Ghosting is the process to create a back up image of an entire partition
(and not of individual files). This option often requires special
tools, such as Norton Ghost or similar software. While there are
advantages to this approach, there are definitely disadvantages:
- To restore a ghost, the target partition must be physically
identical to the original, down to locations of bad sectors.
- It is impossible to perform incremental back up images.
- For a large hard disk, this operation can be very lengthy due
to the lack of incremental back up.
- Restoring an image on a different computer can cause problems,
as the registry contains entries that are specific to the
hardware configuration of a machine. Particularly, the
SID (security identifier) of each machine is different.
The high end commercial products can handle these problem with little
or no fuss. However, most off-the-shelf tools do not handle these
problems well. Those who are frugal and advanturous can try out
free programs for ghosting:
- NewSID: This is a program to handle the SID problem associated
with restoring a ghost image on a different computer.
Visit http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/NewSid.html
for
more information.
- DriveImage XML: This is a free program for ghosting a partition.
Visit http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm
for more information. Because the image of a partition is saved
as an XML file, I suspect the file gets large very quickly.
- Partition Saving: another hard disk cloning tool. Visit
http://www.partition-saving.com/
for more information.
This program does support image splitting so you can fit
the image of a partition onto multiple CD or DVD media.
- PartImage: this is a Linux-based program for cloning partitions.
This tools has many features, and it comes with a license that
allows its free use in commercial settings! Visit
http://www.partimage.org/
for more information. This tool also supports partition
splitting.
- SystemRescueCD: this is not a single program, but rather a
bootable CD for all kinds of disk related maintenance, including
ghosting and cloning. It is Linux and free software based, so
you can use this in a commerical setting. Visit
http://www.sysresccd.org/or more information.
- Ultimate Boot CD: this is similar to SystemRescueCD, but includes
even more tools that are not Linux-based. Visit
http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/
for more information.
Important Notice! Even if you can clone an installation of
Windows XP from one computer to other computers, it violates the
EULA (end user licence agreement) of Windows XP! All the methods
described in this section should be used only for backing up
your personal system in case there is a need to restore it. If you
don't want to be tangled in legal issues, be sure to read the EULA of
Windows XP before cloning a partition that contains an installation of
Windows XP. I will not be responsible for any results of wrongful use
of the tools mentioned in this section, or in this entire book!
A link to the EULA of Windows XP is here,
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/eula.mspx
Copyright © 2005-12-10 by Tak Auyeung
