Ghost configuration information and without having to reconfigure the client computers. Or, you want to reinstall the Ghost Server to the same computer without losing the Ghost Console settings.

Solution:

Moving the Ghost Console to a different computer, or reinstalling the Console, is a simple process. However, it requires that you visit each Ghost client computer to copy or delete specific Ghost files, as described in the following instructions.

Upgrading to a new Ghost version

If you intend to upgrade the Ghost Server to a new version and move the Ghost Server to a new computer, upgrade the Ghost Server and the Ghost Clients before moving or reinstalling the Ghost Server. Read the document How to upgrade Ghost Enterprise Edition to Ghost 6.5, Ghost 7.0, or Ghost 7.5.

To move or reinstall the Ghost Console

1. At the current Ghost server computer:
   1. Close the Ghost Enterprise Console.
   2. Click Start > Run. The Run dialog box appears.
   3. Type:
      C:\Program Files\Symantec\Ghost\ngserver –stop
      and click OK. The drive letter and path might be different on your computer. This stops the Ghost Enterprise Console Services.
   4. Copy the following files to a safe location. These files contain Ghost configuration information:
      SymantecGhost.db
      Pubkey.crt
      Privkey.crt
      
2. If reinstalling Ghost:
   1. Uninstall Ghost.
   2. Install Ghost.
   3. Click Start > Run. The Run dialog box appears.
   4. Type:
      C:\Program Files\Symantec\Ghost\ngserver –stop
      and click OK. The drive letter and path might be different on your computer. This stops the Ghost Enterprise Console Services.
   5. Replace the following files with the files that you previously copied to a safe location:
      SymantecGhost.db
      Pubkey.crt
      Privkey.crt
   6. Reboot the computer.
      
3. If moving the Ghost Console:
   1. Install Ghost to the new Ghost server computer.
   2. Click Start > Run. The Run dialog box appears.
   3. Type:
      C:\Program Files\Symantec\Ghost\ngserver –stop
      and click OK. The drive letter and path might be different on your computer. This stops the Ghost Enterprise Console Services.
   4. Replace the following files with the files that you previously copied to a safe location:
      SymantecGhost.db
      Pubkey.crt
      Privkey.crt
   5. Reboot the computer.
   6. Uninstall Ghost from the original Ghost server computer.

Are you stuck in the virtual partition or boot partition in DOS, and can only reboot to DOS?

This often happens when canceling an imaging task. If the DOS system is still communicating with the Ghost Console, just send a new task. If there is a valid Windows operating system on the client machine, and you just need to get out of DOS, use the following commands:

1. Press Ctrl+C to stop the DOS client from communicating with the console.
2. Then at the C:\GHOST prompt type in NGCTDOS -HIDE.
   The NGCTDOS.EXE file is the Ghost client in DOS which talks to the Console. The -HIDE switch will delete the virtual partition or hide the boot partition, and then reactivate your Windows partition.

http://ghosttraining.com/ghost_faq.html#5

Ghost Solution Suite adds ghreboot.bat:

1. Press Ctrl+C to stop the DOS client from communicating with the console. (Note: You may have to press Ctrl+C twice in succession.)
2. Then at the C:\GHOST prompt type in ghreboot then press <enter>

Compaq Presario 4230ES NDIS Driver Issues

The NIC in the Compaq Presario 4230ES is a "Compaq Netelligent 10/100 TX PCI UTP Controller." I'll just reference as 4230ES.

DOS NDIS Driver Does Not Recognize the NIC

• The "Plug & Play OS" setting in the CMOS must be set to "No" to get the DOS NDIS driver to properly recognize the NIC.

How to Add the driver for the 4230ES to the Ghost Boot Disk Wizard

1. Create a directory named Compaq 4230 in the Ghost Boot Disk Wizard directory
2. Copy the OEMSetup.inf file from the Compaq 4230 boot disk to the Compaq 4230 directory
3. Add the Compaq 4230 NDIS to the Ghost Boot Disk Wizard
4. The drivername must be “NTFLX3$” to match protocol.ini.

Manually Select the Compaq 4230ES driver in Ghost Console

• In Ghost Console, you'll need to access the properties for the computer or group and manually choose the Compaq 4230ES driver.

Serial ATA Hard Disc Drives and Ghost.exe Issues

The Serial ATA (SATA) setting in the BIOS may cause Ghost.exe v7.5 to hang.

Dell OptiPlex GX620

On Dell OptiPlex GX620's, there are two settings for Drives > SATA Operation in the BIOS, Normal and Combination.

When SATA Operation is set to "Normal," (the factory default) Ghost.exe v7.5 hangs before the Ghost user interface is displayed. Adding the -fni parameter when running Ghost.exe, enables Ghost to run.

When SATA Operation is set to "Combination," Ghost.exe v7.5 runs normally without the need for the -fni parameter.

We haven't noticed a performance hit when SATA Operation is set to "Combination."

• This behavior was observed on Dell OptiPlex GX280's with a Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit controller (April 2005) and Dell OptiPlex GX620's (January 2006).

• Ghost compatibility with Intel 865 chipsets and Serial ATA drives

Dell OptiPlex 755 Issues

The SATA interface mode needs to be changed to legacy so that images created for the 745 (with SATA Operation set to Combination) will boot Windows XP without rebooting half-way.

Dell Optiplex 755 with BIOS vA09

• SATA Operation
  • RAID Autodetect / AHCI (Factory default)
  • RAID Autodetect / ATA
  • RAID On
  • Legacy

What is "TPM Security"?

Ctrl-P = MEBx ?

Dell Latitude D630

BIOS A13 (07/28/2008)

• Changing Onboard Devices > SATA Operation from ATA to AHCI allows Ghost.exe v7.5 to load properly
• No extra parameters, including -FNI, are needed
• ATA is the factory default

Reference

AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface)

• AHCI allows advanced features of SATA such as hot plug and Native Command Queuing (NCQ).
• Windows Vista and the current versions of Mac OS X and Linux have native support for AHCI
• Error message when you start a Windows Vista-based computer after you change the SATA mode of the boot drive: "STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE"

Cannot save an image file when using Microsoft Sysprep 1.1

Document ID: 2002021914065725

Situation:
You chose the option "Pull an image from a client machine" in the Symantec Ghost Console Wizard or the option Image Dump to create a Task that creates an image of a Windows 2000 installation and saves that image as a file. When you run the Task, the Task fails. Ghost copies the Sysprep file to the client computer but does not execute the Sysprep file. The Ghost Task Log displays a message that indicates Ghost failed to execute a command or the client failed to boot from Ghost Virtual Boot Partition.

You configured the Task to use Microsoft's System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) version 1.1.

Solution:
This problem happens when you use the most recent version of Sysprep for Windows 2000. Microsoft has two versions of Sysprep 1.1. Symantec Ghost 7.5 works with the earlier version, which is build number 5.00.2195.1, and not with the later version, build number 5.00.2195.2104.

To resolve the problem, recreate the image file using Sysprep 1.1 build 5.00.2195.1.

Sysprep versions

Windows 2000
There are four different versions of Sysprep provided with Windows 2000. The table below outlines which versions of Ghost work with each version of Sysprep.



Sysprep version	Build	Compatible Ghost versions	Comments
1.0		None. Do not use with Ghost	Original Windows 2000 CD
1.0	5.0.2149.1	Symantec Ghost 7.5 Symantec Ghost 8.0	Later copies of Windows 2000 CD
1.1	5.0.2195.1	Symantec Ghost 7.5 Symantec Ghost 8.0	Windows 2000 SP1
1.1	5.0.2195.2104	Symantec Ghost 8.0	Download from Microsoft



Windows XP
There are three versions of Sysprep for Windows XP, and all three versions work with Ghost.
• Windows XP without Service Pack 1 installed: Version 5.1.2600 (included on the Windows XP CD)
• Windows XP with Service Pack 1: Version 5.1.2600.1106.
• Windows XP with Service Pack 2: Download from Microsoft.

Windows 2003
Download the latest version from Microsoft.

Determine which computer will be the master computer and which computer will be the slave

• The master is the computer from which you control the connection.
• After you have started Ghost on each computer and selected Master or Slave, all operator input must be on the master computer.
• When creating and saving an image file or writing an image over the contents of another disk or partition, the source computer should be the Master and the destination computer should be the Slave.
• When restoring a disk image or a partition image, the destination drive should be the Master and the source drive should be the Slave.

Assigning the Master and Slave computers
When cloning a disk or partition, the source computer is the Master and the destination computer is the Slave. When restoring an image, the computer that has the image is the Slave and the computer that you will restore the image to is the Master.

	Cloning operation	Master	Slave
Cloning: Copy the disk or partition	Disk-To-Disk	Computer containing the source disk	Computer containing the destination disk
	Partition-To-Partition	Computer containing the source partition	Computer containing the destination partition
Cloning: Create an image file	Disk-To-Image	Computer containing the source disk	Computer receiving the image file
	Partition-To-Image	Computer containing the source partition	Computer receiving the image file
Restore an image	Image-To-Disk	Computer containing the destination disk	Computer containing the image file
	Image-To-Partition	Computer containing the destination partition	Computer containing the image file

Source: How to clone or save an image file over a TCP/IP peer to peer connection

How to Change the Managed Server For Symantec AntiVirus

1. Copy GRC.DAT from the VPHOME share on the server to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Symantec\Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition\7.5\
   
2. Delete the existing *.servergroupca.cer in C:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus\pki\roots\
   
3. Copy the *.servergroupca.cer file from C:\Program Files\Symantec Client Security\Symantec AntiVirus\pki\roots\ to C:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus\pki\roots\

See: Moving Symantec Client Security 3.x or Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition 10.x clients from one parent server to another.

Ghost compatibility with dynamic partitions

To clone a dynamic disk

The best way to use Ghost to clone a dynamic disk is to perform a partition-to-image cloning operation and not a disk-to-image cloning operation. To clone the entire disk, perform a partition-to-image operation and select all partitions on the source disk.

Disk-to-Image

Use a disk-to-image operation only as a last resort.

To perform a disk-to-image cloning operation on a dynamic disk, run Ghost with the -IA switch on the Ghost command line.

Ghost supports creating a disk image of a dynamic disk only when using the -IA switch on the Ghost command line.

Source

Bulk Uninstall of Ghost Console Clients

Question/Issue:

• You would like to know an easy way to uninstall the Console Client from a large number of machines.
• Ghost Console only allows remote uninstalling of one client at a time, which would be very tedious.

Solution:

The Console Client can be uninstalled for a group of machines using the Ghost Console.

Follow these steps:

1. Obtain the GUID for the Console Client from the registry on a client: HKLM\Software\Symantec\Symantec Ghost\ProductCode.

2. Set up the Ghost Console to run an task of 'Execute Command' in the following form:

msiexec /x {ProductCodeGuid} /q

Note that the command line should include the curly brackets {} since they form part of the product code GUID obtained from step 1.

3. In the task, specify the machine group you would like to uninstall.
4. Execute the task.
5. The clients will reboot and the Console Client will be uninstalled.
6. The clients will not be removed from the Ghost Console. This must be done manually.

Source: Document ID: 2007111215361360

Error Loading Operating System after Executing a Console Task

Situation

After executing a Ghost Console task, one or more of the target computers fails to boot into the Ghost Virtual Partition, fails to load Ghost so it can be imaged, and fails to recover by booting into the existing operating system.

The following error is displayed on the failed client computer when it reboots:

Error loading operating system

• The task log shows "to Virtual Partition" has failed by timing out on the affected PC.
• Rebooting the PC does not correct the problem.
• The Ghost Virtual Partition was created but is empty on reboot

Cause

• Since Windows Disk Protection (WDP) is set to "Remove All Changes at Restart," the data for the Virtual Partition is written to the WDP cache file instead of to the Ghost Virtual Partition on the hard drive. When the system reboots, the cache file is cleared and the data that was supposed to be in the Virtual Partition is never commited to disc and is lost.

Solution

1. Cancel the task before Ghost Console times out and starts imaging all the other PC’s in the group
2. Boot the failed computer(s) with a CD/DVD or disk that contains the Windows 98 or newer FDisk.
3. Run FDisk and select option "4. Display Partition Information" to determine which partition was the original boot partition
4. Select option "2. Set active partition" to set the original boot partition as the active partition,
5. Select option "3. Delete Partition or Logical DOS Drive" and delete the 16Mbyte "UNKNOWN" partition.
6. Exit FDisk then reboot the computer
7. Disable SteadyState Windows Disk Protection.
   
8. Execute the task again

For future imaging, I suggest that you create 3 separate tasks for the one job.

1. Execute Command only, to disable WDP on all target PC's, "In Target Operating System"
   • Command: "C:\Program Files\Windows SteadyState\SCTUI.exe"
   • Arguments: /DisableWDPAndReboot
2. The normal task (Clone, Configuration, etc.) to push the image to all target PC's
3. Execute Command only, to enable WDP on all the target PC's, "In Target Operating System"
   • Command: "C:\Program Files\Windows SteadyState\SCTUI.exe"
   • Arguments: /EnableWDPAndReboot

Example Partitions

From: Dell Optiplex 755 with 80GB SATA hard disc drive

The drive was partitioned into two. Drive C: the boot partition and a 10GB D: partition that "My Documents" was moved to so that WDP would leave user data intact between reboots.
The 16 Mbytes “UNKNOWN” is the Ghost Virtual Partition.

Display Partition Information

Current Fixed Disk drive: 1

Total disk space is 10757 Mbytes (1 Mbyte = 1048576 bytes)

Reference

• SteadyState and Ghost Console
• Successful Cloning Strategy - Zero Touch Installation

Executing Commands from the Ghost Console

Create the Task

1. Create a task with only the "Execute Command" selected under Task Steps
2. Select the "Target Machine Group/Machine"
3. Click on the "Execute Command" tab
4. Add the command and any parameters
5. Choose "In Target Operating System"

DOS Commands

If you need to run a DOS command you'll want to use:

• cmd /c "String"

Here's an example to delete a directory tree:

• cmd /c "rd /s /q c:\temp\Patcher"

• Add the command to Ghost Console