Symantec Norton Ghost 15.0 User's Guide Instruction Manual Ngh

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Norton Ghost 15.0 User's
Guide
Norton Ghost 15.0 User's Guide
The software described in this book is furnished under a license agreement and may be used
only in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
Documentation version: 9.0
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Google and Google Desktop are trademarks of Google, Inc.
The product described in this document is distributed under licenses restricting its use,
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Symantec Corporation
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Technical Support
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and functionality. The Technical Support group also creates content for our online
Knowledge Base. The Technical Support group works collaboratively with the
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Symantec’s maintenance offerings include the following:
■A range of support options that give you the flexibility to select the right
amount of service for any size organization
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up-to-the-minute information
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www.symantec.com/techsupp/
Contacting Technical Support
Customers with a current maintenance agreement may access Technical Support
information at the following URL:
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Before contacting Technical Support, make sure you have satisfied the system
requirements that are listed in your product documentation. Also, you should be
at the computer on which the problem occurred, in case it is necessary to replicate
the problem.
When you contact Technical Support, please have the following information
available:
■Product release level
■Hardware information
■Available memory, disk space, and NIC information
■Operating system
■Version and patch level
■Network topology
■Router, gateway, and IP address information
■Problem description:
■Error messages and log files
■Troubleshooting that was performed before contacting Symantec
■Recent software configuration changes and network changes
Licensing and registration
If your Symantec product requires registration or a license key, access our technical
support Web page at the following URL:
www.symantec.com/techsupp/
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Customer service information is available at the following URL:
www.symantec.com/techsupp/
Customer Service is available to assist with the following types of issues:
■Questions regarding product licensing or serialization
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If you want to contact Symantec regarding an existing maintenance agreement,
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supportsolutions@symantec.comNorth America and Latin America
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To access more information about Enterprise services, please visit our Web site
at the following URL:
www.symantec.com
Select your country or language from the site index.
Technical Support ............................................................................................... 4
Chapter 1 Introducing Norton Ghost™............................................... 13
About Norton Ghost ..................................................................... 13
What is new in Norton Ghost ......................................................... 14
Hiding or showing the Advanced page .............................................. 15
Getting more information about Norton Ghost .................................. 16
Chapter 2 Installing Norton Ghost ...................................................... 17
Before you install ......................................................................... 17
System requirements .............................................................. 17
About supported file systems and removable media ..................... 19
About disabled features ........................................................... 20
When you delay licensing ....................................................... 20
Installing Norton Ghost ................................................................. 21
Completing the installation ...................................................... 23
Activating Norton Ghost later .................................................. 24
About setting up your first backup ............................................ 24
Updating Norton Ghost ................................................................ 25
About uninstalling Norton Ghost .................................................... 25
Chapter 3 Ensuring the recovery of your computer ........................ 27
About ensuring the recovery of your computer .................................. 27
Testing Symantec Recovery Disk .................................................... 28
If driver validation fails ................................................................. 28
Creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD .................................. 29
Chapter 4 Getting Started .................................................................... 33
About key product components ...................................................... 33
How you use Norton Ghost ............................................................. 34
Starting Norton Ghost .................................................................. 35
Configuring Norton Ghost default options ........................................ 36
Selecting a default backup destination ....................................... 38
Adjusting the effect of a backup on computer performance ............ 39
Contents
Adjusting default tray icon settings ........................................... 40
Managing file types ................................................................ 41
Using nicknames for external drives .......................................... 43
Configuring default FTP settings for use with Offsite Copy ............ 44
Logging Norton Ghost messages ............................................... 44
Enabling email notifications for product (event) messages ............. 46
Chapter 5 Best practices for backing up your data ......................... 49
About backing up your data ........................................................... 49
About choosing a backup type ........................................................ 50
Best practices for backing up .......................................................... 50
About backups ....................................................................... 51
Before you back up ................................................................. 51
During a back up .................................................................... 53
When a back up is finished ...................................................... 53
Additional tips about backups ........................................................ 54
After defining your backup job ....................................................... 55
Viewing the properties of a backup job ....................................... 55
About selecting a backup destination ............................................... 56
About backing up dual-boot computers ............................................ 58
Chapter 6 Backing up entire drives .................................................... 59
About defining a drive-based backup ............................................... 59
Defining a drive-based backup ........................................................ 60
Related Drives options ............................................................ 62
Recovery point type options ..................................................... 63
Backup destination options ...................................................... 64
Recovery point options ........................................................... 64
Advanced scheduling options ................................................... 66
About files that are excluded from drive-based backups ................ 67
About network credentials ....................................................... 68
About running command files during a backup ............................ 68
Advanced options for drive-based backups .................................. 70
Compression levels for drive-based backups ...................................... 74
Running a one-time backup from Norton Ghost ................................. 75
About running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery
Disk ..................................................................................... 76
Running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk ............ 77
About Offsite Copy ....................................................................... 81
How Offsite Copy works ................................................................ 81
About using external drives as your Offsite Copy
destination ..................................................................... 82
Contents8
About using a network server as your Offsite Copy
destination ..................................................................... 84
About using an FTP server as your Offsite Copy destination ........... 85
Chapter 7 Backing up files and folders .............................................. 87
Defining a file and folder backup ..................................................... 87
About folders that are excluded by default from file and folder
backups ................................................................................ 89
Chapter 8 Running and managing backup jobs ............................... 91
Running an existing backup job immediately ..................................... 91
Running a backup with options ....................................................... 92
Backup options ...................................................................... 93
Adjusting the speed of a backup ...................................................... 94
Stopping a task ........................................................................... 94
Verifying that a backup is successful ............................................... 95
Editing backup settings ................................................................. 95
Enabling event-triggered backups ................................................... 96
About Symantec ThreatCon ..................................................... 96
Editing a backup schedule .............................................................. 97
Turning off a backup job ................................................................ 97
Deleting backup jobs ..................................................................... 97
Adding users who can back up your computer ................................... 98
Chapter 9 Backing up remote computers from your
computer ....................................................................... 101
About backing up other computers from your computer .................... 101
Adding computers to the Computer List .......................................... 102
Deploying the Norton Ghost Agent ................................................ 103
Using the Norton Ghost Agent ..................................................... 105
About managing the Norton Ghost Agent through Windows
Services .............................................................................. 106
About best practices for using services .......................................... 107
Opening Windows Services .................................................... 108
Starting or stopping the Norton Ghost Agent service .................. 108
Setting up recovery actions when the Norton Ghost Agent does
not start ....................................................................... 109
Viewing Norton Ghost Agent dependencies .............................. 110
Controlling access to Norton Ghost ............................................... 111
Running Norton Ghost using different user rights ...................... 113
9Contents
Chapter 10 Monitoring the status of your backups ......................... 115
About monitoring backups ........................................................... 115
Rescanning a computer’s hard disk .......................................... 116
Monitoring backup protection from the Home page .......................... 116
Monitoring backup protection from the Status page .......................... 118
About SNMP traps ...................................................................... 122
About the Norton Ghost management information base .............. 122
Customizing the status reporting of a drive (or file and folder
backups) ............................................................................. 122
Viewing drive details ................................................................... 124
Improving the protection level of a drive ........................................ 124
About using event log information to troubleshoot problems .............. 127
Chapter 11 Exploring the contents of a recovery point .................. 129
About exploring recovery points ................................................... 129
Exploring a recovery point through Windows Explorer ...................... 130
Mounting a recovery point from Windows Explorer .................... 131
Opening and restoring files within a recovery point .......................... 131
About using a search engine ......................................................... 132
Dismounting a recovery point drive ............................................... 133
Viewing the drive properties of a recovery point .............................. 133
Chapter 12 Managing backup destinations ...................................... 135
About backup destinations ........................................................... 135
About how backup data works ....................................................... 135
About drive-based backups ..................................................... 136
About file and folder backups ................................................. 136
Managing recovery point storage .................................................. 137
Cleaning up old recovery points .............................................. 138
Deleting a recovery point set .................................................. 138
Deleting recovery points within a set ....................................... 139
Making copies of recovery points ............................................ 139
Running a one-time virtual conversion ........................................... 141
Defining a virtual conversion job ................................................... 147
Running an existing virtual conversion job immediately .............. 153
Viewing the properties of a virtual conversion job ...................... 153
Viewing the progress of a virtual conversion job ........................ 153
Editing a virtual conversion job ............................................... 153
Deleting a virtual conversion job ............................................. 154
About managing file and folder backup data .................................... 154
Viewing how much file and folder backup data is stored .............. 155
Contents10
Limiting the number of file versions to keep .............................. 155
Manually deleting files from your file and folder backup .............. 155
Finding versions of a file or folder ........................................... 156
Automating management of backup data ........................................ 156
Moving your backup destination ................................................... 157
Chapter 13 Recovering files, folders, or entire drives ..................... 159
About recovering lost data ........................................................... 159
Recovering files and folders by using file and folder backup data ......... 159
Recovering files and folders using a recovery point ........................... 161
About opening files and folders stored in a recovery point ........... 163
About finding the files or folders you want ................................ 163
Recovering a secondary drive ....................................................... 164
Recovery options .................................................................. 165
Restoring using LightsOut Restore ................................................ 166
Summary of the LightsOut Restore process ............................... 167
Starting the LightsOut Restore Wizard ..................................... 168
Chapter 14 Recovering a computer ..................................................... 173
About recovering a computer ........................................................ 173
Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk ...................... 174
Configuring a computer to boot from a CD ................................ 175
How to prepare to recover a computer ............................................ 176
Scanning for viruses ............................................................. 176
Checking a hard disk for errors ............................................... 178
Recovering a computer ................................................................ 178
Edit target drive and options .................................................. 181
Recovering a computer from a virtual disk file ................................. 183
Virtual disk recovery options .................................................. 185
Recovering files and folders using Symantec Recovery Disk ............... 187
Exploring files and folders on your computer using Symantec
Recovery Disk ................................................................ 188
About using the networking tools in Symantec Recovery Disk ............ 188
Starting networking services .................................................. 189
Using the pcAnywhere thin host for a remote recovery ............... 189
Mapping a network drive from within Symantec Recovery
Disk ............................................................................. 191
Configuring network connection settings .................................. 192
About viewing properties of recovery points and drives ..................... 193
Viewing the properties of a recovery point ................................ 193
Viewing the properties of a drive within a recovery point ............. 194
About the Support Utilities .......................................................... 195
11Contents
Chapter 15 Copying a drive .................................................................. 197
About copying a drive .................................................................. 197
Preparing to copy drives .............................................................. 197
Copying one hard drive to another hard drive .................................. 198
About drive-to-drive copying options ....................................... 199
Appendix A Using a search engine to search recovery
points ............................................................................. 201
About using a search engine to search recovery points ...................... 201
Enabling search engine support .................................................... 201
Recovering files using Google Desktop's Search Desktop feature ......... 203
About finding a file using Google Desktop ................................. 203
Appendix B About backing up Microsoft virtual
environments ............................................................... 205
About backing up Microsoft virtual hard disks ................................. 205
About backing up and restoring Microsoft Hyper-V virtual
machines ............................................................................ 206
Index ................................................................................................................... 207
Contents12
Introducing Norton Ghost™
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About Norton Ghost
■What is new in Norton Ghost
■Hiding or showing the Advanced page
■Getting more information about Norton Ghost
About Norton Ghost
Norton Ghost provides advanced backup and recovery for your computer. Protect
any kind of data you keep on your computer by making a backup of your computer's
entire hard disk. Or, limit your backup to include only those files and folders that
mean the most to you.
You can schedule backups to capture your changes automatically as you work
from day to day. Or start a backup manually at any time. You can also easily
configure Norton Ghost to run a backup in response to specific events. For example,
a backup can run when a particular application is started. Or, a backup can run
when a specified amount of new data is added to the drive.
When you experience a problem with your computer, you can restore a file, folder,
or an entire drive. This recovery process returns your computer to a previous,
functional state with the operating system, applications, and data files intact. Or,
if you accidentally delete a personal file, get it back with a few steps.
Using easy-to-follow wizards, you can set up fast and reliable backup jobs and
have them run while you continue to work. Or, schedule your backups to run after
hours when your computer is idle.
When disaster strikes, Norton Ghost helps you recover your computer from the
effects of many common problems, including
1
Chapter
■Virus attacks: Damage might be done before a virus is quarantined.
■Faulty software installations: Some software can negatively affect your
computer's performance, and slow it down to the point that programs or
documents require too much time to open. But when installed, removing a
program might not recover unintentional damage by the installation.
■Hard drive failure: Data can become corrupted on your system drive (typically
C), making it impossible to start your operating system
■Files accidentally deleted or overwritten: Accidental deletion of files is common,
but often costly.
■Corrupted files: Individual files and folders can become corrupted by viruses,
or when a program used to modify them encounters an error.
What is new in Norton Ghost
Norton Ghost includes many enhancements and new features. Refer to the
following table for information about the latest features and enhancements:
Note: Not all listed features are available in all versions of this product.
Table 1-1 What is new Norton Ghost
DescriptionFeature
Norton Ghost now includes support for the
following virtual platforms:
■VMware ESX 3.5i and 4.0i
■VMware ESX 3.5 and 4.0
Improved support for virtual formats
Norton Ghost now includes support for the
following platforms:
■Windows 7
■Windows Vista with SP2 (includes Home
Basic, Home Premium, Business-Retail,
and Ultimate)
Improved platform support
Introducing Norton Ghost™
What is new in Norton Ghost
14
Table 1-1 What is new Norton Ghost (continued)
DescriptionFeature
You can now create independent recovery
points using the new Back Up My Computer
feature in Symantec Recovery Disk.
Sometimes known as a cold backup or offline
backup, you can create recovery points of a
partition without the need to install Norton
Ghost or its Agent.
See “About running a one-time backup from
Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 76.
Create recovery points from within
Symantec Recovery Disk
You can now create schedules to convert
recovery points to VMware Virtual Disk and
Microsoft Virtual Disks, or directly to a
VMware ESX 3.5 server.
See “Defining a virtual conversion job”
on page 147.
Convert recovery points to virtual disks
using a schedule
You can now convert recovery points to
Hyper-V format and also import recovery
points to a Hyper-V server.
Support for Microsoft Hyper-V
Back up your computer directly to Blu-ray,
DVD, or CD. Or, you can copy recovery points
to Blu-ray, DVD, or CD.
Support for Blu-ray disc media
If you choose to delay installation of the
product license, all features still remain
enabled during the 60-day trial period. The
60-day trial period begins when you do a
particular task.
See “When you delay licensing ”on page 20.
Fully enabled 60-day trial
Hiding or showing the Advanced page
The Advanced page offers experienced Norton Ghost users a single view of the
most common product features. If you have a good understanding of Norton Ghost,
you might prefer to perform most tasks from the Advanced view.
15Introducing Norton Ghost™
Hiding or showing the Advanced page
Note: When you refer to the documentation while using the Advanced page, the
first one or two steps do not apply. The first one or two steps merely indicate
where to access each feature from the other pages of the product interface. From
that point on, follow the remaining steps of each procedure.
The Advanced page can be hidden from view if you do not plan to use it.
To hide or show the Advanced page
1Start Norton Ghost.
2On the View menu, click Show Advanced Page to hide or show the Advanced
page.
Getting more information about Norton Ghost
To learn more about Norton Ghost, visit the Help and Support page. Depending
on which version and language of the product you have installed, the Help and
Support page includes one-click access to more information. The page also includes
access to the product help system, the product User's Guide. It also includes access
to the Symantec Knowledge Base where you can find troubleshooting information.
To access Help and Support
1Start Norton Ghost.
2On the Home page, click Help > Help and Support.
Introducing Norton Ghost™
Getting more information about Norton Ghost
16
Installing Norton Ghost
This chapter includes the following topics:
■Before you install
■Installing Norton Ghost
■Updating Norton Ghost
■About uninstalling Norton Ghost
Before you install
Installation procedures might vary, depending on your work environment and
which installation options you choose. This chapter focuses on installing the full
version of Norton Ghost from the installation CD.
Before you install Norton Ghost, ensure that your computer meets the system
requirements. Review the Readme file on the installation CD for any known issues.
System requirements
The following table lists the system requirements for Norton Ghost to function
properly.
2
Chapter
Table 2-1 Minimum system requirements
Minimum requirementsComponent
The following Windows 32- or 64-bit operating systems are
supported:
■Windows 7
■Windows Vista Ultimate
■Windows Vista Business
■Windows XP Professional/Home (SP2 or later)
■Windows XP Media Center (SP2 or later)
Operating system
The following are the memory requirements for each
component of Norton Ghost:
■Norton Ghost Agent: 512 MB
■Norton Ghost user interface and Recovery Point Browser:
512 MB
■Symantec Recovery Disk: 1 GB (dedicated)
■LightsOut Restore: 1 GB
RAM
The following are hard disk space requirements for Norton
Ghost and other areas:
■When you install the entire product: Up to 430 MB is
required for a full install, depending on the language of
the product you select.
■Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0: 280 MB of hard disk
space is required for 32-bit computers, and 610 MB is
required for 64-bit computers.
■Recovery points: Sufficient hard disk space on a local
hard disk or network server for storing recovery points.
The size of recovery points depends on the amount of
data you have backed up and the type of recovery point
that is stored.
See “Best practices for backing up”on page 50.
■LightsOut Restore: 2 GB
Available hard disk space
Installing Norton Ghost
Before you install
18
Table 2-1 Minimum system requirements (continued)
Minimum requirementsComponent
The drive can be any speed, but it must be capable of being
used as the startup drive from the BIOS.
Norton Ghost uses Gear Software technology. To verify that
your CD writer or DVD writer is compatible, visit the Gear
Software Web site.
http://www.gearsoftware.com/support/recorders/index.cfm
You can look up information about your writer if you know
the name of the manufacturer and model number of your
writer.
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
The Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or later is required to
run Norton Ghost.
If .NET Framework is not already installed, you are
prompted to install it after Norton Ghost is installed and
your computer is restarted.
Software
The following virtual platforms are supported:
■VMware Workstation 4, 5, and 6
■VMware ESX 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0
■VMware ESXi 3.5 and 4.0
■VMware Server 1
■VMware GSX Server 3.x (replaced by VMware Server)
■Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 and later
■Microsoft Hyper-V 1.0 and 2.0
Virtual platforms (for
converted recovery points)
About supported file systems and removable media
Norton Ghost supports the following file systems and removable media:
19Installing Norton Ghost
Before you install
Norton Ghost supports the following file systems:
■FAT16, FAT16X
■FAT32, FAT32X
■NTFS
■GUID Partition Table (GPT)
■Dynamic disks
■Linux Ext2, Linux Ext3
■Linux swap partitions
Note: You must decrypt encrypted NTFS drives before you
attempt to restore them. You cannot view the files that are
in a recovery point for an encrypted NTFS drive.
Supported file systems
You can save recovery points locally (that is, on the same
computer where Norton Ghost is installed). Or, you can save
recovery points to most Blu-ray, DVD-R(W), DVD+RW, CD-R,
and CD-RW recorders. You can find an updated list of
supported drives on the Gear Software Web site.
http://www.gearsoftware.com
Norton Ghost also lets you save recovery points to most
USB devices, 1394 FireWire devices, REV, Jaz, Zip drives,
and magneto-optical devices.
Removable media
About disabled features
Norton Ghost is packaged to meet various markets. Some features might not be
available, depending on the product you have purchased. However, all features
are documented. You should be aware of which features are included with the
version of the product you have purchased. If a feature is not accessible in the
product user interface, it is likely not included with your version of the product.
Refer to the Symantec Web site for information about the features that are included
with your version of Norton Ghost.
When you delay licensing
If you choose to delay installation of the license key, all features in Norton Ghost
remain enabled during the 60-day grace period.
Symantec Recovery Disk, a component of Norton Ghost, is available with no trial
period or evaluation. However, you need a valid license key to use the following
features in Symantec Recovery Disk:
■Back Up My Computer wizard
Installing Norton Ghost
Before you install
20
See “About running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk”
on page 76.
The 60-day grace period of Norton Ghost begins when you do any one of the
following in the software:
■Define a drive-based or file and folder backup
■Recover a computer
■Copy a drive
■Consolidate incremental recovery points
■Run a drive-based or file and folder backup
■Define a scheduled convert to virtual disk job
■Run a scheduled convert to virtual disk job
■Define a one time convert to virtual disk job
If you use an Evaluation copy of the product, it also expires after 60 days. However,
all features are enabled until the end of the evaluation period, at which time you
must purchase the product or uninstall it. You can purchase a license at any time
(even after the evaluation period expires) without reinstalling the software.
Note: If this product came pre-installed from a computer manufacturer, your trial
period could be as long as 90 days. The product licensing or activation page during
install indicates the duration of your trial period.
See “Activating Norton Ghost later”on page 24.
Installing Norton Ghost
Before you begin, you should review the requirements and scenarios for installing
Norton Ghost.
See “System requirements”on page 17.
Note: During the installation process, you might be required to restart the
computer. You should ensure proper functionality after the computer restarts.
You can do this by logging on again using the same user credentials that you used
to log on when you installed Norton Ghost.
21Installing Norton Ghost
Installing Norton Ghost
Warning: The Symantec Recovery Disk CD provides the tools that you need to
recover your computer. How you received Symantec Recovery Disk depends on
the version of the product that you purchased. For example, Symantec Recovery
Disk is included with your product either on a separate CD, or on your product
CD. Be sure you store the CD in a safe place.
To install Norton Ghost
1Log on to your computer using either the Administrator account or an account
that has administrator privileges.
2Insert the Norton Ghost product CD into the media drive of the computer.
The installation program should start automatically.
3If the installation program does not run, type the following command at a
command prompt:.
<drive>:\autorun.exe
where <drive> is the drive letter of your media drive.
4In the CD browser panel, click Install Norton Ghost.
5In the License Agreement panel, read the license agreement, and then click
I accept the terms in the license agreement.
6Do one of the following:
■In the LicenseAgreement panel, click InstallNow to begin the installation.
■In the License Agreement panel, click Custom Install, select or deselect
the options you want installed, and then click Install Now.
Installation options include:
The primary service that is required to back up or
recover your computer.
Backup and Recovery Service
Enables you to browse, mount, copy, verify, and
restore files and folders using recovery points.
Recovery Point Browser
Installs the product user interface that is required
for interacting with the Norton Ghost Service.
Agent Deployment–Allows the computer on which
you have installed Norton Ghost to deploy the
Norton Ghost Agent to other computers for remote
recovery management.
User Interface
Installing Norton Ghost
Installing Norton Ghost
22
Required for backing up directly to CD/DVD, and
for creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
A CD/DVD burner is required to use this feature.
CD/DVD Support
Keeps your Symantec software up-to-date with the
latest product updates.
LiveUpdate
7Click Finish to complete the installation.
8Remove the product CD from the media drive, and then click Yes to exit the
installation wizard and restart the computer.
If you click No, you cannot run Norton Ghost until after you restart your
computer.
Completing the installation
After you install the product, you are prompted to license or activate your product.
You can then run LiveUpdate to check for product updates, and then configure
your first backup.
Note: If this product came pre-installed from a computer manufacturer, your trial
period could be as long as 90 days. Refer to the Activate later label.
To complete the installation
1In the Welcome panel, click Next.
If your computer manufacturer installed the product, the Welcome page
might appear the first time that you run Norton Ghost.
2Do one of the following:
■Click I've already purchased the product and have a license key.
Note: You can find the license key on the back of your product CD jacket.
Do not lose the license key. You must use it when you install Norton Ghost.
■Click Activate later to delay the activation of your license. After the trial
period ends, the product will no longer work.
See “When you delay licensing ”on page 20.
■If Norton Ghost is a trial version and you want to purchase a license key,
click Symantec Global Store.
3Click Next.
23Installing Norton Ghost
Installing Norton Ghost
4Do any of the following:
■Click Run LiveUpdate to check for any product updates since the product
shipped.
■Click Launch Easy Setup to open the Easy Setup window when you
complete the install process. (This option is not available in the Desktop
version of Norton Ghost.)
■Click EnableGoogleDesktop File and Folder Recovery if you want Google
Desktop to search your recovery points for the files and folders that you
want to recover.
If you select this option, Norton Ghost automatically catalogs each file as
it creates a recovery point. Google Desktop can then use this catalog to
search for files by name. It does not index the contents of the files.
Note: This option is available only if Google Desktop is already installed
on your computer. If you plan to install Google Desktop, you can enable
search engine support later.
5Click Finish.
Activating Norton Ghost later
If you do not activate Norton Ghost before the trial period ends, the software stops
working. However, you can activate the product at any time after the trial period
expires.
To activate Norton Ghost later
1On the Help menu, click Enter License Key.
2Follow the on-screen prompts.
About setting up your first backup
Unless you deselected the Run Easy Setup check box during the setup wizard,
the Easy Setup window appears. If you do not run Easy Setup during the setup
wizard, it appears the first time you open the Run or Manage Backups window.
When the Easy Setup window is displayed, you can accept the default drive and
file and folder backup settings. Or, you can click any of the settings to edit them.
If you want the new backup to run immediately, be sure to select Run backup
now, and then click OK.
Installing Norton Ghost
Installing Norton Ghost
24
Updating Norton Ghost
You can receive software updates for your version of the product over an Internet
connection. LiveUpdate connects to the Symantec LiveUpdate server and
automatically downloads and installs updates for each Symantec product that
you own.
You run LiveUpdate as soon as you install the product. You should continue to
run LiveUpdate periodically to obtain program updates.
To update Norton Ghost
1On the Help menu, click LiveUpdate.
2In the LiveUpdate window, click Start to select the updates.
Follow the on-screen instructions.
3When the installation is complete, click Close.
Some program updates might require that you restart your computer before
the changes take effect.
About uninstalling Norton Ghost
When you upgrade Norton Ghost from a previous version of the product, the
install program automatically uninstalls the previous versions. If needed, you can
manually uninstall the product.
Follow your operating system's instructions on how to uninstall software.
25Installing Norton Ghost
Updating Norton Ghost
Installing Norton Ghost
About uninstalling Norton Ghost
26
Ensuring the recovery of
your computer
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About ensuring the recovery of your computer
■Testing Symantec Recovery Disk
■If driver validation fails
■Creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD
About ensuring the recovery of your computer
If Windows fails to start or it does not run normally, you can recover your computer
by using the Symantec Recovery Disk CD. The drivers that are included on the
recovery disk must match the drivers that are required to run your computer's
network cards and hard disks.
To help ensure that you have the drivers that you need to recover your computer,
you can use the Run Driver Validation tool available on the Symantec Recovery
Disk. The driver validation tool compares hardware drivers on the Symantec
Recovery Disk CD with the drivers that are required to run your computer's
network cards and hard disks.
You should run the driver validation test any time you make changes to the
network interface cards or storage controllers on a computer.
See “If driver validation fails”on page 28.
Note: The driver validation tool or Symantec Recovery Disk does not support
wireless network adapter drivers.
3
Chapter
Testing Symantec Recovery Disk
You should test the Symantec Recovery Disk CD to ensure that the recovery
environment runs properly on your computer.
Note: Depending on which version of the product you have purchased, Symantec
Recovery Disk is either included on your product CD, or as a separate CD. You
should place the CD containing Symantec Recovery Disk in a safe place.
Testing the Symantec Recovery Disk CD lets you identify and solve the following
types of problems:
■You cannot start Symantec Recovery Disk.
See “To configure a computer to boot from a CD”on page 175.
■You do not have the necessary storage drivers to access recovery points on
the computer.
■You need information about your system to help you run Symantec Recovery
Disk.
See “If driver validation fails”on page 28.
To test Symantec Recovery Disk
1Run the driver validation tool to test whether Symantec Recovery Disk works
with the network cards and storage devices on the computer.
2Start your computer using the Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
See “Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 174.
3When you have started Symantec Recovery Disk, do one of the following:
■If you want to store recovery points on a network, run a mock restore of
a recovery point that is stored on a network to test the network connection.
■If you want to store recovery points on a computer, run a mock restore of
a recovery point that is stored locally to test the local hard drive
connection.
If driver validation fails
The driver validation test verifies whether the drivers for all storage devices and
network cards in use by the computer are available in Symantec Recovery Disk.
If the drivers are available on the recovery disk, you receive a validation message.
If any drivers are not included on the recovery disk, the Driver Validation Results
dialog box appears.
Ensuring the recovery of your computer
Testing Symantec Recovery Disk
28
Without access to the correct drivers, a device cannot be used while you run
Symantec Recovery Disk. Therefore, if the recovery points that are required for
recovering your computer are stored on a network or a local hard drive, you might
not have access to them.
You can find the drivers and copy them to a CD or a floppy disk, or you can create
a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
See “Creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD”on page 29.
Creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD
Even if driver validation succeeds and your Symantec Recovery Disk CD appears
to work, you should create a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD. A custom CD
contains your computer's current network and storage device drivers. It helps to
ensure that in an emergency you can get to the recovery points that are required
to restore your computer.
Note: You must have a writeable Blu-ray/DVD/CD-RW drive to create a custom
Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
To create a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD
1Attach and turn on all storage devices and network devices that you want to
make available.
2Start Norton Ghost.
3Insert the Symantec Recovery Disk CD into your media drive.
If necessary, specify the path or browse to the media drive in which you placed
the Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
4Click Tasks > Create Custom Recovery Disk CD.
5Click Next.
29Ensuring the recovery of your computer
Creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD
6Specify the following:
Type the name that you want to use for
the Symantec Recovery Disk label.
Disk label
If you want to save your customized
Symantec Recovery Disk to media, select
this option and then in the list box, select
the media burning device that you want
to use.
Burn Symantec Recovery Disk to CD/DVD
If you want to save your customized
Symantec Recovery Disk as an .iso file,
select this option, and then specify the
path to where you want to save the
resulting file.
Save a copy of the custom Symantec
Recovery Disk (CD/DVD image file)
7Click Next.
8Review the list of storage and network drivers to be included, and add
additional drivers or remove the drivers you do not need.
9On the Startup Options pane, select the default keyboard layout, display
language, and time zone from the respective lists.
10 Click Next.
11 On the Options pane, do the following:
Select this option if you want networking
to start automatically when you recover
the computer through LightsOut Restore.
Automatically start network services
Click this option to connect to a network
without the need for additional network
configuration. You can click this option if
you know there is a DHCP server available
on the network at the time you restore.
Dynamic IP
Click this option to connect to a network
with a particular network adapter and
specific address settings. You should click
this option if you know there is no DHCP
server (or the DHCP server is unavailable)
when you recover.
Static IP
Ensuring the recovery of your computer
Creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD
30
Select this option if you want the
Symantec pcAnywhere thin host to start
automatically when you start Symantec
Recovery Disk.
Click Configure to specify pcAnywhere
log on credentials and the following
optional parameters:
■Host name
In the Host name box, type the name
that you want to use for the host.
You can leave this box blank to
configure the host name to be the same
as the computer name.
■Encryption level
To encrypt the data stream between
the host and remote computer, in the
Encryption level list, select one of the
following:
■None
No encryption of the data stream
occurs between the host and
remote computer.
■pcAnywhere
Scrambles data using a
mathematical algorithm so that a
third party cannot easily interpret
it.
This option is available on any
operating system that pcAnywhere
supports.
■Symmetric
Encodes and decodes data using a
cryptographic key.
This option is available on any
Windows operating system that
supports the Microsoft CryptoAPI.
Automatically start Symantec
pcAnywhere
12 Click Next.
31Ensuring the recovery of your computer
Creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD
13 On the License Setup pane, specify how you want to enable licensed features
in the customized Symantec Recovery Disk (such as the cold imaging feature
called Back Up My Computer).
14 Click Finish.
Warning: Be certain to test your new, custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD. It
ensures that you can use the CD to start your computer and that you can
access the drive that contains your recovery points.
See “Testing Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 28.
Ensuring the recovery of your computer
Creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD
32
Getting Started
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About key product components
■How you use Norton Ghost
■Starting Norton Ghost
■Configuring Norton Ghost default options
About key product components
Norton Ghost includes two key components: the program itself, and the Symantec
Recovery Disk CD.
Table 4-1 Key product components
DescriptionKey Component
The Norton Ghost program lets you define, schedule, and run backups of
your computer. When you run a backup, recovery points of your computer
are created, which you can then use to recover your entire computer, or
individual drives, files, and folders. You can also manage recovery point
storage (backup destination), and monitor the backup status of your
computer to make sure your valuable data is backed up on a regular basis.
Norton Ghost program (user interface)
4
Chapter
Table 4-1 Key product components (continued)
DescriptionKey Component
The Symantec Recovery Disk CD is used to start your computer in the
recovery environment. If your computer's operating system fails, use
Symantec Recovery Disk to recover your system drive (the drive where your
operating system is installed).
Note: Depending on which version of the product you have purchased,
Symantec Recovery Disk is either included on your product CD, or as a
separate CD. You should place the CD that contains Symantec Recovery
Disk in a safe place.
See “About recovering a computer”on page 173.
Symantec Recovery Disk CD
How you use Norton Ghost
While Norton Ghost does the work of backing up your files, folders, or entire
drives, you need to tell Norton Ghost what to backup, when to back it up, and
where to put the backed up data.
Using Norton Ghost includes the following key tasks:
■Defining a backup
■Running a backup
■Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Refer to the following figure to understand the relationship of these tasks.
Getting Started
How you use Norton Ghost
34
Figure 4-1 Using Norton Ghost
Starting Norton Ghost
Norton Ghost is installed in the Windows Program Files folder by default. During
installation, a program icon is installed in the Windows system tray from which
you can open Norton Ghost. You can also open Norton Ghost from the Windows
Start menu.
To start Norton Ghost
◆Depending on the Windows version you are running, use one of the following
methods:
35Getting Started
Starting Norton Ghost
■On the classic Windows taskbar, click Start > Programs > Norton Ghost
> Norton Ghost 15.0.
■On the Windows taskbar, click Start > All Programs > Norton Ghost >
Norton Ghost 15.0.
■In the Windows system tray, double-click the SymantecNorton Ghost
15.0 tray icon.
■In the Windows system tray, right-click the Norton Ghost tray icon, and
then click Open Symantec Norton Ghost 15.0.
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
The Options dialog box includes several views that let you configure the following
default settings:
DescriptionOptions
Specify a default location where a backup will create and store
recovery points and file and folder backup data. If the location
you choose is on a network, you can enter your user
authentication information.
See “Selecting a default backup destination”on page 38.
General
Lets you specify a default speed for backup or recovery
processes. When you move the slider closer to Fast, it increases
the speed at which the program backs up or recovers your
computer. If you choose a slower speed it could improve the
performance of your computer, especially if you work on your
computer during a backup or recovery.
Note: During a backup or recovery, you have the option to
override this default setting to fit your needs at the time.
You can also configure network throttling to limit the effects
of backups on network performance.
See “Adjusting the effect of a backup on computer
performance”on page 39.
See “Enabling network throttling”on page 39.
Performance
You can turn on or off the system tray icon. You can also
specify whether to show only error messages when they occur,
or to show both error messages and other information, such
as the completion of a backup.
See “Adjusting default tray icon settings”on page 40.
Tray Icon
Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
36
DescriptionOptions
Lets you manage file types and file type categories, which are
used as a method for selecting the types of files you want
included in a file and folder backup.
See “Managing file types”on page 41.
File Types
If Google Desktop is installed on your computer when you
install Norton Ghost, you have the option of enabling Google
Desktop file and folder recovery. When you enable this feature,
you can search for files (by file name) inside a recovery point
that was created with search engine support enabled.
If Google Desktop is not installed on your computer when you
install Norton Ghost, you have the option of clicking a link to
the Web site where you can download and install Google
Desktop for free.
See “About using a search engine to search recovery points”
on page 201.
Google Desktop
Delete or rename the unique names you have given to external
drives used as backup and Offsite Copy destinations.
See “Using nicknames for external drives”on page 43.
External Drives
Specify default FTP settings to be used with Offsite Copy.
See “Configuring default FTP settings for use with Offsite
Copy”on page 44.
Configure FTP
Lets you specify the types of product messages to log (errors,
warnings, and information), where to store the log file, and
set a maximum file size for the log file.
See “Logging Norton Ghost messages”on page 44.
Log File
Lets you specify the types of product messages to log (errors,
warnings, and information) in the Windows event log.
See “Logging Norton Ghost messages”on page 44.
Event Log
If you want a history of actions taken by Norton Ghost, or of
error messages and warnings, you can choose to save them
in a log file on your computer, or to have them emailed to an
address you specify.
See “Enabling email notifications for product (event)
messages”on page 46.
SMTP E-mail
37Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
DescriptionOptions
If you have a Network Management System (NMS) application,
you can enable SNMP Traps support to send notifications to
you NMS application.
See “About SNMP traps”on page 122.
SNMP Trap
To configure Norton Ghost default options
1Start Norton Ghost.
2Click Tasks > Options.
3Select an option you want to edit, make any necessary changes, and then click
OK.
Selecting a default backup destination
You can specify the default destination for storing recovery points and file and
folder backup data created when you run a backup. This default location is used
if you do not specify a different location when you define a new backup.
To select a default backup destination
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Click General.
3Select Prepend computer name to backup data file names.
This is especially useful if you back up more than one computer to the same
drive. For example, you might back up a laptop and a desktop computer to
the same USB or network drive. By prepending the computer name to each
backup data file name, you can more easily identify which backup data files
belong to which computer.
4Select Save backup files to a unique subfolder if you want Norton Ghost to
create a new subfolder that will serve as your backup destination.
Note: The new subfolder is given the same name as your computer. For
example, if your computer name is "MyLaptop", the new subfolder would be
named \MyLaptop.
Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
38
5Enter a path to a folder where you want to store recovery points and file and
folder backup data, or click Browse to look for a location.
You cannot use an encrypted folder as your backup destination. If you want
to encrypt your backup data to prevent another user from accessing it, refer
to the Advanced options when you define or edit a backup.
6If you entered the path to a location on a network, enter the user name and
password required to authenticate to the network.
7Click OK.
Adjusting the effect of a backup on computer performance
If you are working on your computer when a backup is running—especially one
that is creating an independent recovery point—your computer might slow down.
This is because Norton Ghost is using your computer's hard disk and memory
resources to perform the backup.
However, you can actually change the speed of the backup as a way of minimizing
the impact of Norton Ghost on your computer while you work.
To adjust the effect of a backup on computer performance
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Click Performance.
3If you want to improve your computer's speed performance, move the slider
bar closer to Slow.
4If you want the backup to complete more quickly, move the slider bar closer
to Fast.
5Click OK.
Note: During a backup or recovery, you'll have the option of overriding this default
setting to fit your needs at that moment.
See “Adjusting the speed of a backup”on page 94.
Enabling network throttling
Similar to computer performance adjustments, you can also limit the impact of
a backup on network performance.
Network performance is affected by many variables. Consider the following issues
before you use this feature:
39Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
■Network cards: Is your network wired or wireless? What are the speeds of your
network cards?
■Network backbone: What is the size of your network pipeline? Does it support
10 MB transfer rates, or 1 GB transfer rates?
■Network server: How robust is your server hardware? How fast is its processor?
How much RAM does it have? Is it fast or slow?
■Backing up: How many computers are scheduled to back up at the same time?
■Network traffic: Are backups scheduled to run when network traffic is heavy
or light?
Consider using this feature only when you know what your network can handle.
If you schedule your backups at staggered intervals and when network traffic is
low, you may not need to use this feature. Avoid backing up multiple computers
at the same time and to the same network destination.
Gather the required information about your network's performance and then
schedule backups accordingly. Then, if necessary, enable this feature and set the
Maximum network throughput to a setting that matches the circumstances.
To enable network throttling
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Click Performance.
3Select Enable network throttling.
4In the Maximum network throttling field, enter the maximum amount (in
KB) of network throughput that Norton Ghost can send per second.
5Click OK.
Adjusting default tray icon settings
You can turn the system tray icon on or off and specify whether to show only
error messages when they occur, or to show both error messages and other
information, such as the completion of a backup.
Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
40
To adjust default tray icon settings
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Click Tray Icon and select one of the following:
Displays the Norton Ghost icon in the system
tray.
You must select this option to enable or
disable any of the remaining options.
Show system tray icon
Notifies you when a backup was scheduled
but did not run.
This can happen when your computer was
turned off at the time a backup was
scheduled to run.
Show missed backups
Offers helpful prompts in the form of
questions that can help you keep your data
backed up.
Show system tray questions
Displays messages about the status of
backup operations, such as notifying that a
backup has started, or that your backup
destination is getting full.
Show status messages
Displays error messages when errors occur
so that you can resolve any issues that might
hinder data protection.
Show error messages
3Click OK.
Managing file types
When you define a file and folder backup, file types are a quick way to include
files you use the most. For example, if you keep music files on your computer, you
can configure a file and folder backup to include all music files (for example, .mp3,
.wav).
The most common file types and extensions are already defined for you. But you
can define additional file type categories as needed, and then edit them at any
time. For example, if you install a new program that requires the use of two new
file extensions (.pft and .ptp, for example), you can define a new file type and
define the two file extensions for that category. Then when you define a file and
folder backup, you can select the new category. When the backup is run, all files
ending with .pft and .ptp are backed up.
41Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
To create a new file type and extensions
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Click File Types.
3At the bottom of the File types list, click the Add a file type (+) button to add
a file type category.
4Type a descriptive name of the new file type category, and then press Enter.
5At the bottom of the Extensions for list, click the Add an extension (+) button,
and then type an asterisk (*) and a period, followed by the extension of the
file type you want to define, and then press Enter.
6Click OK.
To edit a file type and extensions
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Click File Types.
3Select a file type from the File types list, and then do one of the following:
■Click the Rename a file type button (at the right of the -button) to edit
the name of the selected file type.
■Select an extension in the Extensions for column and click the Rename
an extension button (at the right of the -button) to edit the name of the
extension.
■Click either the Restore default file types list or the Restore default
extension list button to restore all default file types or extensions.
Caution: Any file types and extensions you have set up are removed. You
must add them again manually.
4Click OK.
To delete a file type (and all of its extensions)
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Select a file type in the File types column.
You cannot delete a default file type. You can delete all but one extension of
a default file type, and you can add additional extensions to a default file type.
3Click the Remove a file type (-) button , and then click OK.
Use this same procedure to remove file extensions from the Extensions for
list.
Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
42
Using nicknames for external drives
When you choose an external drive for use with Norton Ghost as either a backup
destination or an Offsite Copy destination, it can become confusing if you are
using more than one drive, especially when the assigned drive letter changes each
time you plug in the drive.
To help you manage these destinations, Norton Ghost lets you assign a nickname
to each external drive. Doing so does not change the drive label, but is for use only
when you are accessing those drives from within Norton Ghost.
For example, you might be swapping out two different external drives used as
Offsite Copy destinations during any given week. Depending on the drive labels
assigned to each drive and whether or not the drive letter previously assigned
has changed, it could become confusing as to which drive you are using at any
given time.
However, by associating unique nicknames to each drive, then as you use the drive
with Norton Ghost, the nicknames you assigned appear in various locations in
Norton Ghost.
Note: It is also a good idea to place physical labels on each external drive to help
you manage the task of swapping the drives.
For example, if you assigned the nickname, "Cathy Read" to one drive, and "Thomas
Read" to a second drive, their nicknames appear in Norton Ghost whenever the
drives are plugged in to your computer.
See “About Offsite Copy”on page 81.
To make it even easier, the Options dialog box lets you see all of your drive
nicknames in one view. From this view, you can remove or edit existing names.
To remove or edit external drive nicknames
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Under Destinations, click External Drives.
3Select an external drive from the list and then do one of the following:
■Click Remove to delete the nickname associated with the external drive.
■Click Rename to edit the nickname.
43Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
Configuring default FTP settings for use with Offsite Copy
File Transfer Protocol, or FTP, is the simplest and most secure way to copy files
over the Internet. Norton Ghost serves as an FTP client to copy your recovery
points to a remote FTP server as a secondary backup of your critical data.
The Options dialog box lets you configure basic FTP settings to help ensure that
your recovery points are copied to your FTP server.
To configure default FTP settings for use with Offsite Copy
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Under Destinations, click Configure FTP.
3Refer to the following table when making changes:
Passive (sometimes written "PASV") mode helps avoid conflicts
with security systems. This mode is necessary for some firewalls
and routers because when using passive mode, the FTP client
opens the connection to an IP Address and port that the FTP
server supplies.
Connection mode:
Passive
(Recommended)
Use active mode when connections or transfer attempts fail in
passive mode, or when you receive data socket errors. When
an FTP client connects using active mode, the server opens a
connection to an IP Address and port that the FTP client
supplies.
Connection mode:
Active
Specify the number of times Norton Ghost tries to connect to
an FTP server before giving up. Norton Ghost can attempt a
maximum of 100 times.
Limit connection
attempts to
Specify the number of seconds Norton Ghost tries to connect
to an FTP server before giving up. You can specify up to 600
seconds (10 minutes).
Stop trying to
connect after
Specify the port of the FTP server that is listening for a
connection.
You should consult the FTP server administrator to be sure that
the port you specify is configured to receive incoming data.
Default port
Logging Norton Ghost messages
You can specify which product messages (errors, warnings, and information) are
logged as they occur, and where the log file is stored. Product messages can provide
useful information about the status of backups or related events. They can also
provide helpful information when you need to troubleshoot.
Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
44
Two logging methods are available: Norton Ghost logging, and the Windows
application log.
From the Options page, you can configure both methods.
To log Norton Ghost messages
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Under Notifications, click Log File.
3Click the Select the priority and type of messages list and select the priority
level at which a message should be logged.
Send all messages, regardless of priority
levels.
All messages
Send only medium and high priority
messages.
Medium and high priority messages
Send only high priority messages.High priority messages only
Do not send any messages, regardless of
priority levels.
No messages
4Select one or more of the following options:
■Errors
■Warnings
■Information
5In the Log file location field, enter a path to where the log file should be
created and stored.
If you don't know the path, click Browse and select a location.
6In the Maximum file size field, specify a maximum size (in kilobytes) that the
log file is allowed to grow.
The file is kept within the limit you set by replacing the oldest logged items
in the file with new items as they occur.
7Click OK.
To configure which product events are written to a Windows event log
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Under Notifications, click Event Log.
45Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
3Click the Select the priority and type of messages list and select the priority
level at which a message should be logged.
Send all messages, regardless of priority
levels.
All messages
Send only medium and high priority
messages.
Medium and high priority messages
Send only high priority messages.High priority messages only
Do not send any messages, regardless of
priority levels.
No messages
4Select one or more of the following options:
■Errors
■Warnings
■Information
5Click OK.
Enabling email notifications for product (event) messages
Email notifications can be sent to a specified email address if there are any errors
or warnings that occurred when a backup is run.
Note: If you do not have an SMTP server, this feature is unavailable to you.
Notifications can also be sent to the system event log and a custom log file located
in the Agent folder of the product installation.
If notifications are not delivered, check the setup of your SMTP server to ensure
that it functions properly.
To enable email notifications for product (event) messages
1In Norton Ghost, on the menu bar, click Tasks > Options.
2Under Notifications, click SMTP E-mail.
Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
46
3Click the Select the priority and type of messages list and select the priority
level at which an email should be sent.
Send all messages, regardless of priority
levels.
All messages
Send only medium and high priority
messages.
Medium and high priority messages
Send only high priority messages.High priority messages only
Do not send any messages, regardless of
priority levels.
No messages
4Select one or more of the following options:
■Errors
■Warnings
■Information
5In the To address text box, type the email address (for example,
admin@domain.com) where notifications are to be sent.
6Optionally, type the email address of the sender in the From address text
field.
If you do not specify a From address, the name of the product is used.
7In the SMTP server text box, type the path to the SMTP server that sends the
email notification (for example, smtpserver.domain.com).
8From the SMTP Authentication drop-down box, select the method to use to
authenticate to the specified SMTP server.
9Enter your SMTP user name and password.
If you are not sure what your user name and password are, contact a system
administrator.
10 Click OK.
47Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
Getting Started
Configuring Norton Ghost default options
48
Best practices for backing
up your data
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About backing up your data
■About choosing a backup type
■Best practices for backing up
■Additional tips about backups
■After defining your backup job
■About selecting a backup destination
■About backing up dual-boot computers
About backing up your data
To back up your computer or your individual files and folders, you do the following:
■Define a backup
■Run the backup
See “How you use Norton Ghost”on page 34.
When you define a backup, you decide on the following:
■What to back up (files and folders, or an entire drive)
■Where to store the backup data (backup destination)
■Whether or not to use Offsite Copy to copy backup data to remote locations
■When to run the backup (automatically or manually)
5
Chapter
■What compression levels to specify for recovery points, and whether to enable
security settings (encryption and password protection).
■Which of the many other options you want to use. You can customize each
backup according to your backup needs.
About choosing a backup type
There are two types of backups available:
■Drive-based backup: Backs up an entire hard drive
■File and folder backup: Backs up only the files and folders that you select
You can use the following guidelines to determine which type of backup to choose:
Use this backup type to do the following:
■Back up and recover your computer's system drive
(typically, the C drive, which includes your operating
system).
■Back up and recover a specific hard drive, such as a
secondary drive (which is a drive other than the system
drive on which your operating system is installed).
■Recover lost or damaged files or folders from a specific
point in time.
Drive-based backup
Use this backup type to do the following:
■Back up and recover specific files and folders, for
example personal files that are stored in the My
Documents folder.
■Back up and recover files of a specific type, for example
music (.mp3 or .wav) or photographs (.jpg or .bmp).
■Recover a specific version of a file from a specific point
in time.
File and folder backup
See “Before you back up”on page 51.
Best practices for backing up
As you prepare to back up your computer, review this information:
■Before you back up
■During a back up
■When a back up is finished
Best practices for backing up your data
About choosing a backup type
50
About backups
When you back up your computer, you choose from two types of backups:
■drive-based backup: backs up an entire hard drive
■file and folder backup: backs up only the files and folders you select
Which backup type you choose depends on what you are trying to protect and
how much storage space you have to store backup data (recovery points, and file
and folder backup data).
The following table highlights the key uses of each backup type:
Use toBackup type
■Back up and recover your computer (system drive, typically
drive C)
■Back up and recover a specific hard drive (any secondary
drive, drives other than your system drive)
■Recover lost or damaged files or folders using recovery
points
Drive-based backup
■Back up and recover specific files and folders, such as
personal files stored in the My Documents folder
■Back up and recover files of a specific type, such as music
(.mp3, .wav) or photographs (.jpg, .bmp)
File and folder backup
Before you back up
Consider these best practices before you define and run your first back up:
Your computer must be turned on and Windows must
be running at the time a back up occurs. If not, any
scheduled back ups are skipped until the computer is
turned on again. You then are prompted to run the
missed back up.
See “About choosing a backup type”on page 50.
Schedule back ups when you know
your computer will be turned on.
You should store recovery points on a hard disk other
than your primary hard disk C. It helps ensure that
you can recover your system in the event that your
primary hard disk fails.
See “About selecting a backup destination”
on page 56.
Use a secondary hard disk as your
backup destination.
51Best practices for backing up your data
Best practices for backing up
Using an external drive makes your backup data more
portable. Should you need to remove your critical data
from a particular location, you can quickly grab an
external drive on your way out the door.
See “About Offsite Copy”on page 81.
Consider using external drives as
your backup destination.
You can assign a nickname to each external drive to
help keep track of where your backup data is stored
for each computer you back up. Because drive letters
can change each time you unplug and plug an external
drive into your computer, a nickname ensures that
you can always know which drive you are using when
you are running Norton Ghost.
Using a nickname does not change the volume label
of a drive. A nickname simply helps you identify the
drive when using Norton Ghost.
And the nickname sticks with the drive, so that if you
plug the drive into a second computer running
another copy of Norton Ghost, the nickname appears.
Note: You might also consider placing a sticky label
on each drive that matches the nickname that you
have assigned.
See “Using nicknames for external drives”on page 43.
Give nicknames to your external
drives to help you easily identify
them
Use Offsite Copy to copy your latest recovery points
to either a portable storage device or a remote server.
By copying recovery points to a portable hard disk,
you can then take a copy of your data with you when
you leave the office.
See “About Offsite Copy”on page 81.
Use Offsite Copy
When you define your back ups, schedule them to run
frequently so that you have recovery points that span
at least the last two months.
See “Editing a backup schedule”on page 97.
See “Defining a drive-based backup”on page 60.
Run back ups on a regular and
frequent basis.
Best practices for backing up your data
Best practices for backing up
52
You should keep your operating system and software
programs separate from your own data. It speeds the
creation of recovery points and reduces the amount
of information that needs to be restored. For example,
use the C drive to run Windows and to install and run
software programs. Use the D drive to create, edit,
and store personal files and folders.
For other drive management solutions, go to the
Symantec Web site at the following URL:
www.symantec.com/.
Keep personal data on a separate
drive than the drive on which
Windows and your software
programs are installed.
When you define a backup, you should select the
option to verify the recovery point to ensure that the
recovery point can be used to recover lost data.
See “About choosing a backup type”on page 50.
Verify the recovery point after you
create it to ensure that it is stable.
During a back up
If you are working at your computer and a back up starts to run, you might notice
that the performance of your computer slows down. Norton Ghost requires
significant system resources to run a back up. If slowing occurs, you can reduce
the speed of the back up to improve computer performance until you are finished
working.
See “Adjusting the speed of a backup”on page 94.
When a back up is finished
After a back up finishes, consider the following best practices:
Periodically review the contents of your recovery
points to ensure that you back up only your essential
data.
For file and folder backups, click Recover My Files
from either the Home or Tasks pages. Then click
Search to display the latest version of all the files that
are included in your backup.
See “About opening files and folders stored in a
recovery point”on page 163.
Review the contents of recovery
points and file and folder backup
data.
53Best practices for backing up your data
Best practices for backing up
Periodically review the Status page. You can also
review the events log on the Advanced page.
The event log records events when they occur,
backups and any errors that might have occurred
during or after a backup.
If you do not see the Advanced page tab, click View >
Show Advanced Page.
Note: Backup status and other messages are also
conveyed in the system tray. So you do not even need
to start the product to identify the status of your
backups.
See “Verifying that a backup is successful”on page 95.
Review the Status page to verify
that backups have happened and
to identify any potential problems.
Delete outdated recovery points to make more hard
disk space available.
Also, reduce the number of file versions that are
created by file and folder backups.
See “Managing recovery point storage”on page 137.
See “About managing file and folder backup data”
on page 154.
Manage storage space by
eliminating old backup data.
Check the Status page on a regular basis to ensure
that each drive has a defined backup.
Review the level of protection that
is provided for each of your
computer's drives.
Store backup copies of your recovery points in a safe
place. For example you can store them elsewhere on
a network, or you can store them on CDs, DVDs, or
tapes for long-term, off-site storage.
See “Making copies of recovery points”on page 139.
Maintain backup copies of your
recovery points.
Additional tips about backups
Consider the following tips when you run a defined backup:
■Norton Ghost does not need to be running for a scheduled backup to start.
After you define a backup, you can close Norton Ghost.
■The computer that is being backed up must be turned on and Windows must
be started.
■All defined backups are saved automatically so that you can edit them or run
them later.
Best practices for backing up your data
Additional tips about backups
54
■Do not run a disk defragmentation program during a backup. Doing so will
significantly increase the time that it takes to create the recovery point and
might cause unexpected system resource issues.
■If you have two or more drives that are dependent on each other, you should
include both drives in the same backup. This provides the safest protection.
■Include multiple drives in the same defined backup to reduce the total number
of backups that must be run. Doing so minimizes interruptions while you work.
■Use the Progress and Performance feature to reduce the impact of a backup
on your computer's performance. For example, if a scheduled backup starts
while you are in the middle of a presentation, you can slow down the backup
to give more processing resources back to your presentation program.
■The power management features on a computer can conflict with Norton Ghost
during a backup.
For example, your computer might be configured to go into hibernation mode
after a period of inactivity. You should consider turning off the power
management features during a scheduled backup.
■If a backup is interrupted, consider running it again.
■If you experience problems while creating a backup, you may need to reboot
the computer.
After defining your backup job
All backup jobs you define are automatically saved so that you can edit or run
them later.
After you define a backup and schedule it to run, you can close Norton Ghost. The
program does not need to be running for a backup to start.
However, your computer must be turned on and Windows must be running at the
time a backup occurs. If not, any scheduled backups are skipped until the computer
is turned on again. You then are prompted to run the missed backup.
Viewing the properties of a backup job
You can review the settings and configuration of a defined backup without opening
the backup job.
To view the properties of a backup job
1On the Home page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2In the Run or Manage Backups window, select a backup job and then click
Tasks > Properties.
55Best practices for backing up your data
After defining your backup job
About selecting a backup destination
You should review the following information before deciding where to store
recovery points and file and folder backup data.
Note: If you choose to use CDs or DVDs as your backup destination (not
recommended), you cannot back up to a sub-folder on the disk. Backup data must
be created at the root of CDs and DVDs.
The following table contains information that you need to consider when selecting
a backup destination.
Table 5-1 Selecting a backup destination
Information to considerBackup destination
The benefits of this option are as follows:
■Fast backup and recovery
■Can schedule unattended backups
■Inexpensive because drive space can be overwritten
repeatedly
■Off-site storage is possible
■Reserves hard drive space for other uses
Although you can save the recovery point to the same drive
that you are backing up, it is not recommended for the
following reasons:
■As the number or size of recovery points grows, you will
have less disk space available for regular use.
■The recovery point is included in subsequent recovery
points of the drive, which increases the size of those
recovery points.
■If the computer suffers a catastrophic failure, you may
not be able to recover the recovery point you need, even
if you save it to a different drive on the same hard disk.
Local hard drive, USB drive,
or FireWire drive
(recommended)
Best practices for backing up your data
About selecting a backup destination
56
Table 5-1 Selecting a backup destination (continued)
Information to considerBackup destination
If your computer is connected to a network, you can save
your recovery points and file and folder backup data to a
network folder.
Backing up to a network folder typically requires that you
authenticate to the computer that is hosting the folder. If
the computer is part of a network domain, you must provide
the domain name, user name, and password. For example,
domain\username.
If you are connecting to a computer in a workgroup, you
should provide the remote computer name and user name.
For example: remote_computer_name\username.
Network folder
When you save backup data to removable media, it is
automatically split into the correct sizes if the backup spans
more than one media.
If more than one drive is being backed up, the recovery
points for each drive are stored independently on the media,
even if there is space to store recovery points from multiple
drives on the same media.
The scheduling of backups is not available when this option
is used.
Note: Using CD-RWs or DVD-RWs as your recovery point
storage location is not the best option because you will be
required to swap disks during the process.
CD-RW/DVD-RW
The following table describes the advantages and disadvantages of different types
of backup destinations.
Table 5-2 Advantages and disadvantages of backup destinations
DisadvantagesAdvantagesBackup destination
■Uses valuable drive space
■Vulnerable to loss if the
hard drive fails
■Fast backup and recovery
■Can schedule unattended
backups
■Inexpensive because
drive space can be
overwritten repeatedly
Hard drive
(recommended)
57Best practices for backing up your data
About selecting a backup destination
Table 5-2 Advantages and disadvantages of backup destinations (continued)
DisadvantagesAdvantagesBackup destination
■Must have supported
network interface card
drivers to restore from
Symantec Recovery Disk
■Must understand and
assign the appropriate
rights for users who will
run backups and restore
data
■Fast backup and recovery
■Can schedule unattended
backups
■Inexpensive because
drive space can be
overwritten repeatedly
■Protection from local
hard drive failure
■Off-site storage (through
existing network backup
strategies)
Network drive
(recommended)
■Protection from hard
drive failure
■Ideal for off-site storage
■Reserves hard drive space
for other uses
Removable media (local)
About backing up dual-boot computers
You can back up dual-boot computers, even if you have drives (partitions) that
are hidden in the operating system from which you run Norton Ghost.
When you run a drive backup, the entire contents of each drive is captured in a
recovery point. When you restore a drive, the recovered drive is bootable.
Note: In order for your computer to boot the same from a restored system as it
did from the original configuration, you must back up, and then restore, every
drive that includes operating system boot information.
You should not create incremental backups of shared data drives if Norton Ghost
is installed on both operating systems and they are both set to manage the shared
drive.
You might encounter issues if you try to use the Norton Ghost LightsOut Restore
feature on dual-boot systems. It is not supported.
Best practices for backing up your data
About backing up dual-boot computers
58
Backing up entire drives
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About defining a drive-based backup
■Defining a drive-based backup
■Compression levels for drive-based backups
■Running a one-time backup from Norton Ghost
■About running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk
■About Offsite Copy
■How Offsite Copy works
About defining a drive-based backup
A drive-based backup takes a snapshot of your entire hard drive, capturing every
bit of information that is stored on it for later retrieval. All of your files, folders,
desktop settings, programs, and your operating system are captured into a recovery
point. You can then use that recovery point to restore individual files or folders
or your entire computer.
For optimum protection, you should define a drive-based backup and run it on a
regular basis.
By default, scheduled independent recovery points or recovery point set names
are appended with 001.v2i, 002.v2i, and so forth. Recovery point set names are
appended with _i001.iv2i, _i002.iv2i, and so forth. For example, if your base
recovery point is called CathyReadF001.v2i, the first incremental recovery point
is called CathyReadF001_i001.iv2i.
See “Defining a drive-based backup”on page 60.
6
Chapter
Defining a drive-based backup
Define a drive-based backup to take a shapshot of your entire hard drive.
To define a drive-based backup
1On the Home or Tasks page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2In the Run or Manage Backups window, click Define New.
If you have not yet defined a backup, the Easy Setup dialog appears instead.
3Click Back up my computer, and then click Next.
4Select one or more drives to back up, and then click Next.
Press and hold Ctrl to select multiple drives.
If you do not see a drive that you expected to see, select Show Hidden Drives.
5If the Related Drives dialog box is displayed, set the appropriate option, and
then click Next. Otherwise, skip to the next step.
See “Related Drives options”on page 62.
6Select the recovery point type that you want the backup to create.
See “Recovery point type options”on page 63.
7Click Next.
8On the Backup Destination panel, select the desired options.
See “Backup destination options”on page 64.
You cannot use an encrypted folder as your backup destination. You can
choose to encrypt your backup data to prevent another user from accessing
it.
9(Optional) If you want to make copies of your recovery points to store at a
remote location for added backup protection, do the following:
■Click Add and then select Enable Offsite Copy.
■Select the Prompt me to start a copy when I attach an external Offsite
Copy destination drive option if you want recovery points automatically
copied to external Offsite Copy destination drives whenever you plug one
in to your computer.
■Click Browse to locate an Offsite Copy destination.
■Click Add an additional Offsite Copy destination if you want to add a
second destination, and then specify the path (a local folder, network path,
or FTP address) to that destination.
■Click OK.
Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
60
See “About Offsite Copy”on page 81.
10 Click Next.
11 On the Options panel, set the recovery point options you want.
See “Recovery point options”on page 64.
12 (Optional) Click Advanced, set the advanced options you want, and then click
OK to return to the Options panel.
See “Advanced options for drive-based backups”on page 70.
13 (Optional) If you want to run command files during the recovery point creation
process, click Command Files, set the command file options, and then click
OK to return to the Options panel.
If appropriate, in the lists, you can select the command file (.exe, .cmd, .bat)
that you want to run during a particular stage in the recovery point creation
process, and then specify the amount of time (in seconds) that you want the
command to run before it is stopped.
See “About running command files during a backup”on page 68.
14 Click Next.
15 Do one of the following:
■If you chose a recovery point set as your recovery point type earlier in
step 6above, skip to the next step.
■If you chose an independent recovery point as your recovery point type,
select one of the following options in the Automatically create a recovery
pointlist, click Next, review the options you have selected, then click
Finish.
Runs the backup only when you run it yourself,
manually.
No Schedule
Runs the backup at the time and on the days
of the week that you specify.
When you select this option, the Select the days
of the week to protect box appears.
Weekly
Runs the backup at the time and on the days
of the month that you specify.
When you select this option, the Select the days
of the month to protect box appears.
Monthly
61Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
Runs the backup one time on the date and at
the time you specify.
When you select this option, the Create a single
recovery point box appears.
Only run once
16 If you want the backup to run automatically according to a schedule, select
Schedule, enter a start time, and select the days of the week when the backup
should run.
If you only want to run the backup when you start it manually, uncheck
Schedule and skip to the next step.
17 (Optional) Click the Custom button and specify how frequently a new recovery
point set should be started.
For example, if you select Monthly, a new base recovery point is created the
first time the backup runs during each new month.
18 For advanced scheduling options, such as setting up event triggers that start
the backup in response to specific events, click Advanced and configure the
desired options.
See “Advanced scheduling options”on page 66.
19 Click OK, and then click Next.
20 (Optional) If you want to run the new backup immediately, click Run backup
now.
This option is not available if you configured an independent recovery point
with the option to run it only once.
21 Review the options you have selected, then click Finish.
Related Drives options
The Related Drives wizard panel appears only if you initially selected a drive with
applications configured to use one or more of the drives that are listed in this
panel. Such applications include boot configuration databases (as found in
Windows Vista and Windows 7) that are on a separate drive from where the
operating system is installed.
If you want to backup an attached Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk (VHD), you must
create a separate backup job for the host drive and for the attached VHD. For
example, if the VHD host is on the C: drive and the attached VHD is the D: drive,
you must create a backup job for C: and a backup job for D:. Also, you cannot
backup an attached VHD that is nested within another attached VHD.
Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
62
See “About backing up Microsoft virtual hard disks”on page 205.
If you use Microsoft's BitLocker Drive Encryption to encrypt the data on a data
drive (any drive that does not have the operating system installed on it), be aware
that Norton Ghost does not work with locked data drives. Instead, you must unlock
the bitlocked drive before you can backup it up.
Generally, you should accept the preselected option Add all related drives
(recommended). Doing so can help you with a successful recovery, should you
ever need to perform a restore in the future. If you deselect certain related drives
you may experience an incomplete recovery or an unsuccessful recovery.
Recovery point type options
Recovery point set and Independent recovery point are the two recovery point
type options that are available. Each option type is described in the table below.
Table 6-1 Recovery point type options
DescriptionOption
Schedules a base recovery point with
additional recovery points that contain only
incremental changes that were made to your
computer since the previous recovery point.
Incremental recovery points are created
faster than the base recovery point. They
also use less storage space than an
independent recovery point.
Note: You can only have one recovery point
set defined for each drive. The Recovery
Point Set option is not available if you have
already assigned a selected drive to an
existing backup and specified Recovery Point
Set as the recovery point type. This option
also is unavailable if you select an
unmounted drive that cannot be part of a
recovery point set.
Recovery point set (recommended)
Creates a complete, independent copy of the
drives that you select. This backup type
typically requires more storage space,
especially if you run the backup multiple
times.
Independent recovery point
63Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
Backup destination options
The following table describes the options on the Backup Destination Page.
Table 6-2 Backup destination options
DescriptionOption
Indicates the location where you want to
store the recovery points.
If Norton Ghost detects that this location
does not have enough available space, it
alerts you. You should choose another
location that has more space.
Folder field
The Edit button only becomes active if you
have selected a backup destination that is
on a network. If the backup destination is on
a network, you can click the Edit button to
bring up a dialog where you can specify the
necessary user name and password for
network access. This also applies if you want
to save the recovery point on a network
share.
See “About network credentials”on page 68.
Edit
Allows you to rename the recovery point. To
rename a recovery point click Rename and
then type a new file name.
Default file names include the name of the
computer followed by the drive letter.
Customize recovery point file names
Allows you to add up to two Offsite Copy
destinations.
Offsite Copy automatically copies your latest
recovery points each time a backup
completes to either a portable storage device,
such as an external drive, or to a remote
server either through a local area network
connection or to a remote FTP server.
See “About Offsite Copy”on page 81.
Add
Recovery point options
The following table describes the recovery point options on the Options page.
Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
64
Table 6-3 Recovery point options
DescriptionOptions
Type a name for your backup.
Note: This option does not appear if you
create a recovery point using the Back Up
MyComputer feature in Symantec Recovery
Disk.
Name
Select one of the following compression
levels for the recovery point.:
■None
■Standard
■Medium
■High
See “Compression levels for drive-based
backups”on page 74.
The results can vary depending on the types
of files that are saved in the drive.
Compression
Select this option to automatically test
whether a recovery point or set of files is
valid or corrupt.
Verify recovery point after creation
Select this option to limit the number of
recovery point sets that can be saved for this
backup. You can limit the number of
recovery point sets to reduce the risk of
filling up the hard drive with recovery
points. Each new recovery point set replaces
the oldest set on your backup destination
drive.
This option only appears if you are creating
a recovery point set.
Note: This option does not appear if you
create a recovery point using the Back Up
MyComputer feature in Symantec Recovery
Disk.
Limit the number of recovery point sets
saved for this backup
65Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
Table 6-3 Recovery point options (continued)
DescriptionOptions
Select this option to let a search engine, such
as Google Desktop, index all of the file names
that are contained in each recovery point.
By indexing the file names, you can then use
your search engine to locate files you want
to restore.
This option is for NTFS file systems only.
See “About using a search engine to search
recovery points”on page 201.
Note: This option does not appear if you
create a recovery point using the Back Up
MyComputer feature in Symantec Recovery
Disk.
Enable search engine support
Select this option to include indexing
support for operating system and temporary
files when a recovery point is created on the
client computer.
Note: This option does not appear if you
create a recovery point using the Back Up
MyComputer feature in Symantec Recovery
Disk.
Include system and temporary files
See “Advanced options for drive-based
backups”on page 70.
Advanced
See “About running command files during
a backup”on page 68.
Command Files
Type a description for the recovery point.
The description can be anything that helps
you further identify the recovery point's
contents.
Description text box
Advanced scheduling options
The following table describes the advanced scheduling options.
Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
66
Table 6-4 Advanced scheduling options
DescriptionOption
Do one or more of the following:
■Click Schedule, and then select the days
and a start time for when the backup
should run.
■Select Runmore thanonce perday if you
frequently edit data that you want to
protect.
Also, specify the maximum time that
should occur between backups and the
number of times per day that the backup
should run.
■Click the Automatically optimize list,
and then select how often optimization
should occur to help manage the disk
space that is used by your backup
destination.
■Click the Start a new recovery point set
list and select how frequently a new
recovery point set should be started.
Click Custom to customize the option you
select.
Schedule (Backup Time)
Select the type of events that should
automatically start the backup.
See “Enabling event-triggered backups”
on page 96.
Event Triggers (General) (ThreatCon
Response)
About files that are excluded from drive-based backups
The following files are intentionally excluded from drive-based backups:
■hiberfil.sys
■pagefile.sys
These files contain temporary data that can take up a large amount of disk space.
They are not needed, and there is no negative impact to your computer system
after a complete system recovery.
These file names do appear in recovery points, but they are placeholders. They
contain no data.
67Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
About network credentials
If you are connecting to a computer on a network, you are required to enter the
user name and password for network access, even if you have previously
authenticated to the network. This is because the Norton Ghost 15.0 service runs
as the local System account.
When entering network credentials, the following rules apply:
■If the computer you want to connect to is on a domain, you would enter the
domain name, user name, and password. For example: domain\username
■If you are connecting to a computer in a workgroup you would enter the remote
computer name and user name. For example:
remote_computer_name\username
■If you have mapped a drive, you might be required to supply the user name
and password at this dialog because the service runs in a different context and
cannot recognize the mapped drive.
By going to the Tools menu and selecting Options, you can set a default location,
including network credentials. Then when you create future jobs, the dialog will
default to the location you specified. Another option would be to create a specific
"backup" user account for the enterprise and configure the Norton Ghost 15.0
service to use this account.
About running command files during a backup
You can use command files (.exe, .cmd, .bat) during a backup. You can use command
files to integrate Norton Ghost with other backup routines that you might be
running on the computer. You can also use command files to integrate with other
applications that use a drive on the computer.
Note: You cannot run command files that include a graphical user interface, such
as notepad.exe. Running such command files will cause the backup job to fail.
You can run a command file during any of the following stages during the creation
of a recovery point:
■Run before snapshot creation
■Run after shapshot creation
■Run after recovery point creation
You can also specify the amount of time (in seconds) that a command file should
be allowed to run.
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Defining a drive-based backup
68
You can specify the location of command files if you want them to be located in
a place other than the default location. You can also specify a location on a per-job
basis, as well as specify a location that can be shared among several computers.
If you specify a network location, you will be asked for network credentials.
The most common use for running command files is to stop and restart
non-VSS-aware databases that you want to back up.
To use a Visual Basic script file (.VBS) during a backup, you can create a batch file
(.BAT) to run the script. For example, you can create a batch file called STOP.BAT
that contains the following syntax:
Cscript script_filename.vbs
Make sure that Cscript precedes the file name of the Visual Basic script.
Warning: The command files cannot depend on any user interaction or have a
visible user interface. You should test all command files independently of Norton
Ghost before you use them during a backup.
When the backup begins, the command file is run during the specified stage. If
an error occurs while a command file is running or the command file does not
finish in the time you specified (regardless of the stage), the backup is stopped,
the command file is terminated (if necessary), and the error information is logged
and displayed.
The following table describes the stages of recovery point creation.
69Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
Table 6-5 Recovery point creation stages
DescriptionStage
This stage occurs after a backup has started and
before a recovery point is created. You can run a
command during this stage to prepare for the
recovery point creation process. For example, you
can close any open applications that are using the
drive.
Note: If you use this option, be sure the command
file has an error recovery mechanism built into
it. If the computer has one or more services that
must be stopped at this stage (such as stopping a
non-VSS aware database or a resource intensive
application), and the command file does not
contain any form of error recovery, one or more
of the stopped services may not be restarted. An
error in the command file can cause the recovery
point creation process to stop immediately. No
other command files will run.
See “How you use Norton Ghost”on page 34.
Run before snapshot creation
This stage occurs after a snapshot is created.
Running a command during this stage is typically
a safe point for allowing services to resume
normal activity on the drive while continuing the
recovery point creation.
Because the snapshot takes only a few seconds to
create, the database is in the backup state
momentarily. A minimal number of log files are
created.
Run after snapshot creation
This stage occurs after the recovery point file is
created. You can run a command during this stage
to act on the recovery point itself. For example,
you can copy it to an offline location.
Run after recovery point creation
Advanced options for drive-based backups
When you define a drive-based backup, you can set the following advanced options:
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Defining a drive-based backup
70
Table 6-6 Advanced options for drive-based backups
DescriptionOption
Splits the recovery point into smaller files
and specifies the maximum size (in MB) for
each file.
For example, if you plan to copy a recovery
point to ZIP disks from your backup
destination, specify a maximum file size of
100 MB, according to the size of each ZIP
disk.
Divide into smaller files to simplify archiving
SmartSector technology speeds up the
copying process bycopying only the
hard-disk sectors that contain data.
However, in some cases, you might want to
copy all sectors in their original layout,
whether or not they contain data.
Lets you copy used and unused hard-disk
sectors. This option increases process time
and usually results in a larger recovery point.
Disable SmartSector™Copying
Lets you run a backup even if there are bad
sectors on the hard disk. Although most
drives do not have bad sectors, the potential
for problems increases during the lifetime
of the hard disk.
Ignore bad sectors during copy
Sets a password on the recovery point when
it is created. Passwords can include standard
characters. Passwords cannot include
extended characters, or symbols. (Use
characters with an ASCII value of 128 or
lower.)
A user must type this password before he or
she can restore a backup or view the contents
of the recovery point.
Use password
Encrypts recovery point data to add another
level of protection to your recovery points.
Choose from the following encryption levels:
■Low (8+ character password)
■Medium (16+ character password)
■High (32+ character password)
Use AES encryption
71Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
Editing advanced backup options
After you define a backup, you can go back at any time and edit the advanced
options you chose when you first defined the backup.
To edit advanced backup options
1On the Home or Tasks page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2Select the backup you want to edit, and then click Edit Settings.
3Click Next twice.
4Click Advanced.
5In the Advanced Options dialog box, make your changes, and then click OK.
See “Advanced options for drive-based backups”on page 70.
6Click Next three times, and then click Finish.
About recovery point encryption
You can enhance the security of your data by using the Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES) to encrypt recovery points that you create or archive. You should
use encryption if you store recovery points on a network and want to protect them
from unauthorized access and use.
You can also encrypt recovery points that were created with earlier versions of
Symantec LiveState Recovery or Norton Ghost. However, encrypting those files
makes them readable with the current product only.
You can view the encryption strength of a recovery point at any time by viewing
the properties of the file from the Recovery Point Browser.
Encryption strengths are available in 128-bit, 192-bit, or 256-bit. While higher
bit strengths require longer passwords, the result is greater security for your data.
The following table explains the bit strength and required password length.
Table 6-7 Password length
Password lengthBit strength
8 characters or longer128 (Standard)
16 characters or longer192 (Medium)
32 characters or longer256 (High)
You must provide the correct password before you can access or restore an
encrypted recovery point.
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Defining a drive-based backup
72
Warning: Store the password in a secure place. Passwords are case sensitive. When
you access or restore a recovery point that is password encrypted, Norton Ghost
prompts you for the case-sensitive password. If you do not type the correct
password or you forget the password, you cannot open the recovery point.
Symantec Technical Support cannot open an encrypted recovery point.
Besides bit strength, the format of the password can improve the security of your
data.
For better security, passwords should use the following general rules:
■Do not use consecutive repeating characters (for example, BBB or 88).
■Do not use common words you would find in a dictionary.
■Use at least one number.
■Use both uppercase and lowercase alpha characters.
■Use at least one special character such as ({}[],.<>;:’"?/|\`~!@#$%^&*()_-+=).
■Change the password after a set period of time.
Verifying the integrity of a recovery point
If you selected the Verify recovery point after creation option on the Options page
of the Define Backup wizard, the following occurs:
■Norton Ghost verifies that all of the files that make up the recovery point are
available for you to open
■Internal data structures in the recovery point are matched with the data that
is available
Also, the recovery point can be uncompressed to create the expected amount of
data (if you selected a compression level at the time of creation).
Note: The time that is required to create a recovery point is doubled when you use
the Verify recovey point after creation option.
If you prefer, you can have recovery points automatically verified for integrity at
the time they are created.
See “Advanced options for drive-based backups”on page 70.
To verify the integrity of a recovery point
1On the Tools page, click Run Recovery Point Browser.
2Select a recovery point, and then click OK.
73Backing up entire drives
Defining a drive-based backup
3In the tree panel of the Recovery Point Browser, select the recovery point.
For example: C_Drive001.v2i.
4On the File menu, click Verify Recovery Point.
If the Verify Recovery Point option is unavailable, you must first dismount
the recovery point. Right-click the recovery point and click Dismount
Recovery Point.
5When the validation is complete, click OK.
Viewing the progress of a backup
You can view the progress of a backup while it runs to determine how much time
remains until the backup completes.
To view the progress of a backup
◆While a backup is running, on the View menu, click Progress and
Performance.
Compression levels for drive-based backups
During the creation of a recovery point, compression results may vary, depending
on the types of files saved to the drive you are backing up.
The following table describes the available compression levels.
Table 6-8 Compression levels
DescriptionCompression level
Use this option if storage space is not an issue. However, if
the backup is being saved to a busy network drive, high
compression may be faster than no compression because
there is less data to write across the network.
None
This option uses low compression for a 40 percent average
data compression ratio on recovery points. This setting is
the default.
Standard (recommended)
This option uses medium compression for a 45 precent
average data compression ratio on recovery points.
Medium
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Compression levels for drive-based backups
74
Table 6-8 Compression levels (continued)
DescriptionCompression level
This option uses high compression for a 50 percent average
data compression ratio on recovery points. This setting is
usually the slowest method.
When a high compression recovery point is created, CPU
usage might be higher than normal. Other processes on the
computer might also be slower. To compensate, you can
adjust the operation speed of Norton Ghost. This might
improve the performance of other resource-intensive
applications that you are running at the same time.
High
Running a one-time backup from Norton Ghost
You can use One Time Backup to quickly define and run a backup that creates an
independent recovery point from Norton Ghost. You use the One Time Backup
Wizard to define the backup. The backup runs when you complete the Wizard.
The backup definition is not saved for future use. You can use the independent
recovery point later.
This feature is useful when you need to back up your computer or a particular
drive quickly before a significant event. For example, you can run a one-time
backup before you install new software. Or, you can run it when you learn about
a new computer security threat.
You can also use Symantec Recovery Disk to create one time cold backups.
See “About running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 76.
To run a one-time backup from Norton Ghost
1On the Tasks page, click One Time Backup.
2Click Next.
3Select one or more drives to back up, and then click Next.
4If the Related Drives dialog box is displayed, set the appropriate option, and
then click Next. Otherwise, skip to the next step.
See “Related Drives options”on page 62.
5In the Backup Destinations panel, select the appropriate options.
See “Backup destination options”on page 64.
6Click Next.
75Backing up entire drives
Running a one-time backup from Norton Ghost
7On the Options panel, select the appropriate options.
See “Recovery point options”on page 64.
8Click Next.
9If appropriate, in the lists, select the command files that you want to run
during a particular stage in the recovery point creation process. Then, specify
the amount of time (in seconds) that you want the command to run before it
is stopped.
If you added the command file to the CommandFiles folder, you may need to
click Back, and then Next to see the files in each stage’s list.
See “About running command files during a backup”on page 68.
10 Click Next.
11 Click Finish to run the backup.
About running a one-time backup from Symantec
Recovery Disk
Using a valid license key, you can create independent recovery points using the
new BackUpMyComputer feature in Symantec Recovery Disk. Sometimes known
as a cold backup or offline backup, you can create recovery points of a partition
without the need to install Norton Ghost or its agent.
With a cold backup, all files are closed when the backup occurs. You do not copy
any data that may be in the middle of being updated or accessed on the desktop
or server. Cold backups are particularly useful for databases. They ensure that
no files are written to or accessed at anytime during the backup so you have a
complete recovery point.
You can also use the Symantec Recovery Disk CD to create recovery points if you
experience any of the following:
■A level of corruption prevents you from starting Windows on the computer.
■Norton Ghost does not function properly while it runs on a Windows operating
system.
■You want to back up the condition of a damaged system before you recover.
For example, if a server or desktop is severely damaged, you can use the
Symantec Recovery Disk CD to back up what remains of the system. Then, you
can recover what you can later, after you restore an independent recovery
point.
Backing up entire drives
About running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk
76
When you want to create a backup from the Symantec Recovery Disk CD, you are
prompted for a valid license key only for the following scenarios:
■You use the original, shipping version of the Symantec Recovery Disk CD to
create a backup of a computer that does not have Norton Ghost installed.
■The computer that you intend to back up using the original, shipping version
of the Symantec Recovery Disk has an unlicensed installation of Norton Ghost.
■You create a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD on a computer that has an
unlicensed installation (60-day trial) of Norton Ghost. You then use the custom
Symantec Recovery Disk CD to create a backup of a computer that does not
have an installation of Norton Ghost.
See “Creating a custom Symantec Recovery Disk CD”on page 29.
■You choose not to add a license key at the time you create the customized
Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
Running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk
Using a valid license key, you can create independent recovery points using the
Back Up My Computer feature in Symantec Recovery Disk. Sometimes known as
a cold backup or offline backup, you can create recovery points of a partition
without the need to install Norton Ghost or its agent.
To run a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk
1If you intend to store the resulting recovery point on a USB device (for
example, an external hard drive), attach the device now.
2Start the Symantec Recovery Disk CD on the computer you want to back up.
See “Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 174.
3On the Home panel, click Back Up My Computer, and then click Next.
4If prompted, enter a valid license key, and then click Next.
5Select one or more drives that you want to back up, and then click Next.
77Backing up entire drives
About running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk
6In the Backup Destination panel, set the options you want, then click Next.
Lets you browse to and specify the
location where you want to store the
independent recovery point.
Folder field
Lets you map a network drive by using the
UNC path of the computer on which you
want to store the recovery point.
For example,
\\computer_name\share_name or
\\IP_address\share_name.
Map a network drive
Lets you edit the recovery point file name.
To do this, select a drive, click Rename,
type a new file name, and then click OK.
Recovery point file names field
Backing up entire drives
About running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk
78
7In the Options panel, set the desired compression level for the recovery point.
Use this option if storage space is not an
issue. However, if the backup is being
saved to a busy network drive, high
compression may be faster than no
compression because there is less data to
write across the network.
None
This option uses low compression for a 40
percent average data compression ratio
on recovery points. This setting is the
default.
Standard (recommended)
This option uses medium compression for
a 45 precent average data compression
ratio on recovery points.
Medium
This option uses high compression for a
50 percent average data compression ratio
on recovery points. This setting is usually
the slowest method.
When a high compression recovery point
is created, CPU usage might be higher
than normal. Other processes on the
computer might also be slower. To
compensate, you can adjust the operation
speed of Norton Ghost. This might
improve the performance of other
resource-intensive applications that you
are running at the same time.
High
8If you want to verify whether the recovery point is valid after its creation,
select Verify recovery point after creation.
9In the Description text box, type a description that you want associated with
the recovery point.
10 Click Advanced.
11 In the Advanced options panel, set the options you want, and then click OK.
79Backing up entire drives
About running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk
You can split the recovery point into
smaller files and specify the maximum
size (in MB) for each file.
For example, if you plan to copy a
recovery point to ZIP disks from your
backup destination, specify a minimum
file size of 100 MB, according to the size
of each ZIP disk.
Divide into smaller files to simplify
archive
SmartSector technology speeds up the
copying process bycopying only the
hard-disk sectors that contain data.
However, in some cases, you might want
to copy all sectors in their original layout,
whether or not they contain data.
Lets you copy used and unused hard-disk
sectors. This option increases process time
and usually results in a larger recovery
point.
Disable SmartSector copying
Lets you run a backup even if there are
bad sectors on the hard disk. Although
most drives do not have bad sectors, the
potential for problems increases during
the lifetime of the hard disk.
Ignore bad sectors during copy
Sets a password on the recovery point
when it is created. Passwords can include
standard characters. Passwords cannot
include extended characters, or symbols.
(Use characters with an ASCII value of 128
or lower.)
A user must type this password before he
or she can restore a backup or view the
contents of the recovery point.
Use password
Encrypts recovery point data to add
another level of protection to your
recovery points.
Choose from the following encryption
levels:
■Low (8+ character password)
■Medium (16+ character password)
■High (32+ character password)
Use AES encryption
Backing up entire drives
About running a one-time backup from Symantec Recovery Disk
80
12 Click Next.
13 Click Finish to run the backup.
14 When the backup is finished, click Close to return to the main Symantec
Recovery Disk window.
About Offsite Copy
Backing up your data to a secondary hard disk is a critical first step to protecting
your information assets. But to make certain your data is safe, use Offsite Copy.
This feature copies your latest, complete recovery points to either a portable
storage device, a remote server in your network, or to a remote FTP server.
Regardless of the method you use, storing copies of your recovery points at a
remote location provides a crucial level of redundancy in the event that your office
becomes inaccessible. Offsite Copy can double your data protection by ensuring
that you have a remote copy.
See “How Offsite Copy works”on page 81.
See “About using external drives as your Offsite Copy destination”on page 82.
See “About using a network server as your Offsite Copy destination”on page 84.
See “About using an FTP server as your Offsite Copy destination”on page 85.
How Offsite Copy works
You enable and configure Offsite Copy when you define a new drive-based backup
job. Or you can edit an existing backup job to enable Offsite Copy.
When you enable Offsite Copy, you specify up to two Offsite Copy destinations.
After the backup job finishes creating recovery points, Offsite Copy verifies that
at least one of the Offsite Copy destinations are available. Offsite Copy then begins
copying the new recovery points to the Offsite Copy destination.
The most recent recovery points are copied first, followed by the next newest
recovery points. If you have set up two Offsite Copy destinations, Offsite Copy
copies recovery points to the destination that was added first. If an Offsite Copy
destination is unavailable, Offsite Copy tries to copy recovery points to the second
destination, if it is available. If neither destination is available, then Offsite Copy
copies the recovery points the next time an Offsite Copy destination becomes
available.
For example, suppose you have configured a backup job to run at 6 p.m. and
configured an external drive as an Offsite Copy destination. However, when you
leave the office at 5:30 p.m., you take the drive with you for safe keeping. When
81Backing up entire drives
About Offsite Copy
the backup job completes at 6:20 p.m., Norton Ghost detects that the Offsite Copy
destination drive is not available and the copy process is aborted. The following
morning, you plug the drive back in to the computer. Norton Ghost detects the
presence of the Offsite Copy destination drive and automatically begins copying
your recovery points.
Offsite Copy is designed to use very little system resources so that the copying
process is done in the background. This feature lets you continue to work at your
computer with little or no impact on system resources.
If an Offsite Copy destination runs out of disk space, Offsite Copy identifies the
oldest recovery points and removes them to make room for the most current
recovery points. Offsite Copy then copies the current recovery points to the Offsite
Copy destination.
See “About using external drives as your Offsite Copy destination”on page 82.
See “About using a network server as your Offsite Copy destination”on page 84.
See “About using an FTP server as your Offsite Copy destination”on page 85.
See “To define a drive-based backup”on page 60.
See “Editing backup settings”on page 95.
About using external drives as your Offsite Copy destination
Use an external drive as your Offsite Copy destination. This method lets you take
a copy of your data with you when you leave the office. By using two external hard
disks, you can be certain that you have a recent copy of your data both on and off
site.
For example, suppose on a Monday morning you define a new backup job of your
system drive. You choose a recovery point set as your backup job type. You set up
an external drive (A) as the first Offsite Copy destination, and another external
drive (B) as the second Offsite Copy destination. You schedule the backup job to
run every midnight except on the weekends. You also enable recovery point
encryption to protect the data that you take with you from unauthorized access.
See “About recovery point encryption ”on page 72.
Before you leave the office on Monday evening, you plug in drive A and take drive
B home with you.
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How Offsite Copy works
82
On Tuesday morning, you find that Monday's base recovery point has been
successfully copied to drive A. At the end of the day, you unplug drive A and take
it home for safe keeping.
On Wednesday morning, you bring drive B to the office. You plug in drive B and
Norton Ghost detects that drive B is an Offsite Copy destination. Norton Ghost
then automatically begins copying Monday night's base recovery point and Tuesday
night's incremental recovery point. At the end of the day Wednesday, you take
drive B home and place it in a safe place with drive A.
You now have multiple copies of recovery points stored at two separate, physical
locations: your original recovery points stored on your backup destinations at the
office, and copies of those same recovery points stored on your Offsite Copy
destination drives. Your Offsite Copy destination drives are stored in a safe place
at your home.
The next morning, Thursday, you take drive A to the office and plug it in. Tuesday
and Wednesday night's recovery points are then automatically copied to drive A.
Note: Consider using the external drive naming feature that lets you provide a
nickname, to each drive. Then place matching physical labels on each external
drive to help you manage the task of swapping the drives.
See “Using nicknames for external drives”on page 43.
83Backing up entire drives
How Offsite Copy works
Each time you plug in either drive A or B, the latest recovery points are added to
the drive. This method gives you multiple points in time for recovering your
computer in the event that the original backup destination drives fail or become
unrecoverable.
Using external drives as your Offsite Copy destination ensures that you have a
copy of your backup data stored at two separate, physical locations.
About using a network server as your Offsite Copy destination
You can also specify a local area network server as an Offsite Copy destination.
You must be able to access the server that you plan to use. You must either map
a local drive to the server, or provide a valid UNC path.
For example, suppose that you set up a local external drive as your first Offsite
Copy destination. Then you identify a server that is located at a second physical
location from your own office. You add the remote server as a second Offsite Copy
destination. As backups occur, recovery points are copied first to the external
hard drive, and then to the remote server.
If the remote server becomes unavailable for a period of time, Offsite Copy copies
all recovery points that were created since the last connection. If there is no room
to hold all of the recovery points available, Offsite Copy removes the oldest
recovery points from the network server. In turn, it makes room for the newest
recovery points.
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How Offsite Copy works
84
About using an FTP server as your Offsite Copy destination
Using an FTP server as your Offsite Copy destination is similar to using a network
path. You must provide a valid FTP path to the FTP server.
You must also provide the correct FTP connection information to Norton Ghost
in order for this method to work correctly. When Offsite Copy is configured
correctly, it copies recovery points to the directory that you specified on the FTP
server. If the server becomes unavailable for a period of time, Offsite Copy copies
all recovery points that were created since the last connection. If there is no room
to hold all of the recovery points available, Offsite Copy removes the oldest
recovery points or recovery point sets from the FTP server. In turn, it makes room
for the newest recovery points.
See “Configuring default FTP settings for use with Offsite Copy”on page 44.
85Backing up entire drives
How Offsite Copy works
Backing up entire drives
How Offsite Copy works
86
Backing up files and folders
This chapter includes the following topics:
■Defining a file and folder backup
■About folders that are excluded by default from file and folder backups
Defining a file and folder backup
When you define and run a file and folder backup, copies are made of each of the
files and folders that you have chosen to back up. They are converted into a
compressed format, and then stored in a sub-folder at the location you specify,
which by default is the same backup destination that is used for storing recovery
points.
To define a file and folder backup
1On the Home page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2In the Run or Manage Backups window, click Define New.
If you have not yet defined a backup, the Easy Setup dialog appears.
3Select Back up selected files and folders, and then click Next.
7
Chapter
4Select the files and folders you want to include in your backup, and then click
Next.
Selecting file types lets Norton Ghost find and include files that match the
files you want backed up. If a file type is not included in the predefined list,
click Add File Type. You can also manually select folders or individual files.
Note: On all versions of Windows, except for Windows Vista, the My
Documents folder contains two subfolders by default: My Pictures and My
Music. These folders contain only the shortcuts to folders at another location
and not the actual files. This might lead you to think that by including My
Documents and all subfolders in your backup, your picture and music files
will get backed up.
If you intend to back up your pictures and music files, be sure to include the
actual folders where your files are stored. On Windows Vista, these folders
exist at the same level as Documents (formerly, My Documents).
5In the Name box, type a name for your new backup.
6In the Description (optional) box, type a description for the new backup.
7Click Browse to locate a folder for storing your backup data or accept the
default location.
Note: You cannot use an encrypted folder as your backup destination. If you
want to encrypt your backup data to prevent another user from accessing it,
refer to the next step.
8To add or edit advanced options, click Advanced and do any of the following:
■Click Use password, and then type a password.
Use standard characters, not extended characters or symbols. You must
type this password before you restore a backup or view its contents.
■For an additional level of security, click Use AES encryption to encrypt
your file data.
You can also use the drop-down menu to specify the level of encryption
you want.
■In the Exclude group box, uncheck any of the folders you want to include
in your backup.
The folders listed are typically not used for storing personal files or folders.
These folders are backed up when you define and run a drive-based backup
of your system drive (typically C).
Backing up files and folders
Defining a file and folder backup
88
See “About folders that are excluded by default from file and folder
backups”on page 89.
9Click OK, and then click Next.
10 Click Schedule if you want the backup to run automatically, according to a
schedule.
If you want to run the backup only when you start it manually, uncheck
Schedule.
11 Enter a start time and select the days of the week when the backup should
run.
12 For advanced scheduling options, such as setting up event triggers that start
the backup in response to specific events, click Advanced and configure the
desired options.
See Table 6-4 on page 67.
13 Click Next and review the backup options you have selected.
14 To review the total number and size of files to be included in the backup, click
Preview.
Note: Depending on the amount of data you have identified for file and folder
backup, the preview process could take several minutes.
15 If you want to run the new backup immediately, click Run backup now, then
click Finish.
About folders that are excluded by default from file
and folder backups
The following folders and their contents are excluded automatically from file and
folder backups:
■Windows folder
■Program Files folder
■Temporary folder
■Temporary Internet Files folder
These folders are typically not used for storing personal files or folders. However,
they are backed up when you define and run a drive-based backup of your system
drive (typically C).
89Backing up files and folders
About folders that are excluded by default from file and folder backups
See “Defining a file and folder backup”on page 87.
You can include these folders when you define a file and folder backup.
Backing up files and folders
About folders that are excluded by default from file and folder backups
90
Running and managing
backup jobs
This chapter includes the following topics:
■Running an existing backup job immediately
■Running a backup with options
■Adjusting the speed of a backup
■Stopping a task
■Verifying that a backup is successful
■Editing backup settings
■Enabling event-triggered backups
■Editing a backup schedule
■Turning off a backup job
■Deleting backup jobs
■Adding users who can back up your computer
Running an existing backup job immediately
This is particularly useful when you are about to install a new product and want
to make sure you have a current recovery point in the event that something goes
wrong with the installation. It can also help you to ensure that you have a backup
of your work after you have modified a large number of files and you don't want
to wait for a regularly scheduled backup.
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Chapter
You can run an existing backup at any time.
Note: If necessary, you can run a quick backup of a particular drive without using
a defined backup.
See “Running a one-time backup from Norton Ghost”on page 75.
Norton Ghost can be configured to run a backup automatically when an event
occurs on your computer, such as installing a new software program.
See “Enabling event-triggered backups”on page 96.
When you run a backup, you should close any partitioning software that is running,
such as Norton PartitionMagic. Also, you should not run any disk defragmenting
software during a backup.
You can also schedule backups to run automatically, according to a schedule.
See “Editing a backup schedule”on page 97.
To run an existing backup immediately from the system tray
1On the Windows desktop, right-click the Norton Ghost system tray icon.
2Click Run Backup Now.
3Click a backup job to start the backup.
If the menus displays No Jobs, you must start Norton Ghost and define a
backup.
To run an existing backup immediately from within Norton Ghost
1On the Home page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2Select a backup from the list, and then click Run Now.
Running a backup with options
If you want to quickly run an existing drive-based backup, but you want the backup
to create an alternate type of recovery point, use the Run Backup With Options
feature.
This is a unique option in that if you run an existing backup job, the recovery
point created is dictated by the type of recovery point that was created the last
time the backup job was run. Use this option to create an alternate recovery point
type.
Running and managing backup jobs
Running a backup with options
92
Note: Using this option does not change the settings of the defined backup. To do
that, you must open the backup and edit its settings manually.
See “Editing a backup schedule”on page 97.
See “Editing backup settings”on page 95.
To run a backup with options
1On the Home page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2In the Run or Manage Backups window, select the drive-based backup job
that you want to run.
3Click Tasks >Run Backup With Options.
4Select the desired options on the Run Backup With Options page.
Note: Depending on the current state of the backup, one or more options
might be disabled. For example, if you have not yet run the backup, you cannot
select the first option, Incremental recovery point of recent changes, because
the base recovery point has not yet been created.
See “Backup options”on page 93.
5Click OK to run the backup job and create the recovery point type you selected.
Backup options
Incremental recovery point of recent changes, New recovery point set, and
Independent recovery point are the three options that are available. Each option
type is described in the table below.
Table 8-1 Backup options
DescriptionOptions
Select this option if the backup already has
a base recovery point created and you want
to simply capture changes made to the drive
since the last backup.
Incremental recovery point of recent
changes
Select this option if you want to start a
completely new recovery point set. When
you select this option, a base recovery point
is created.
New recovery point set
93Running and managing backup jobs
Running a backup with options
Table 8-1 Backup options (continued)
DescriptionOptions
Select this option to create an independent
recovery point, which is a complete snap
shot of your entire drive.
To specify an alternate backup location, click
Browse.
Independent recovery point
Adjusting the speed of a backup
Depending on the speed of your computer, how much RAM you have installed,
and the number of programs you are running during a backup, your computer
could become sluggish.
You can manually adjust the effect of a backup on the performance of your
computer to match your needs at the moment. This feature is useful if you are
working on your computer and don't want the backup process to slow you down.
To adjust the speed of a backup
1While a backup is running, on the View menu, click Progress and
Performance.
2Do one of the following:
■If you want to increase the speed of your computer by reducing the speed
of the backup, drag the slider toward Slow.
■If you want the backup to complete as quickly as possible and you are not
doing extensive work on your computer, drag the slider toward Fast.
3When you are finished, click Hide to dismiss the Progress and Performance
dialog box.
Stopping a task
You can stop a recovery point task or a restore task that has already started.
To stop the current task
◆Do one of the following:
■On the Tools menu, click Cancel the Current Operation.
■On the Tools menu, click ProgressandPerformance, and then click Cancel
Operation.
Running and managing backup jobs
Adjusting the speed of a backup
94
■On the Windows system tray, right-click the Norton Ghost tray icon, and
then click Cancel the Current Operation.
Verifying that a backup is successful
After a backup completes, you can validate the success of the backup from the
Status page to ensure you have a way to recover lost or damaged data.
The Status page contains a scrolling calendar that is aligned with each drive on
your computer. The calendar lets you quickly identify when a backup ran, and
what type of backup it was. It also identifies upcoming, scheduled backups.
See “Monitoring backup protection from the Status page”on page 118.
Note: When you define a drive-based backup, you should select the option to verify
the recovery point after it is created.
Depending on the amount of data being backed up, this can significantly increase
the time it takes to complete the backup. However, it can ensure that you have a
valid recovery point when the backup finishes.
See “Verifying the integrity of a recovery point”on page 73.
To verify that a backup is successful
1On the Status page, review the Backups calendar, and verify that the backup
appears on the date that you ran it.
2Move your mouse over a backup icon to review the status of the backup.
Editing backup settings
You can edit the settings of an existing backup. The Edit Settings feature gives
you access to several of the key pages of the Define Backup Wizard. You can edit
every setting except the option to change the recovery point type.
To edit backup settings
1On the Home or Tasks page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2Select a backup to edit.
3Click Edit Settings.
4Make changes to the backup.
See “Defining a drive-based backup”on page 60.
See “Defining a file and folder backup”on page 87.
95Running and managing backup jobs
Verifying that a backup is successful
Enabling event-triggered backups
Norton Ghost can detect certain events and run a backup when they occur.
For example, to protect your computer when you install new software, Norton
Ghost can run a backup when it detects that new software is about to be installed.
If a problem occurs that harms your computer, you can use this recovery point
to restore your computer to its previous state.
You can configure Norton Ghost to automatically run a backup when the following
events occur:
■Any application is installed.
■A specified application is started.
■Any user logs on to Windows.
■Any user logs off of Windows.
■The data that was added to a drive exceeds a specified number of megabytes.
This option is unavailable for file and folder backups.
To enable event-triggered backups
1On the Home or Tasks page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2Select the backup you want to edit, and then click Change Schedule.
3Click General under Event Triggers.
4Select the events you want detected, and then click OK.
About Symantec ThreatCon
ThreatCon is Symantec's early warning security threat system. When Symantec
identifies various threats, the ThreatCon team adjusts the threat level. This
adjustment gives people and systems adequate warning to protect data and systems
against attack.
When you enable the Symantec ThreatCon trigger for a selected backup job, Norton
Ghost detects changes in the threat level. Your computer must be connected to
the Internet at the time. If the ThreatCon level is either reached or exceeded, the
backup job in which you enabled Symantec ThreatCon is started automatically.
You then have a recovery point to use to recover your data should your computer
become affected by the latest threat.
Running and managing backup jobs
Enabling event-triggered backups
96
Note: If your computer is not online, then it is not susceptible to online threats.
But if you connect your computer to the Internet at any time, it becomes
vulnerable. You do not have to enable or disable Symantec ThreatCon when you
go on or offline. It works if you are online, but does nothing if you are off line.
For more information about Symantec ThreatCon, visit http://www.symantec.com.
Editing a backup schedule
You can edit any of the schedule properties for a defined backup to adjust the date
and time.
To edit a backup schedule
1On the Home page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2Select a backup to edit.
3Click Change Schedule.
4Make changes to the schedule, and then click OK.
Turning off a backup job
You can turn off a backup and re-enable it later. When you turn off a backup, it
will not run according to its defined schedule, if it has one. When a backup is
turned off, triggered events will not run it, nor can you run it manually.
You can also delete a defined backup (not recovery points).
See “Deleting backup jobs”on page 97.
To turn off a backup job
1On the Home or Tasks page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2Select the backup that you want to turn off.
3On the Tasks menu, click Disable Backup.
Repeat this procedure to re-enable the backup. The Disable Backup menu
item changes to Enable Backup when you disable the selected backup.
Deleting backup jobs
You can delete backup jobs when they are no longer needed.
97Running and managing backup jobs
Editing a backup schedule
Deleting a backup job does not delete the recovery points or file and folder backup
data from the storage location. Only the backup job is deleted.
See “Managing recovery point storage”on page 137.
To delete backup jobs
1On the Home page, click Run or Manage Backups.
2Select one or more backups, and then click Remove.
3Click Yes.
Adding users who can back up your computer
You can use the Security Configuration Tool to control which users on your
computer can access and configure key features of Norton Ghost.
For example, all users with Limited Windows accounts can run existing backup
jobs, but they cannot create new jobs or edit existing jobs. However, using the
Security Configuration Tool, you can grant administrative privileges to a Limited
user account. When you do, that user has full access to Norton Ghost and can
create, edit, delete, and run backup jobs.
Note: By default, all users can run existing backup jobs. But only users with
administrative accounts can create, edit, or delete backup jobs.
To add users who can back up a computer
1On the Windows taskbar, click Start > Programs > Symantec Norton Ghost
> Security Configuration Tool.
On Windows Vista, click Start > All Programs > Symantec > Security
Configuration Tool.
2Click Add.
3In the Enter the object names to select box, type the names of the users or
groups you want to add.
4Click OK.
5To delete users or groups, select a user or group, and then click Remove.
6Click OK to apply your changes and close the Security Configuration Tool.
Running and managing backup jobs
Adding users who can back up your computer
98
To configure access rights for users or groups
1On the Windows taskbar, click Start > Programs > Symantec Norton Ghost
> Security Configuration Tool
On Windows Vista and Windows 7, click Start > All Programs > Symantec >
Security Configuration Tool.
2Select a user or group from the Group or user names box.
3Choose from the following options:
DenyAllowPermissions
Select to deny the user or
group administrative
access to the features of
Norton Ghost. They can
run existing backup jobs,
but they cannot create,
edit, or delete them.
Select to give the user or
group full access to all of
the features of Norton
Ghost. Full control gives
users the right to create,
edit, and delete backup
jobs, including existing
jobs.
Full Control
When you deny Status
Only, the user or group
cannot access any of the
features of Norton Ghost.
Select to deny the user or
group administrative
access to the features of
Norton Ghost. They can
run existing backup jobs,
but they cannot create,
edit, or delete them.
Status Only
4Click OK to apply your changes and close the Security Configuration Tool.
99Running and managing backup jobs
Adding users who can back up your computer
Running and managing backup jobs
Adding users who can back up your computer
100
Backing up remote
computers from your
computer
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About backing up other computers from your computer
■Adding computers to the Computer List
■Deploying the Norton Ghost Agent
■Using the Norton Ghost Agent
■About managing the Norton Ghost Agent through Windows Services
■About best practices for using services
■Controlling access to Norton Ghost
About backing up other computers from your
computer
Norton Ghost lets you connect to, and back up a second computer on your home
or your office network. You can manage as many computers as needed, but you
can only manage one computer at a time.
9
Chapter
Note: You must purchase a separate license for each computer you want to manage.
You can deploy the agent without a license for a 60-day evaluation. After that
time, you must purchase and install the license to continue managing the remote
computer. You can purchase additional licenses at the Symantec Global Store.
Visit the following Web site:
http://shop.symantecstore.com
First, you add a computer's name or IP address to the Computer List. Then, you
deploy the Norton Ghost Agent to the remote computer. After the agent is installed,
the computer automatically restarts. After the computer restarts, you can then
connect to the computer. When you do, the Norton Ghost product interface changes
to reflect the status of the remote computer. At any time, you can switch back to
manage your local computer.
Adding computers to the Computer List
Before you can back up drives on a remote computer, you must first add the
computer to the Computer List. You can then quickly switch between your local
computer and any other computer on the list.
To add computers to the Computer List
1On the Norton Ghost menu bar, click Computers >Add.
2Do one of the following:
■Type the name of the computer
■Type the IP address of the computer
If you are in a workgroup environment instead of a domain you must
manually specify the computer name for the computer you want to manage
by browsing to it by using the Browse button.
3If you don't know the name of the computer, or its IP address, click Browse
and search for the computer you want to add, and then click OK.
4Click OK to add the computer to the Computer List.
To add a local computer
1On the Norton Ghost menu bar, click Computers >Add Local Computer.
2Click OK.
Backing up remote computers from your computer
Adding computers to the Computer List
102
To remove a computer from the Computer List
1On the Norton Ghost menu bar, click Computers >Edit List.
2Select the remote computer that you want to remove, click the minus sign
(-), and then click OK.
Note: Removing a computer from the Computer List does not uninstall the
agent from the computer. You must run your operating system's uninstall
program.
Deploying the Norton Ghost Agent
You can deploy the Norton Ghost Agent to the computers that are on the Computer
List by using the Agent Deployment feature. After you install the agent, you can
create backup jobs directly from Norton Ghost.
Note: Because of increased security with Windows Vista, you cannot deploy the
Norton Ghost Agent to Windows Vista without making security configuration
changes. The same issue occurs when you attempt to deploy the agent from
Windows Vista to another computer. You can manually install the agent on the
target computer using the product CD.
Note: If you deselected the Agent Deployment option during installation, this
feature is not available. You can run the installation again, and select the Modify
option to add this feature back in.
Your computer must meet the minimum memory requirement to run the Recover
My Computer wizard or the Recovery Point Browser in Symantec Recovery Disk.
Note: If you install a multilingual version of the product, you must have a minimum
of 768 MB of RAM to run Symantec Recovery Disk.
If your computers are set up in a workgroup environment, you should prepare
your local computer before you deploy an agent.
To prepare a computer in a workgroup environment to deploy the agent
1On the Windows taskbar, right-click Start, and then click Explore.
2On the Tools menu, click Folder Options > View.
103Backing up remote computers from your computer
Deploying the Norton Ghost Agent
3On the View tab, scroll to the end of the list and verify that the Use simple
file sharing check box is not selected, and then click OK.
4On the Windows Control Panel, click Windows Firewall.
5On the Exceptions tab, select File and Printer Sharing, and then click OK.
Note: You should close any open applications before you continue with the agent
installation. If the Reboot check box is selected, the computer will automatically
restart at the end of the installation wizard.
To deploy the Norton Ghost Agent
1On the Norton Ghost menu bar, click Computers > select a computer from
the menu.
You must have administrator rights on the computer to which you are
installing the agent.
2Click Deploy Agent.
3In the Deploy Norton Ghost Agent dialog box, specify the administrator user
name (or a user name that has administrator rights) and the password.
In a workgroup environment, you must specify the remote computer name.
You cannot use an IP address, even if you have successfully connected to the
computer by using an IP address.
For example, type RemoteComputerName\UserName
4If you want to restart the computer when the agent installation is finished,
click Reboot when finished.
Note: The computer cannot be backed up until the computer is restarted.
However, be sure to warn the user of the impending reboot so that they can
save their work.
5Click OK.
To manually install the Norton Ghost Agent
1Insert the Norton Ghost product CD into the media drive of the computer.
The installation program should start automatically.
2If the installation program does not start, on the Windows taskbar, click Start
> Run, type the following command, then click OK.
<drive>:\autorun.exe
Backing up remote computers from your computer
Deploying the Norton Ghost Agent
104
where <drive> is the drive letter of your media drive.
For Windows Vista, if the Run option is not visible, do the following:
■Right-click the Start button, and click Properties.
■On the Start Menu tab, click Customize.
■Scroll down and select Run command.
■Click OK.
3In the CD browser panel, click Install Norton Ghost.
4In the Welcome panel, click Next.
5Read the license agreement, click Iaccept the terms in the license agreement,
and then click Next.
6If you want to change the default location for the program files, click Change,
locate the folder in which you want to install the agent, and then click OK.
7Click Next.
8Click Custom, and then click Next.
9Click Norton GhostService, and then click This feature will be installed on
local hard drive.
This feature is the agent.
10 Set all other features to This feature will not be installed.
11 Click Next, and then click Install.
Using the Norton Ghost Agent
The Norton Ghost Agent is the unseen “engine”that does the actual backing up
and restoring of data on a remote computer. Because the Norton Ghost Agent
functions as a service, it does not have a graphical interface.
See “About managing the Norton Ghost Agent through Windows Services”
on page 106.
See “Controlling access to Norton Ghost ”on page 111.
The Norton Ghost Agent does, however, have a tray icon available from the
Windows system tray to provide feedback of current conditions and to perform
common tasks. For example, you can view backup jobs created for the computer,
reconnect the Norton Ghost Agent, or cancel a task that is currently running.
You can install the agent manually by visiting each computer you want to protect
and install the agent from the product CD. A more efficient method, however, is
105Backing up remote computers from your computer
Using the Norton Ghost Agent
to use the Norton Ghost Deploy Agent feature to remotely install the agent on a
computer in the domain whose data you want to protect.
To use the Norton Ghost Agent
◆On the Windows system tray, do one of the following:
■Right-click the Norton Ghost tray icon, and then click Reconnect to restart
the service automatically.
You cannot run a backup until the service is running.
■If Norton Ghost is installed on the computer, double-click the Norton
Ghost tray icon to start the program.
If only the agent is installed, double-clicking the tray icon only displays
an About dialog box.
■If the computer has Norton Ghost installed, right-click the Norton Ghost
tray icon to display a menu of common Norton Ghost Agent tasks.
About managing the Norton Ghost Agent through
Windows Services
The Norton Ghost Agent is a Windows service that runs in the background.
It provides the following:
■Locally running scheduled backup jobs, even when there are no users, or an
unprivileged user, logged on to the computer
■Allows administrators to remotely back up computers throughout an enterprise
from Norton Ghost running on another computer.
See “Using the Norton Ghost Agent ”on page 105.
To use the features of Norton Ghost, the Norton Ghost Agent must be started and
properly configured. You can use the Windows Services tool to manage and
troubleshoot the agent.
Note: To manage the Norton Ghost Agent, you must be logged on as a local
administrator.
You can manage the Norton Ghost Agent in the following ways:
■Start, stop, or disable the Norton Ghost Agent on local and remote computers.
See “Starting or stopping the Norton Ghost Agent service”on page 108.
■Configure the user name and password that is used by the Norton Ghost Agent.
See “Controlling access to Norton Ghost ”on page 111.
Backing up remote computers from your computer
About managing the Norton Ghost Agent through Windows Services
106
■Set up recovery actions to take place if the Norton Ghost Agent fails to start.
For example, you can restart the Norton Ghost Agent automatically or restart
the computer.
See “Setting up recovery actions when the Norton Ghost Agent does not start”
on page 109.
About best practices for using services
The following table describes some best practices for using services.
Table 9-1 Best practices for using services
DescriptionBest practice
The Events tab in the Advanced view can help you
to track down the source of a problem,
particularly when it is associated with the Norton
Ghost Agent. You should view the most recent log
entries in the Events tab for more information
about the potential causes of the problem.
Check the Events tab first before using
Services.
The Norton Ghost Agent is configured to start
automatically when Norton Ghost starts. You can
view the status information to verify that the
Norton Ghost Agent has started. The Status area
in the Task pane displays a Ready status message
when the agent starts.
You can also test that the Norton Ghost Agent is
starting automatically by looking in Services. You
can check the status and restart the service if
necessary. If the Startup type is set to automatic,
you should restart the agent.
See “Starting or stopping the Norton Ghost Agent
service”on page 108.
Verify that the Norton Ghost Agent
starts without user intervention.
Changing the default Norton Ghost Agent
properties can prevent Norton Ghost from
running correctly. You should use caution when
changing the default Startup type and Log On
settings of the Norton Ghost Agent. It is
configured to start and log on automatically when
you start Norton Ghost .
Use caution when changing default
settings for the Norton Ghost Agent.
107Backing up remote computers from your computer
About best practices for using services
Opening Windows Services
There are several methods you can use to open Windows Services to manage the
Norton Ghost Agent.
To open Services
1Do one of the following:
■On the Windows Control Panel, click Administrative Tools > Services.
■On the Windows taskbar, click Start > Run.
In the Open text field, type services.msc, and then click OK.
2Under the Name column, scroll through the list of services until you see
Norton Ghost (the name of the agent).
Its status should be Started.
See “Starting or stopping the Norton Ghost Agent service”on page 108.
Starting or stopping the Norton Ghost Agent service
To start, stop, or restart the Norton Ghost Agent service, you must be logged on
as an administrator. (If your computer is connected to a network, network policy
settings might prevent you from completing these tasks.)
You might need to start, stop, or restart the Norton Ghost Agent service for the
following reasons:
You should start or restart the agent if Norton Ghost is
unable to connect to the Norton Ghost Agent on a computer,
or you cannot reconnect from Norton Ghost.
Start or Restart
You should restart the agent after you change the user name
or password that you use to log on to the Norton Ghost
Agent service, or you used the Security Configuration Tool
to give additional users the ability to back up computers.
See “Controlling access to Norton Ghost ”on page 111.
Restart
You can stop the agent if you believe it is causing a problem
on the computer, or you want to temporarily free memory
resources.
If you stop the agent, you also prevent all of your drive-based
backups and file and folder backups from running.
Stop
If you stop the Norton Ghost Agent service and then start Norton Ghost, the agent
restarts automatically. The Status changes to Ready.
Backing up remote computers from your computer
About best practices for using services
108
If you stop the Norton Ghost Agent service while Norton Ghost is running, you
receive an error message, and Norton Ghost is disconnected from the agent. In
most cases, you can click Reconnect from the Task pane or from the Tray icon to
restart the Norton Ghost Agent.
To start or stop the Norton Ghost Agent service
1On the Windows taskbar, click Start > Run.
2In the Run window, type services.msc
3Click OK.
4In the Services window, in the Name column, click Norton Ghost.
5On the Action menu, select one of the following:
■Start
■Stop
■Restart
Setting up recovery actions when the Norton Ghost Agent does not
start
You can specify the computer’s response if the Norton Ghost Agent fails to start.
To set up recovery actions when the Norton Ghost Agent does not start
1On the Windows taskbar, click Start > Run.
2In the Run window, type services.msc
3Click OK.
4In the Services window, on the Action menu, click Properties.
109Backing up remote computers from your computer
About best practices for using services
5On the Recovery tab, in the First failure, Second failure, and Subsequent
failures lists, select the action that you want:
Specify the number of minutes before an
attempt to restart the service is made.
Restart the Service
Specify a program to run. You should not
specify any programs or scripts that require
user input.
Run a Program
Click Restart Computer Options, and then
specify how long to wait before restarting
the computer. You can also create a message
that you want to display to remote users
before the computer restarts.
Restart the Computer
6In the Reset fail count after box, specify the number of days that the Norton
Ghost Agent must run successfully before the fail count is reset to zero.
When the fail count is reset to zero, the next failure triggers the action set
for the first recovery attempt.
7Click OK.
Viewing Norton Ghost Agent dependencies
The Norton Ghost Agent depends on other required services to run properly. If a
system component is stopped or is not running properly, the dependent services
can be affected.
If the Norton Ghost Agent fails to start, check the dependencies to ensure that
they are installed and that their Startup type is not set to Disabled.
Note: To view the Startup type setting for each of the interdependent services,
you must select one service at a time and then click Action > Properties > General.
The top list box on the Dependencies tab displays services that are required by
the Norton Ghost Agent to run properly. The bottom list box does not have any
services that need the Norton Ghost Agent to run properly.
The following table lists the services that are required by the Norton Ghost Agent
to run properly, along with their default startup setting.
Backing up remote computers from your computer
About best practices for using services
110
Table 9-2 Required services
Startup typeService
AutomaticEvent Log
AutomaticPlug and Play
AutomaticRemote Procedure Call (RPC)
To view Norton Ghost Agent dependencies
1In the Services window, under Name, click Norton Ghost.
See “Opening Windows Services ”on page 108.
2On the Action menu, click Properties.
3Click the Dependencies tab.
Controlling access to Norton Ghost
You can use the Security Configuration Tool to allow or deny users and groups
the necessary permissions to access the Norton Ghost Agent , or to the full Norton
Ghost user interface.
When you use the Security Configuration Tool, any permission that you grant to
the Users group applies to the members within that group.
Note: The agent service can only be run as LocalSystem or by a user who belongs
to the Adminstrator's group.
The following table describes the permissions that can be allowed or denied for
user and groups who use the Norton Ghost Agent.
Table 9-3 Permission options
DescriptionOption
Gives users or groups complete access to all
Norton Ghost functionality as if they are the
administrator. If you do not want users to define,
change, or delete backups, or to manage recovery
point storage, do not give them Full Control.
Full Control
111Backing up remote computers from your computer
Controlling access to Norton Ghost
Table 9-3 Permission options (continued)
DescriptionOption
Users or groups can get status information, and
can run a backup job. But they cannot define,
change, or delete any backup jobs, or use any
other function of the product.
Status Only
Users cannot perform any function, or see any
information. They are blocked from any access
to Norton Ghost.
Deny
A deny setting takes precedence over an inherited allow setting. For example, a
user who is a member of two groups is denied permissions if the settings for one
of the groups denies permissions. User-denied permissions override group-allow
permissions.
To add users and groups
1On the Windows taskbar, click Start > Programs > Symantec Norton Ghost
> Security Configuration Tool.
2Click Add.
3In the Select Users or Groups dialog box, click Advanced.
4If necessary, click Object Types to select the types of objects that you want.
5If necessary, click Locations to select the location that you want to search.
6Click Find Now, select users and groups you want, and then click OK.
7Click OK when you are finished.
To change permissions for a user or a group
1On the Windows taskbar, click Start > Programs > Symantec Norton Ghost
> Security Configuration Tool.
2In the Permissions for Norton Ghost dialog box, select the user or group whose
permissions you want to change, and then do one of the following:
■To set Full Control permissions, click Allow or Deny for the selected user
or group.
■To set Status Only permissions, click Allow or Deny for the selected user
or group.
3Click OK when you are finished.
Backing up remote computers from your computer
Controlling access to Norton Ghost
112
To remove a user or group
1On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Symantec Norton Ghost >
Security Configuration Tool.
2Select the user or group that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
3Click OK when you are finished.
Running Norton Ghost using different user rights
If the permissions for a user are insufficient for running Norton Ghost, you can
use the Run As feature in Windows to run the product using an account that has
sufficient rights, even if you are not currently logged in with the account.
To perform Run As from Windows
◆Depending on the version of Windows you are running, do one of the following:
■On the Windows taskbar, click Start > Program Files > Norton Ghost.
Right-click Norton Ghost, and then click Run As.
In the Run As dialog box, click The following user to log onto with another
account.
In the User Name and Password boxes, type the account name and
password that you want to use, and then click OK.
■On the Windows taskbar, click Start > All Programs > Norton Ghost >
Norton Ghost.
Click Yes when prompted to add the required privileges.
Enter the password for an administrator account, and then click OK.
113Backing up remote computers from your computer
Controlling access to Norton Ghost
Backing up remote computers from your computer
Controlling access to Norton Ghost
114
Monitoring the status of
your backups
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About monitoring backups
■Monitoring backup protection from the Home page
■Monitoring backup protection from the Status page
■About SNMP traps
■Customizing the status reporting of a drive (or file and folder backups)
■Viewing drive details
■Improving the protection level of a drive
■About using event log information to troubleshoot problems
About monitoring backups
You should monitor your backups to ensure that you can effectively recover lost
data when you need it.
The Home page provides a general status of your backup protection. The Status
page provides details about which drives are protected, as well as a calendar view
of past and future backups.
Note: In addition to ensuring that you back up each drive, carefully review and
follow best practices for backing up your computer.
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Rescanning a computer’s hard disk
Use Refresh to update the drive information that is displayed in various views of
the product. This feature is useful when hard disk configurations have changed
but the changes do not immediately appear in Norton Ghost. For example, adding
hard disk space or creating a partition.
When you use Refresh, Norton Ghost scans all attached hard disks for any
configuration changes. It also updates information on removable media, media
drives, basic drives, file systems, and hard drive letters.
To rescan a computer’s hard disks
◆On the View menu, click Refresh.
The Status Bar at the bottom of the product's window indicates when the
scanning is taking place.
Monitoring backup protection from the Home page
On the Home page, the Backup Status pane provides a summary of the backup
protection status of your computer. For example, if one or more drives are not
included in a defined backup, the background color and status icon changes to
reflect the level of backup protection. The Status Details pane provides
recommendations on which actions you should take.
The following table describes each of the levels of backup protection that the
Home page displays.
Table 10-1 Backup protection levels
DescriptionTitleIcon
At least one drive-based
backup is defined and it runs
on a regular basis.
This status indicates that all
drives, files, and folders can
be fully recovered, if
necessary.
Backed up
Monitoring the status of your backups
Monitoring backup protection from the Home page
116
Table 10-1 Backup protection levels (continued)
DescriptionTitleIcon
A backup is defined, but it is
not scheduled or has not run
for a long time. This status
can indicate that the existing
recovery points are outdated.
It can also indicate that one
or more drives are not
assigned to a defined backup.
A partially protected drive
can be recovered, but if the
recovery points are outdated,
it might not contain the
latest versions of your data.
Partially backed up
No defined backup exists and
no recovery points are
available from which to
recover the drive.
An unprotected drive cannot
be recovered and is at risk.
At risk
The status is being
calculated, or you have not
yet licensed your product.
Either wait a few seconds for
the status to display, or make
sure that you have licensed
your copy of the product.
Status unknown
The drive that displays this
icon is not monitored for
backup status; or, it is
monitored for errors only.
However, there are no errors
to report.
Use the Customize status
reporting feature on the
Status page to change the
status report setting.
No backup protection
assigned
117Monitoring the status of your backups
Monitoring backup protection from the Home page
Monitoring backup protection from the Status page
The Status page lets you monitor the status of your backups. The Status page lists
each drive on your computer and includes a calendar that contains your backup
histories. The calendar lets you quickly identify when a backup ran, and what
type of backup it was. It identifies your upcoming, scheduled backups. It also lists
the file and folder backup history if you have defined one or more file and folder
backups.
Note: You can right-click on any of the calendar icons to access a context-sensitive
menu. These menus offer quick access to related tasks.
Refer to the following table for the meaning of each icon that is displayed in the
Backups calendar.
Table 10-2 Backups calendar icons
StatesDescriptionIcon
This icon can appear in the
following states:
Indicates that the backup ran
and that an independent
recovery point was created.
Indicates that the backup is
unavailable.
Indicates that the backup did
not run as scheduled. This
problem could occur if an
error prevents the backup
from running or if you
manually cancel a backup
before it completes.
Indicates a drive-based
backup that is scheduled to
run at a future time.
Represents a drive-based
backup that is configured to
create a single, independent
recovery point. When this
icon appears in the Backup
timeline, it indicates that a
drive-based backup is
scheduled to occur.
Monitoring the status of your backups
Monitoring backup protection from the Status page
118
Table 10-2 Backups calendar icons (continued)
StatesDescriptionIcon
This icon can appear in the
following states:
Indicates that the backup ran
and that an incremental
recovery point was created.
Indicates that the backup is
unavailable.
Indicates that the backup did
not run as scheduled. This
problem could occur if an
error prevents the backup
from running or if you
manually cancel a backup
before it completes.
Indicates that the backup is
scheduled to run at a future
time.
Represents a drive-based
backup that is configured to
create incremental recovery
points. It indicates that a
drive-based backup is
scheduled to occur on the day
that it appears in the backup
timeline.
119Monitoring the status of your backups
Monitoring backup protection from the Status page
Table 10-2 Backups calendar icons (continued)
StatesDescriptionIcon
This icon can appear in the
following states:
Indicates that the backup ran
and that file and folder
backup data was created
successfully.
Indicates that the backup is
not available.
Indicates that the backup did
not run as scheduled. This
problem could occur if an
error prevents the backup
from running, or if you
manually canceled a backup
before it completed.
Indicates that the backup is
scheduled to run at a future
time.
Represents a file and folder
backup. It indicates that a file
and folder backup is
scheduled to occur on the day
that it appears in the backup
timeline.
Monitoring the status of your backups
Monitoring backup protection from the Status page
120
Table 10-2 Backups calendar icons (continued)
StatesDescriptionIcon
This icon can appear in the
following states:
Indicates that two or more
backups have run and the
last backup was created
successfully.
Indicates that two or more
backups are scheduled and
that at least one is
unavailable.
Indicates that two or more
backups have run and the
last backup was
unsuccessful. This problem
could occur if an error
prevents a backup from
running.
Indicates that the backup is
scheduled to run at a future
time.
Represents two or more
backups are scheduled to run
on the day on which this icon
appears.
To monitor backup protection from the Status page
1On the Status page, review the Backups calendar and verify that the backup
appears on the date that you ran it.
2In the Drives column, select the drive that you want to view.
The status information appears in the bottom half of the Status page.
3Move your mouse over a backup icon in the calendar to review the status of
the backup.
4To move around in the calendar, use one of the following methods:
■Click anywhere in the title bar to navigate quickly to a different point in
time.
121Monitoring the status of your backups
Monitoring backup protection from the Status page
■Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the calendar to scroll backward or
forward in time.
About SNMP traps
You must install and configure the Windows SNMP service on your computer in
order for SNMP traps to work from Norton Ghost.
By default, Norton Ghost is not enabled to send traps to NMS managers. You can
configure Norton Ghost 15.0 to send SNMP traps for different priority and
notification types.
To configure Norton Ghost to send SNMP traps
1From the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Notifications tab.
2Under Notifications are sent to the following, click SNMP trap, and then click
Properties.
3In the SNMP Trap Notification Properties dialog, you can select the priority
and type of notifications that you want for generating the traps. You can also
select the version of SNMP traps to be sent (V1 or V2). Make your selections,
and then click OK.
Norton Ghost 15.0 will now send SNMP traps to all of the destinations set in
the Windows SNMP agent.
About the Norton Ghost management information base
The Norton Ghost management information base (MIB) is an enterprise MIB, and
contains the Norton Ghost 15.0 SNMP trap definitions. All NMS applications have
options to load a MIB, and the Norton Ghost 15.0 MIB can be loaded using any of
those options. Even without loading the MIB, the NMS applications will still receive
and display the traps, but they will not be displayed in informative text. The .MIB
file, named BESR_MIB.MIB, is located in the Support folder on the Norton Ghost
product CD.
Customizing the status reporting of a drive (or file
and folder backups)
You can configure how Norton Ghost reports the status of a particular drive (or
all file and folder backups).
For example, if drive D contains unimportant data and you have chosen not to
include it in a drive-based backup, the status on the Home page continues to report
Monitoring the status of your backups
About SNMP traps
122
that your computer is at risk. You can configure Norton Ghost to ignore drive D
so that it does not calculate the status of drive D in the Backup Status panel on
the Home page.
Or, you can specify that only errors, such as missed or failed backups, are to be
figured in to the status report.
Note: The backup status of each drive is reported throughout the product, wherever
the drive is listed. When you customize status reporting for a drive, the status is
reflected anywhere that the drive is listed in Norton Ghost.
You should first determine how important the data is on a particular drive (or the
data you have included in a file and folder backup) before deciding on the level of
status reporting to assign to it.
To customize the status reporting of a drive (or file and folder backups)
1On the Status page, click a drive (or File and folders) to select it.
You can also click Customize status reporting from the Home page.
2Click Customize status reporting.
3Select one of the following options:
Shows the current status of the selected
drive or file and folder backups on the
Home and Status pages.
Select this option if the data is critical.
Full status reporting
Shows the current status of the selected
drive or file and folder backups only when
errors occur.
Select this option if the data is important,
but you only want the status to report
errors, whenever they occur.
Errors only status reporting
Does not show any status for the selected
drive or file and folder backups.
Select this option if the data is
unimportant and missed or failed backups
do not need to be reported.
No status reporting
4Click OK.
123Monitoring the status of your backups
Customizing the status reporting of a drive (or file and folder backups)
Viewing drive details
The Advanced page lets you view details about your hard drives.
You can view the following drive details:
Displays the name that you assigned to the backup when you defined
it.
Name
Identifies the type of recovery point the backup creates when it runs.Type
Identifies the storage location of the recovery point, or the location
in which the drive should be backed up.
Destination
Displays the day and time when the backup was last run.Last Run
Displays the day and time of the next scheduled backup.Next Run
To view drive details
1On the Advanced page, on the Content Bar, click the Drives tab.
If the Advanced page is not visible on the Primary Navigation Bar, click View
> Show Advanced Page.
2In the Drive column, select a drive.
3Review the Details section below the Drives table.
Improving the protection level of a drive
When the status of a drive-based backup indicates that it needs attention, you
should take steps to improve the status.
You might need to add a drive to an existing backup, edit the schedule of a backup,
edit the settings of a backup, or define a new backup.
See “Best practices for backing up”on page 50.
Monitoring the status of your backups
Viewing drive details
124
To improve the protection level of a drive
1On the Status page, select a drive that requires attention from the Drives
column.
125Monitoring the status of your backups
Improving the protection level of a drive
2In the Status section at the bottom of the page, right-click the backup you
want to edit, and then select one of the following menu items:
Runs the selected backup job immediately.Run Backup Now
Opens the Run Backup With Options dialog, which lets
you select the desired recovery point type. Recovery
point option types include Incremental recovery point,
Recovery point set, and Independent recovery point.
Run Backup With Options
Opens the Run When dialog so that you can edit the
backup schedule.
Change Schedule
Opens the Define Backup Wizard, which lets you edit
the backup definition.
This option takes you to the second page of the wizard.
Edit Settings
Opens the Offsite Copy Settings dialog, where you can
edit or change settings for the Offsite Copy feature.
Edit Offsite
Deletes the backup that you have selected.
When you delete a backup, only the backup definition
is deleted. The backup data is not deleted (for example,
the recovery points or the file and folder backup data).
Remove Backup Job
Turns on or turns off the backup that you have
selected.
Disable (Enable) Backup
Opens the Define Backup Wizard, where you can select
between backing up your computer or backing up
selected files and folders.
This option is useful if a drive in the Drives column is
not yet assigned to a backup. By selecting a drive that
is assigned to an existing backup, you have access to
this short-cut method for starting the Define Backup
Wizard from the Status page.
Define New Backup
Opens the Manage Backup Destination dialog, where
you can specify destination drives as well as delete,
copy, or explore existing recovery points on destination
drives.
Manage Backup Destination
Opens the Customize Status Reporting window, where
you can specify if you want status reporting, and the
type of status reporting.
Customize Status Reporting
Monitoring the status of your backups
Improving the protection level of a drive
126
See “Editing backup settings”on page 95.
About using event log information to troubleshoot
problems
When Norton Ghost performs an action, it records the event (for example, when
a backup job runs). It also records program error messages.
You can use the event log to track down the source of problems or to verify the
successful completion of a backup job.
See “Logging Norton Ghost messages”on page 44.
Log entries provide information about the success or failure of numerous actions
that were taken by Norton Ghost or by a user. It offers a single view of all of the
information and program error messages.
The following information is included in the event log:
Indicates if the event is an error message or other information, such
as the successful completion of a backup job.
Type
Identifies if the message was generated by Norton Ghost or another
program.
Source
Displays the exact date and time that a selected event occurred.Date
Offers additional details about an event that can help you troubleshoot
problems that might have occurred.
Description
127Monitoring the status of your backups
About using event log information to troubleshoot problems
Monitoring the status of your backups
About using event log information to troubleshoot problems
128
Exploring the contents of a
recovery point
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About exploring recovery points
■Exploring a recovery point through Windows Explorer
■Opening and restoring files within a recovery point
■About using a search engine
■Dismounting a recovery point drive
■Viewing the drive properties of a recovery point
About exploring recovery points
You can use Norton Ghost to explore files in a recovery point by assigning it a
drive letter that is visible from Windows Explorer.
You can perform the following tasks on the assigned drive:
■Run ScanDisk (or CHKDSK)
■Perform a virus check
■Copy folders or files to an alternate location
■View disk information about the drive such as used space and free space
■You can also run simple, executable programs that exist within the mounted
recovery point.
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Chapter
You can only run programs from within a mapped recovery point that do not
rely on registry values, COM interfaces, dynamic link libraries (DLLs), or other
similar dependencies.
You can set up a mounted drive as a shared drive. Users on a network can connect
to the shared drive and restore files and folders from the recovery point.
You can mount one or more recovery points at a time. The drives remain mounted
until you unmount them, or you restart the computer. Mounted drives do not take
up extra hard-disk space.
All security on the NTFS volumes remains intact when they are mounted.
You do not need to mount a drive to restore the files or folders from within a
recovery point.
Note: Any data that is written to a mounted recovery point is lost when the
recovery point is unmounted. This data includes any data that is being created,
edited, or deleted at the time.
See “Exploring a recovery point through Windows Explorer”on page 130.
See “Dismounting a recovery point drive”on page 133.
See “Viewing the drive properties of a recovery point”on page 133.
Exploring a recovery point through Windows Explorer
When you explore a recovery point, Norton Ghost mounts the recovery point as
a drive letter and opens it in Windows Explorer.
For each drive that is included in the recovery point, a new mounted drive letter
is created. For example, if your recovery point contains backups of drives C and
D, two newly mounted drives appear (for example, E and F). The mounted drives
include the original drive labels of the drives that were backed up.
To explore a recovery point through Windows Explorer
1On the Tasks page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2Select the recovery point or recovery point set that you want to explore, and
then click Explore.
3If you select a recovery point set that contains more than one recovery point,
in the Range list, select a recovery point, and then click OK.
Exploring the contents of a recovery point
Exploring a recovery point through Windows Explorer
130
Mounting a recovery point from Windows Explorer
You can also manually mount a recovery point as a drive by opening your backup
destination folder in Windows Explorer.
You can use Windows Explorer to search the contents of the recovery point. For
example, if you cannot remember where a particular file was originally stored,
you can use the Explorer search feature to locate the file, just as you would locate
a file on your hard drive.
To mount a recovery point from Windows Explorer
1In Windows Explorer, navigate to a recovery point.
The recovery point is located in the storage location that you selected when
you defined your backup.
2Right-click the recovery point, and then click Mount.
3In the Mount Recovery Point window, under the Drive Label column, select
the drive that you want to mount.
4In the Drive letter list, select the letter that you want to associate with the
drive.
5Click OK.
6To mount additional drives, repeat steps 1-5 above.
Opening and restoring files within a recovery point
Using the Recovery Point Browser, you can open files within a recovery point.
The file opens in the program that is associated with that file type. You can also
restore files either by saving them using the application associated with them, or
by using the Recover Files button in the Recovery Point Browser.
If the file type is not associated with a program, the Microsoft Open With dialog
box is displayed. You can then select the correct program for opening the file.
Note: You cannot view encrypted file system (EFS) NTFS volumes.
To open files within a recovery point
1On the Tools page, click Run Recovery Point Browser.
2Navigate to your backup destination folder, select the recovery point file that
you want to browse, and then click Open.
3In the Recovery Point Browser, in the tree panel on the left, select a drive.
131Exploring the contents of a recovery point
Opening and restoring files within a recovery point
4In the right content panel, double-click the folder that contains the file that
you want to view.
5Right-click the file that you want to view, and then click View File.
The View option is unavailable if you select a program file that has a .exe,
.dll, or .com file extension.
To restore files within a recovery point
1On the Tools page, click Run Recovery Point Browser.
2Navigate to your backup destination folder, select the recovery point file you
want to browse, and then click Open.
3In the Recovery Point Browser, select a drive in the tree panel (on the left).
4In the content panel (on the right), double-click a folder that contains the file
you want to view.
5Do one of the following:
■Right-click the file you want to view and click View File.
The View option is dimmed (unavailable) if you selected a program file
that has a .exe, .dll, or .com file extension.
■Select one or more files, click Recover Files, and then click Recover to
restore them to their original location.
If prompted, click Yes or Yes to All to overwrite the existing (original)
files.
About using a search engine
If you have a desktop search engine, such as Google Desktop, you can configure
your backups to create recovery points that are searchable.
Note: If your organization uses Symantec Backup Exec Web Retrieve, it is likely
that your network administrator has already enabled this feature.
You can configure your backups to support one of these search engines. Be sure
to select the Enable search engine support at the time you define the backup.
See “To define a drive-based backup”on page 60.
See “About using a search engine to search recovery points”on page 201.
Exploring the contents of a recovery point
About using a search engine
132
Dismounting a recovery point drive
All of your mounted recovery point drives are unmounted when you restart the
computer. You can also unmount the drives without restarting the computer.
To dismount a recovery point drive in Windows Explorer
1In Windows Explorer, navigate to the mounted recovery point.
2Right-click the drive, and then click Dismount Recovery Point.
To dismount a recovery point drive in Recovery Point Browser
1In the Recovery Point Browser, in the tree view, locate the mounted recovery
point.
2Right-click the mounted recovery point, and then click Dismount Recovery
Point.
Viewing the drive properties of a recovery point
You can view the following drive properties of a recovery point:
A user-assigned comment that is associated with the recovery
point.
Description
The original drive letter that was assigned to the drive.Original drive letter
The cluster size (in bytes) of the FAT, FAT32, or NTFS drive.Cluster size
The file system type used within the drive. For example, FAT,
FAT32, or NTFS.
File system
The selected drive's status as either a primary partition or a
logical partition.
Primary/Logical
The total size (in MB) of the drive. This total includes used space
and unused space.
Size
The amount of used space (in MB) within the drive.Used space
The amount of unused space (in MB) within the drive.Unused space
Indicates if there are any bad sectors on the drive.Contains bad sectors
Indicates whether the database application quiesced properly
when a recovery point was created.
Cleanly quiesced
133Exploring the contents of a recovery point
Dismounting a recovery point drive
To view the drive properties of a recovery point
1In the Recovery Point Browser, in the tree panel, click the recovery point that
contains the drive that you want to view.
2Select a drive.
3Do one of the following:
■On the File menu, click Properties.
■Right-click the recovery point, and then click Properties.
Exploring the contents of a recovery point
Viewing the drive properties of a recovery point
134
Managing backup
destinations
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About backup destinations
■About how backup data works
■Managing recovery point storage
■Running a one-time virtual conversion
■Defining a virtual conversion job
■About managing file and folder backup data
■Automating management of backup data
■Moving your backup destination
About backup destinations
Abackup destination is the location in which your backup data is stored.
Norton Ghost includes features for managing the size of your backup destinations
so that you can use your computer's valuable disk space for other purposes.
About how backup data works
Norton Ghost offers two backup methods:
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Chapter
Use this option to back up an entire drive (for example, your
system drive which is typically C). You can then restore any
file, folder, or your entire drive.
Drive-based backup
Use this option to back up only the files and folders that
you select. You can then restore any file or all of them at
any time.
This option typically requires less disk space than
drive-based backups.
File and folder backup
About drive-based backups
When you run a drive-based backup, a snapshot of everything is taken and stored
on your computer's hard disk. Each snapshot is stored on your computer as a
recovery point. A recovery point is a point in time that is used to restore your
computer back to the way it was when the recovery point was created.
The types of recovery points are as follows:
Creates a complete, independent copy of the drives that you
select. This backup type typically requires more storage
space.
Independent recovery point
(.v2i)
Includes a base recovery point. A base recovery point is a
complete copy of your entire drive, and is similar to an
independent recovery point. The recovery point set also
includes recovery points that capture only the changes that
are made to your computer since the creation of the base
recovery point.
Recovery point set (.iv2i)
Although you can recover files and folders from a drive-based backup, you cannot
select a specific set of files or folders to back up. Your entire hard drive is backed
up.
About file and folder backups
If you want to edit or create a select set of personal documents and folders and
you do not want to use hard disk resources to back up your entire computer, you
can define a file and folder backup. Or, you might want to define a file and folder
backup to capture one or more folders that contain the files that you change on
a regular basis.
File and folder backups let you select individual files or folders to back up. You
can also specify a file type to back up and let Norton Ghost locate and back up all
files of the type you specified. For example, if you have Microsoft Word documents
Managing backup destinations
About how backup data works
136
stored at several locations on your computer, Norton Ghost locates all Word
documents (files that end with .doc) and includes them in your backup. You can
even edit the list of file types to include types unique to the software you use.
Norton Ghost also keeps multiple versions of the same files for you, so that you
can restore the version of a file that contains the changes you need to restore.
You can even set a limit to the number of versions that are kept so that you can
control the use of disk space.
Managing recovery point storage
Norton Ghost includes several features that help you manage your backup data.
The key is to prevent backup data from taking lots of hard disk space on your
computer. And, to also provide adequate backup protection in the event that you
need to recover your computer, files, or folders.
See “Defining a virtual conversion job”on page 147.
See “Running a one-time virtual conversion”on page 141.
To manage recovery point storage manually
1On the Tools page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2From the Manage Backup Destination window, you can do any of the following
tasks:
■Clean Up
See “Cleaning up old recovery points”on page 138.
■Move
See “Moving your backup destination”on page 157.
■Settings
See “Automating management of backup data”on page 156.
■Delete
See “Deleting a recovery point set”on page 138.
See “Deleting recovery points within a set”on page 139.
■Copy
See “Making copies of recovery points”on page 139.
■Explore
See “About exploring recovery points”on page 129.
137Managing backup destinations
Managing recovery point storage
Cleaning up old recovery points
Over time, you might end up with recovery points that you no longer need. For
example, you might have several recovery points created months ago that you no
longer need because you have more current ones containing your latest work.
See “Automating management of backup data”on page 156.
The Clean Up feature deletes all but the most current recovery point set, to help
make more space available on your hard disk.
Note: After a recovery point is deleted, you no longer have access to the files or
system recovery from that point in time. You should explore the contents of the
recovery point before you delete it.
See “Opening and restoring files within a recovery point”on page 131.
See “About exploring recovery points”on page 129.
To clean up old recovery points
1On the Tools page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2Click Clean Up.
The recovery point sets that can be safely removed without eliminating your
latest recovery point are selected automatically. You can select or deselect
the recovery point sets to specify which ones to remove.
3Click Delete.
4Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
5Click OK.
Deleting a recovery point set
If you know that you no longer want a particular recovery point set, you can delete
it at any time.
Note: After you delete a recovery point, you no longer have access to file or system
recovery for that point in time.
To delete a recovery point set
1On the Tools page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2Select the recovery point set that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
Managing backup destinations
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138
3Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
4Click OK.
Deleting recovery points within a set
A recovery point set can contain multiple recovery points created over time that
you can delete to reclaim storage space.
The Delete Points option lets you delete all of the recovery points created between
the first recovery point and last recovery point in the set.
Warning: Be careful about which recovery points you choose to delete. You could
inadvertently lose data. For example, you create a new document, which is captured
in the third recovery point in a recovery point set. You then accidentally delete
the file, which is captured by the fourth recovery point. If you delete the third
recovery point, you permanently lose the version of the file that was backed up.
If you are unsure, you should explore the contents of a recovery point before you
delete it.
See “Opening and restoring files within a recovery point”on page 131.
You can manually select which recovery points to remove, if you know which
recovery points that you want to keep within a set.
To delete recovery points within a set
1On the Tools page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2Select the recovery point set that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
3Do one of the following:
■To automatically delete all but the first and last recovery point in the set,
click Automatic.
■To manually select which recovery points in the set to delete, click Manual,
and then select the recovery points you want to delete.
■To delete all the recovery points in the set you selected, click Delete all
recovery points in the set.
4Click OK.
Making copies of recovery points
You can copy recovery points to another location for added security. For example,
you can copy them to another hard disk, another computer on a network, or on
139Managing backup destinations
Managing recovery point storage
removable media such as DVDs or CDs. You can then store these copies in a
protected location.
You can also create archive copies of your recovery points to free up disk space.
For example, you can copy recovery points to a CD or DVD, and then manually
delete the original recovery points. You should verify the copies of the recovery
points to ensure that they are on the disk and are valid.
To make copies of recovery points
1On the Tools page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2Select a recovery point set or an independent recovery point, and then click
Copy.
3Select which recovery point to copy, and then click OK.
4On the Welcome page of the Copy Recovery Point Wizard, click Next.
5Select the recovery point that you want to copy.
Recovery point sets appear as single recovery points. Select View all recovery
points to display all incremental recovery points that are included within
the recovery point sets.
6Click Next.
7Do one of the following:
■In the Folder box, type the path to which you want to copy the recovery
point.
■Click Browse to locate the folder to which you want to copy the recovery
point, and then click OK.
8Select a level of compression for the copies of the recovery points.
See “Compression levels for drive-based backups”on page 74.
9If you want to verify whether a recovery point is valid after the copy is
complete, select Verify recovery point after creation.
10 Click Advanced, and then select from the following options.
You can split the recovery point into
smaller files and specify the maximum
size (in MB) for each file.
For example, if you plan to copy a
recovery point to ZIP disks from your
backup destination, specify a file size of
100 MB or less, according to the size of
each ZIP disk.
Divide into smaller files to simplify
archiving
Managing backup destinations
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140
This option sets a password on the
recovery point. Passwords can include
standard characters, not extended
characters, or symbols. (Use characters
with an ASCII value of 128 or lower.)
A user must type this password before
they can restore a backup or view the
contents of the recovery point.
Use password
You can encrypt your recovery point data
to add another level of protection to your
recovery points.
You can choose from the following
encryption levels:
■Low (8+ character password)
■Medium (16+ character password)
■High (32+ character password).
Use AES encryption
11 Click OK.
12 Click Next, review the options that you selected, and then click Finish.
After the recovery points are safely copied, you can delete them from your
computer.
See “Deleting a recovery point set”on page 138.
Running a one-time virtual conversion
You can use Norton Ghost to convert recovery points of a physical computer to
VMware Virtual Disk, Microsoft Virtual Disk, or a VMware ESX Server. Virtual
disks are excellent for testing and evaluation purposes.
The following platforms support virtual disks created from recovery points:
■VMware Workstation 4, 5, and 6
■VMware ESX Server 3.0, 3.5, 3.5i, 4.0, and 4.0i
■VMware Server 1
■Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 and later
■Microsoft Hyper-V 1.0 and 2.0
You can also create scheduled recovery point conversions to virtual disks.
See “Defining a virtual conversion job”on page 147.
141Managing backup destinations
Running a one-time virtual conversion
To run a one-time recovery point conversion to virtual disk
1On the Tasks page, click One Time Virtual Conversion.
2Click the virtual disk type (and version, if applicable) that you want to create,
and then click Next.
3Do one of the following:
■Click View all recovery points near the bottom of the pane, and then
select a recovery point in the list based on its creation date.
■In the View by list, select one of the following alternative recovery point
sources:
Displays all of the discovered recovery points in the order in
which they were created.
■If no recovery points are discovered, the table is empty. In
such cases, you can select an alternate date by using the
drop-down calendar.
■Select a recovery point from the list.
Date
Lets you browse to another recovery point location. For example,
you can browse an external (USB) drive, network location, or
removable media to select a recovery point (.v2i) or incremental
recovery point (.iv2i) file.
Select this option, and then do the following:
■Click Browse, locate and select a recovery point, and then
click Open.
■If you selected a recovery point that is stored on a network,
type your network credentials.
See “About network credentials”on page 68.
File name
Managing backup destinations
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142
Uses the current system index file that is located in the recovery
point storage location. The system index file displays a list of all
of the drives on your computer and any associated recovery
points from which you can select.
Or, you can select an alternate system index file (.sv2i) that
resides elsewhere, such as a network location. The use of a system
index file reduces the time it takes to convert multiple recovery
points. When a recovery point is created, a system index file is
saved with it. The system index file contains a list of the most
recent recovery points, which includes the original drive location
of each recovery point.
Select this option, and then do one of the following:
■Click Use latest recovery points for this computer.
The list of drives, source files (.v2i and .iv2i files), and dates
comes from the most current system index file (.sv2i) that is
located in the recovery point storage location on your
computer.
■Click Use alternate system index (*.sv2i) file .
Click Browse, locate and select an alternate system index file
(.sv2i), and then click Open.
If you selected a system index file that is stored on a network,
type your network credentials.
See “About network credentials”on page 68.
Select the recovery points that you want to convert in the list
box.
System
4Click Next.
5Do one of the following based on the virtual disk format and version (if
applicable) that you selected:
143Managing backup destinations
Running a one-time virtual conversion
■Folder for virtual disks
Type the path to the folder where you want to place
the virtual disk files.
■Browse
Click Browse to locate the folder in which you want
to place the virtual disk files.
■Network Credentials
If you selected a virtual disk folder location on a
network, type your network credentials.
■Create one virtual disk per volume
Select this option to create one virtual disk file per
volume.
If you do not select this option, each drive is
matched to its respective hard drive letter
assignment during the conversion. Therefore, it
results in multiple drives within one virtual disk
file.
This option is not available if the volumes are on
separate disks.
■Rename
To edit the name of the resulting virtual disk file,
select the file name in the list near the bottom of
the pane.
Click Rename, and then type the new file name.
If you selected VMware
Virtual Disk or Microsoft
Virtual Disk as the
conversion format.
Managing backup destinations
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144
■ESX server name or IP address
Type the name of the server or the server's IP
address.
■ESX Server Credentials
In the ESX Server Credentials group box, type a
valid administrator user name that has sufficient
rights. Type a valid password.
■Destination for the virtual disks
Type the path to the folder where you want to place
the virtual disk files.
■Rename
To edit the name of the resulting virtual disk file,
select the file name in the list near the bottom of
the pane.
Click Rename, and then type the new file name.
Click Next.
■Temporary location for conversion
Type the name of the server or the server's IP
address that you can use as a temporary location
for files.
■Temporary Location Credentials
If you selected a temporary location for files on a
network, type a valid administrator user name that
has sufficient rights. Type a valid password.
If you selected VMware ESX
Server as the conversion
format.
6Click Next.
7Select one or more of the following options:
145Managing backup destinations
Running a one-time virtual conversion
Select this option (default) to run
Windows Mini-Setup when you restart the
computer after recovery.
During recovery a text-based answer file
is generated that scripts the answers for
a series of dialog boxes. When the
Mini-Setup wizard starts, it looks for this
answer to automate the wizard. For
example, the answer file, by way of the
wizard, can automatically apply network
card settings and other hardware and
software settings on the computer.
Unlike Windows Welcome which can take
up to 60 minutes or more to set up
Windows, Mini-Setup takes about six
minutes. Specific information, including
accepting the End–User License
Agreement, entering the Product Key, user
name, and company name are
automatically applied by Mini-Setup
which uses the answer file.
Deselect this option if you want any of the
following to occur at the time of recovery
instead:
■Run Windows Welcome instead
Mini-Setup
■You do not want to change any of the
configurable options for which the
Mini-Setup wizard changes for you at
the time of recovery. This ensures that
the computer is recovered to its
original state prior to recovery.
For more detailed information about
Mini-Setup. you can perform a search for
"Mini-Setup" on the Microsoft Help and
Support Web site.
Run Windows Mini-Setup
Managing backup destinations
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146
Select this option if you want to split the
virtual disk into multiple 2 GB .vmdk files.
For example, use this option if your virtual
disk is stored on a FAT32 drive (any file
system that does not support files larger
than 2 GB). Or, if you want to copy the
virtual disk files to a DVD but the size is
larger than the DVD allows.
Note: This option is specific to VMware;
it is not available if you selected Microsoft
Virtual Disk as the conversion format.
Split virtual disk into 2 GB (.vmdk) files
8Click Next.
9Review the summary of the choices you made.
If you need to make any changes, click Back.
10 Click Finish.
Defining a virtual conversion job
You can create a schedule to convert recovery points and incremental recovery
points to a VMware Virtual Disk or a Microsoft Virtual Disk. You can also convert
recovery points directly to VMware ESX Server. Virtual disks are excellent for
testing and evaluation purposes.
The following platforms support virtual disks created from recovery points:
■VMware Workstation 4, 5, and 6
■VMware ESX 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0
■VMware ESXi 3.5 and 4.0
■VMware Server 1
■VMware GSX Server 3.x (replaced by VMware Server)
■Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 and later
■Microsoft Hyper-V 1.0 and 2.0
Scheduled conversions use the system index file (.sv2i) to convert recovery points
to virtual disks. The .sv2i file reduces the time it takes to convert multiple recovery
points. When a recovery point is created, a .sv2i file is saved with it. The .sv2i file
contains a list of the most recent recovery points, which includes the original
drive location of each recovery point.
147Managing backup destinations
Defining a virtual conversion job
You can also create a one-time virtual conversion.
See “Running a one-time virtual conversion”on page 141.
See “Viewing the properties of a virtual conversion job”on page 153.
See “Viewing the progress of a virtual conversion job”on page 153.
See “Editing a virtual conversion job”on page 153.
See “Running an existing virtual conversion job immediately”on page 153.
See “Deleting a virtual conversion job”on page 154.
To define a virtual conversion job
1On the Tasks page, click Run or Manage Virtual Conversions.
2On the toolbar, click Define New.
3Click the virtual disk type (and version, if applicable) that you want to create,
and then click Next.
4Do one of the following:
■Click Use latest recovery points for this computer.
The list of drives, source files (.v2i and .iv2i files), and dates comes from
the most current system index file (.sv2i) that is located in the recovery
point storage location on your computer.
■Click Use alternate system index (*.sv2i) file .
Click Browse, locate and select an alternate system index file (.sv2i), and
then click Open.
If you selected a system index file that is stored on a network, type your
network credentials.
See “About network credentials”on page 68.
Select the recovery points that you want to convert in the list box.
5Click Next.
6Do one of the following based on the virtual disk format and version (if
applicable) that you selected:
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Defining a virtual conversion job
148
■Folder for virtual disks
Type the path to the folder where you
want to place the virtual disk files.
■Browse
Click Browse to locate the folder in
which you want to place the virtual
disk files.
■Network Credentials
If you selected a virtual disk folder
location on a network, type your
network credentials.
■Rename
To edit the name of the resulting
virtual disk file, select the file name in
the list near the bottom of the pane.
Click Rename, and then type the new
file name.
If you selected VMware Virtual Disk or
Microsoft Virtual Disk as the conversion
format.
149Managing backup destinations
Defining a virtual conversion job
■ESX server name or IP address
Type the name of the server or the
server's IP address.
■ESX Server Credentials
In the ESX Server Credentials group
box, type a valid administrator user
name that has sufficient rights. Type
a valid password.
■Destination for the virtual disks
Type the path to the folder where you
want to place the virtual disk files.
■Rename
To edit the name of the resulting
virtual disk file, select the file name in
the list near the bottom of the pane.
Click Rename, and then type the new
file name.
Click Next.
■Temporary location for conversion
Type the name of the server or the
server's IP address that you can use as
a temporary location for files.
■Temporary Location Credentials
If you selected a temporary location
for files on a network, type a valid
administrator user name that has
sufficient rights. Type a valid
password.
If you selected VMware ESX Server as the
conversion format.
7Click Next.
8Type a name for the conversion job. Or, you can use the default name.
9Select one or more of the following options.
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150
Select this option (default) to run
Windows Mini-Setup when you restart the
computer after recovery.
During recovery a text-based answer file
is generated that scripts the answers for
a series of dialog boxes. When the
Mini-Setup wizard starts, it looks for this
answer to automate the wizard. For
example, the answer file, by way of the
wizard, can automatically apply network
card settings and other hardware and
software settings on the computer.
Unlike Windows Welcome which can take
up to 60 minutes or more to set up
Windows, Mini-Setup takes about six
minutes. Specific information, including
accepting the End–User License
Agreement, entering the Product Key, user
name, and company name are
automatically applied by Mini-Setup
which uses the answer file.
Deselect this option if you want any of the
following to occur at the time of recovery
instead:
■Run Windows Welcome instead
Mini-Setup
■You do not want to change any of the
configurable options for which the
Mini-Setup wizard changes for you at
the time of recovery. This ensures that
the computer is recovered to its
original state prior to recovery.
For more detailed information about
Mini-Setup. you can perform a search for
"Mini-Setup" on the Microsoft Help and
Support Web site.
Run Windows Mini-Setup
151Managing backup destinations
Defining a virtual conversion job
Select this option if you want to split the
virtual disk into multiple 2 GB .vmdk files.
For example, use this option if your virtual
disk is stored on a FAT32 drive (any file
system that does not support files larger
than 2 GB). Or, if you want to copy the
virtual disk files to a DVD but the size is
larger than the DVD allows.
Note: This option is specific to VMware;
it is not available if you selected Microsoft
Virtual Disk as the conversion format.
Split virtual disk into multiple 2 GB
(.vmdk) files
10 Click Next.
11 In the Conversion Time panel, select one of the following, and then click Next:
Select this option to run the conversion only when you
run it yourself, manually.
No Schedule
Select this option to run the conversion at the specified
start time and on the days of the week that you select.
■Run more than once per day
Select this option if you want to convert recovery
points multiple times throughout a day, and then
specify the following options:
■Time between conversions
Select the amount of time to elapse before the
next conversion.
■Number of times
Specify the number of times that you want the
conversion to occur, beginning from the
specified start time.
Weekly
Select this option to run the conversion at the time and
on the days of the month that you specify.
Monthly
Select this option to run the conversion one time on
the date and at the time that you specify.
Only run once
12 If you want to run the new conversion job immediately, click Runconversion
now.
13 Click Finish.
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Defining a virtual conversion job
152
Running an existing virtual conversion job immediately
After you create a conversion job, you can use Run Now to create an on-demand
recovery point conversion to virtual disk format. A manual conversion starts
immediately.
To run an existing virtual conversion job immediately
1On the Tasks page, click Run or Manage Virtual Conversions.
2Select the name of a conversion job that you want to run immediately.
3On the toolbar, click Run Now.
Viewing the properties of a virtual conversion job
You can use Properties for a selected virtual conversion job to review a summary
of the settings, options, and assigned schedule.
To view the properties of a virtual conversion job
1On the Tasks page, click Run or Manage Virtual Conversions.
2Select the name of a conversion job whose properties you want to view.
3On the Tasks menu, click Properties.
4Click OK.
Viewing the progress of a virtual conversion job
You can view the progress of a virtual conversion while it runs to determine how
much time remains until the conversion completes.
To view the progress of a virtual conversion job
◆Do one of the following:
■On the View menu, click Progress and Performance.
■On the Tasks page, click Run or Manage Virtual Conversions, and then
on the View menu, click Progress and Performance.
Editing a virtual conversion job
You can edit the schedule portion of an existing conversion job or you can edit all
aspects of the job.
153Managing backup destinations
Defining a virtual conversion job
To edit a virtual conversion job
1On the Tasks page, click Run or Manage Virtual Conversions.
2Select the name of a conversion job that you want to edit.
3Do one of the following:
On the toolbar, click Change Schedule.
Make changes to the conversion schedule,
and then click OK.
To change the schedule
On the toolbar, click Edit Settings.
Make the changes you want in each wizard
pane, and then click Finish.
To change the job settings
Deleting a virtual conversion job
You can delete conversion jobs you no longer need or use.
When you delete a conversion job, no recovery points or virtual disks are deleted
from the storage location. Only the conversion job itself is deleted.
To delete a virtual conversion job
1On the Tasks page, click Run or Manage Virtual Conversions.
2Select the names of one or more conversion jobs that you want to delete.
3On the toolbar, click Remove.
4Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
About managing file and folder backup data
Because drive-based backups capture your entire hard drive, the size of a recovery
point is typically much larger than the data that is captured during the file and
folder backups. However, file and folder backup data can take up significant disk
space if it is not managed. For example, audio files, video files, and photographs
are typically large files.
You must decide how many versions of backup files that you want to keep. This
decision can depend on how frequently you change the content of your files and
how frequently you run the backups.
Managing backup destinations
About managing file and folder backup data
154
Viewing how much file and folder backup data is stored
Start by viewing the total amount of file and folder backup data you currently
store.
To view how much file and folder backup data is stored
1On the Tools page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2To select an alternate backup destination, in the Drives list, select another
drive to use as a backup destination.
3Near the bottom of the Manage Backup Destination window, view the Space
used for file and folder storage box to see how much storage space is currently
used.
Limiting the number of file versions to keep
You can manage your file and folder backup data by limiting the number of
versions of backup files that you keep. This kind of maintenance can significantly
reduce the amount of disk space required, especially if the files are large, as is
often the case with audio and video files.
To limit the number of file versions to keep
1On the Tools page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2Click Settings.
3Select Limit file versions for file and folder backups, and then type a number
between 1 and 99.
4You can also select Monitor disk space usage for backup storage, and then
specify a limit to the total amount of disk space that can be used for both
recovery points and file and folder backup data.
See “Automating management of backup data”on page 156.
5Click OK.
Manually deleting files from your file and folder backup
You can manually delete the files that are stored in your backup destination.
To manually delete files from your file and folder backup
1On the Home or Tasks page, click Recover My Files.
2Do one of the following:
■In the Find files to recover box, type the file name of the file that you want
to delete, and then click Search.
155Managing backup destinations
About managing file and folder backup data
■If you don't know the name of the file, click Search to return a list of all
of the files that have been backed up, and then browse for the file.
3Click View All Versions to display all versions of each file that exist in the
file and folder backup data.
4Select one or more files that you want to delete.
5Right-click, and then click Delete.
Finding versions of a file or folder
You can use Windows Explorer to view information about the available versions
that are included in a file and folder backup.
You can specify a limit to the number of versions of each file or folder that is
stored in file and folder backup data.
See “Limiting the number of file versions to keep”on page 155.
To find versions of a file or folder
1Open Windows Explorer.
2Navigate to a file that you know is included in a file and folder backup.
3Right-click the file, and then click Show Versions.
Automating management of backup data
Norton Ghost can monitor your backup storage space and notify you when it gets
full. It can also automatically delete old recovery points and older versions of files
from file and folder backups that exceed the threshold. If you do not specify a
threshold, Norton Ghost notifies you when the disk reaches 90 percent of its total
capacity.
To automate management of backup data
1On the Tools page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2Select Limit file versions for file and folder backups, and then type a number
between 1 and 99.
3Select Monitordiskspaceusageforbackup storage, and then drag the slider
to limit the total amount of disk space that can be used for your recovery
points and your file and folder backup data.
4Do one of the following:
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Automating management of backup data
156
■Select Warnmewhenbackupstorage exceedsthreshold if you only want
to be notified when the storage size is exceeded, but you do not want any
action to be taken.
■Select Automatically optimize storage if you want Norton Ghost to
manage the backup data automatically, without prompting you.
If you select this option, Norton Ghost automatically deletes the old
recovery points and limits file versions to remain within the threshold
that you set.
5Select Delay changes until next backup if you do not want to apply your
changes until the next backup runs.
6Click OK.
Moving your backup destination
You can change the backup destination for your recovery points and move your
existing recovery points to a new location. For example, suppose you install an
external hard drive for storing your backup data. You can then change the backup
destination for one or more backups to the new drive.
When you select a new location, you can also choose to move the existing recovery
points to the new destination. All future recovery points for the backups that you
select are created at the new location.
Note: If you want to move your backup destination to a new internal or external
hard drive, make sure the drive is properly installed or connected before you
proceed.
To move your backup destination
1On the Tools page, click Manage Backup Destination.
2In the Manage Backup Destination window, in the Drives list, select the drive
that contains the backup destination that you want to move.
3Click Move.
4In the Move Backup Destination dialog box, do one of the following:
■In the New backup destination box, type the path to the new backup
destination.
■Click Browse to locate and select a new backup destination, and then click
OK.
157Managing backup destinations
Moving your backup destination
5Select the defined backups that should use the new backup destination.
Deselect the defined backups that you do not want to move.
6Select Save as default backup destination if you want to use this destination
as the default backup destination for any new backups that you define in the
future.
7Click OK.
8To move existing recovery points to the new backup destination, select Move
recovery points, and then do one of the following:
■Select Move the latest recovery points for each backup and delete the
rest.
■Select Move all recovery points to the new destination.
9If you have file and folder backup data that you want to move to the new
backup destination, click Move file backup data.
The Move File Backup Data option is not available if no file and folder backup
data is found at the original backup destination.
10 Click OK.
Managing backup destinations
Moving your backup destination
158
Recovering files, folders, or
entire drives
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About recovering lost data
■Recovering files and folders by using file and folder backup data
■Recovering files and folders using a recovery point
■Recovering a secondary drive
■Restoring using LightsOut Restore
About recovering lost data
Norton Ghost can restore lost files, folders, or entire drives by using recovery
points or file and folder backup data.
You must have either a recovery point or file and folder backup data to recover
lost files and folders. You must have a recovery point to recover an entire drive.
To recover recent changes that were made to a lost file or folder, your backup
data must be at least as current as the changes that were made to the lost file or
folder.
Recovering files and folders by using file and folder
backup data
If you defined a file and folder backup and need to recover files, you can recover
them from a recent file and folder backup.
13
Chapter
Norton Ghost includes a search tool to help you locate the files that you want to
recover.
To recover files and folders by using file and folder backup data
1On the Home or Tasks page, click Recover My Files.
2In the left pane of the Recover My Files window, select File and Folder as the
search method.
3Do one of the following:
■In the Find files to recover search box, type the whole name or partial
name of a file or folder that you want to restore, and then click Search.
For example, type recipe to return any file or folder that includes the word
recipe in its name such as Chocolate Cheesecake Recipes.doc, Cathy Read
Recipes.xls, Recipes for Success.mp3, and so forth.
■Click Advanced Search, type your search criteria, and then click Search.
To return to the standard search text box, click Basic search.
4In the search results list box, select the files that you want to restore by using
one of the following methods:
Click the file once.To select a single file
Press Ctrl+A.To select all files
Click the top file, press and hold Shift, and
then click the last file in the group.
To select a group of files that are next to
each other
Press and hold Ctrl while you select the
files that you want.
To select a group of files that are not next
to each other
5Click Recover Files.
6In the Recover My Files dialog box, do one of the following:
■Click Original folders to restore your files to the same folder where they
existed when they were backed up.
If you want to replace the original files, select Overwrite existing files. If
you do not select this option, a number is added to the file name The
original file is untouched.
Caution: The Overwrite existing files option replaces your original files
(or the files of the same names that are currently stored at that location)
with the files that you are restoring.
Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Recovering files and folders by using file and folder backup data
160
■Click Recovered Files folder on the desktop to restore your files to a
Recovered Files folder on your Windows desktop.
Norton Ghost creates this folder during the restore.
■Click Alternatefolder and type the path to the location in which you want
to restore your files.
7Click Recover.
8If you are prompted to replace the existing file, click Yes if you are certain
that the file that you are recovering is the file that you want.
9Click OK.
Recovering files and folders using a recovery point
You can also restore files or folders using recovery points, provided you have
defined and run a drive-based backup.
To recover files and folders using a recovery point
1On the Home or Tasks page, click Recover My Files
2In the left pane of the Recover My Files window, select Recovery Point as
the search method.
3If you want to use a different recovery point than the one selected for you in
the Recovery Point box, click Change.
Note: If Norton Ghost cannot locate any recovery points, the Select Recovery
Point dialog box opens automatically.
In the Select Recovery Point dialog box, click View by and select one of the
following options:
Displays all of the discovered recovery points in the order in
which they were created.
If no recovery points were discovered, the table will appear empty.
You should then choose one of the remaining View by options.
Date
161Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Recovering files and folders using a recovery point
Lets you browse to another location, for example, an external
(USB) drive or removable media to select a recovery point (.v2i)
file.
Select this option, and then do the following:
■Click Browse, locate and select a recovery point (.v2i file), and
then click Open.
■If you select a network location, type your network
credentials.
See “About network credentials”on page 68.
■Click Finish.
Filename
Displays a list of all of the drives on your computer and shows
any associated recovery points. You can also select a system index
file (.sv2i).
Select this option, and then do the following:
■Click Browse, locate and select a recovery point (.sv2i), and
then click Open.
■If you select a network location, type your network
credentials.
See “About network credentials”on page 68.
■Select each recovery point that you want to recover.
If necessary, add, change, or remove recovery points from
the list.
■Click Finish.
System
4In the Find files to recover box, type the whole name or partial name of a file
or folder that you want to restore, and then click Search.
For example, type recipe to return any file or folder that includes the word
recipe in its name such as Chocolate Cheesecake Recipes.doc, Cathy Read
Recipes.xls, Recipes for Success.mp3, and so forth.
5In the Files to restore list, select the files that you want to restore by using
one of the following methods:
Click the file once.To select a single file
Press Ctrl+A.To select all files
Click the top file, press and hold Shift, and
then click the last file in the group.
To select a group of files that are next to
each other
Press and hold Ctrl while you select the
files that you want.
To select a group of files that are not next
to each other
Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Recovering files and folders using a recovery point
162
6Click Recover Files.
7In the Recover My Files dialog box, do one of the following:
■Click Original folders to have your files restored in the original folder
where they existed when they were backed up.
If you want to replace the original files, select Overwrite existing files. If
you do not select this option, a number is added to the filename, leaving
the original file untouched.
Caution: Checking Overwrite existing files replaces your original files (or
the files of the same names that are currently stored at that location) with
the files you are restoring.
■Click Recovered Files folder on the desktop to have your files restored
to a new folder that is created on your Windows desktop called Recovered
Files.
■Click Alternatefolder and specify the path to an alternate location where
you want your files restored.
8Click Recover.
9If you are prompted to replace the existing file, click Yes if you are certain
that the file that you are recovering is the file that you want.
10 Click OK.
About opening files and folders stored in a recovery point
If you are not sure which files you want to restore, you can locate, open and view
their contents using the Recovery Point Browser. From there, you can also restore
files and folders using the Recovery Point Browser.
See “Opening and restoring files within a recovery point”on page 131.
About finding the files or folders you want
If you cannot find the files or folders that you want to restore by browsing through
a recovery point, you can use the Norton Ghost Explore feature. This feature
assigns a drive letter to a recovery point (mounts the recovery point) as if it were
a working drive. You can then use the Windows Explorer search feature to search
for the files. You can drag and drop files to restore them.
See “About exploring recovery points”on page 129.
163Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Recovering files and folders using a recovery point
Recovering a secondary drive
If you lose data on a secondary drive, you can use an existing recovery point for
that drive to restore the data. A secondary drive is a drive other than the drive on
which your operating system is installed.
Note: You can recover your system drive (typically, drive C).
For example, if your computer has a D drive and the data has been lost, you can
restore the D drive back to an earlier date and time.
See “About recovering a computer”on page 173.
To recover a drive, you must have a recovery point that includes the drive that
you want to recover. If you are not sure, review the Status page to determine what
recovery points are available.
See “Monitoring backup protection from the Status page”on page 118.
Note: Before you proceed, close any applications and files that are open on the
drive that you want to restore.
Warning: When you recover a drive, all of the data on the drive to which you are
restoring the recovery point is replaced by the data in the recovery point. Any
changes that you made to the data on a drive after the date of the recovery point
you use to recover it are lost. For example, if you created a new file on the drive
after you created the recovery point, the new file is not recovered.
To recover a drive
1On the Tasks page, click Recover My Computer.
2Select a recovery point, and then click Recover Now.
3Click OK.
4Click Yes.
To customize the recovery of a drive
1On the Tasks page, click Recover My Computer.
2Select a recovery point, and then click Recover Now.
3Click Custom to start the Recover Drive Wizard.
4Click Next.
Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Recovering a secondary drive
164
5Do one of the following:
■To use the recovery point that is selected, click Next.
■Click Browse to select a different recovery point, and then click Next.
If you need to access recovery points on a network that requires user
authentication, enter your user name and password, and then click Next.
6Select the drive that you want to restore, and then click Next.
If the drive does not have enough space available to restore a recovery point,
press Shift and then select multiple, contiguous destinations that exist on
the same hard disk.
7If the recovery point is password-protected, in the Password box, type the
password and then click OK.
8Select the desired restore options.
The options that are available depend on the restore destination that you
have selected.
See “Recovery options”on page 165.
9Click Next and review your selections.
10 Click Finish, then click Yes.
If the wizard cannot lock the drive to perform the recovery in Windows
(typically, because the drive is in use by a program), make sure the drive is
not in use by closing any files or applications that might be using it, and then
click Retry.
If the Retry option fails, click Ignore to tell Windows to attempt to force a
lock on the drive. If Ignore fails, you might be prompted to insert the Symantec
Recovery Disk CD and manually start the recovery environment so that you
can complete the recovery. When the recovery is finished, the computer
restarts automatically.
Recovery options
The options you can specify for the recovery are described in the table below.
DescriptionOption
Verifies whether a recovery point is valid or corrupt
before it is restored.
This option can significantly increase the time
required for the recovery to complete.
Verify recovery point before restore
165Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Recovering a secondary drive
DescriptionOption
Checks the restored drive for errors after the recovery
point is restored.
Check for file system errors
Automatically expands the drive to occupy the target
drive's remaining unallocated space.
Resize restored drive
Makes the restored drive the active partition (for
example, the drive from which the computer starts).
You should select this option if you are restoring the
drive on which your operating system is installed.
Set drive active (for booting OS)
Restores the original, physical disk signature of the
hard drive.
Disk signatures are part of all Windows operating
systems that Norton Ghost supports. Disk signatures
are required to use the hard drive.
Select this option if either of the following situations
are true:
■Your computer's drive letters are atypical (for
example, assigned letters other than C, D, E, and
so forth).
■You are restoring a recovery point to a new, empty
hard disk.
Restore original disk signature
Sets the partition type as follows:
■Primary partition: Because hard disks are limited
to four primary partitions, select this type if the
drive will have four or less partitions.
■Logical partition: Select this type if you need more
than four partitions. You can have up to three
primary partitions, plus any number of logical
partitions, up to the maximum size of your hard
disk.
Partition type
Lets you assign a drive letter to the partition.Drive letter
Restoring using LightsOut Restore
You must install a fully licensed version of Norton Ghost before you can perform
a restore using the LightsOut capability. There is no trial or evaluation period for
this feature.
Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Restoring using LightsOut Restore
166
The Norton Ghost LightsOut Restore feature enables administrators to restore a
computer from a remote location, regardless of the state the computer is currently
in, so long as its file system is intact. This option provides a way to boot the
Symantec recovery environment from a folder on the operating system partition.
This option has been developed around the concepts of pcAnywhere, the Windows
boot menu, and hardware devices such as RILO and DRAC, which allow an
administrator to remotely control a system during the boot process (including
the selection of items from a Windows boot menu). Depending on your hardware
configuration, you can use LightsOut Restore to complete a system restoration
on a remote server via a Web browser, using your server's remote connection
capabilities, and the Symantec recovery environment. By using this option, you
save the time it takes to physically visit the computer to perform the restore.
When LightsOut Restore is set up, it installs a Symantec recovery environment
directly to the file system on the system partition, and places a Symantec recovery
environment boot option within the Windows boot menu. Whenever this boot
menu option is selected, the system will boot directly to the Symantec recovery
environment using the files installed on the system partition.
Note: The LightsOut feature requires at least 1 gigabyte of memory to run.
Once LightsOut Restore has been set up and the boot menu option has been added,
you can use a hardware device to remotely connect to the system. When you are
connected, you can power on or reboot the system and select the recovery
environment from the boot menu. The system then boots to the recovery
environment.
By default, when the recovery environment boots as part of LightsOut Restore, it
automatically starts a pcAnywhere thin host (this can be changed through the
LightsOut Restore wizard). You can then use pcAnywhere to connect to the thin
host and remotely use the recovery environment to restore files or entire
partitions.
Summary of the LightsOut Restore process
The following is a summary of the basic LightsOut Restore process.
1. Install pcAnywhere on a central system that will be used for management (such
as a helpdesk computer).
2. Ensure that all servers can be managed remotely through a hardware device
such as RILO or DRAC.
3. Install Norton Ghost on servers that need to be protected, and then create the
desired recovery points.
167Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Restoring using LightsOut Restore
4. Run the LightsOut Restore wizard by going to the Windows Start menu and
selecting Programs > Symantec > Norton Ghost 15.0. This installs the Symantec
recovery environment to the local file system, and creates an entry in the Windows
boot menu that can be used to boot to this environment.
5. When either file or system recovery is needed, use the RILO or DRAC device to
connect to the remote server and either power on or reboot the system.
6. During the remote server boot process, select the Symantec recovery
environment from the boot menu. The remote server will then proceed to boot to
the Symantec recovery environment (at which point, connection through RILO
or DRAC will be lost). As the Symantec recovery environment starts, a pcAnywhere
thin host will automatically start (unless this was disabled through the LightsOut
Restore wizard).
7. Use pcAnywhere to connect to the remote server pcAnywhere thin host.
8. Through pcAnywhere, use the recovery environment to restore individual files,
or entire partitions.
Starting the LightsOut Restore Wizard
If you have not already licensed Norton Ghost, the first time you run the LightsOut
Restore wizard, you will be prompted to install a license file or a product license
key.
Starting the LightsOut Restore Wizard
1From Windows, click Start > All Programs > Symantec > Norton Ghost 15.0
> LightsOut Restore Setup.
2If the product is not licensed, the Install License File dialog appears. Do one
of the following:
■If you have a license file, browse to its location.
■If you have the serial number that came with Norton Ghost, click Get
License.
■If you do not have a license file, click Buy Now to purchase the product.
■If you received a product license key, enter the key in the appropriate
fields.
3Depending on which option you clicked in the previous step, click Activate,
or click Later.
4You might be asked to specify the source location of a Symantec Recovery
Disk. You can use your Norton Ghost product CD. Specify the location, and
then click Next.
Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Restoring using LightsOut Restore
168
5At the Options dialog, you can specify the amount of time that the boot menu
is displayed. The default is 10 seconds.
If you leave the Enable Symantec pcAnywhere check box selected, networking
will automatically start, and pcAnywhere will be loaded. If you clear this
check box, pcAnywhere will not be automatically started.
6Select the type of IP address you want to use, and then click Next.
7You might be shown a list of network and storage drivers that are not
supported in the Symantec recovery environment. Select the box next to the
network driver that you would like to copy from your current Windows
installation to the Symantec recovery environment, review the list of missing
storage drivers, and then click Next.
8Browse to the locations of your missing storage and network driver files.
Note: The location for missing network and storage drivers should point to
a path that contains the fully extracted installation package for the desired
driver. If you have more than one missing storage driver, you must rerun the
LightsOut Restore wizard for each missing driver. Also, the drivers you select
should be compatible with Windows Server 2003.
9Click Next.
10 The summary screen with the options you selected is displayed. Click Back
if you need to change the options, or if you are satisfied with your selections,
click Finish.
The files are copied from the Symantec Recovery Disk. When the copying has
completed, a dialog displays, indicating that LightsOut Restore successfully
installed.
11 Click OK.
LightsOut Restore options for Symantec Recovery Disk
The table below describes the LightsOut Restore options for Symantec Recovery
Disk.
DescriptionOption
Select this option if you want networking to start automatically
when you recover the computer through LightsOut Restore.
Automatically start
network services
169Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Restoring using LightsOut Restore
DescriptionOption
Select this option to connect to a network without the need for
additional network configuration. You can click this option if you
know there will be a DHCP server available on the network at the
time you restore.
Dynamic IP
Click this option to connect to a network with a particular network
adapter and specific address settings. You should click this option
if you know there will be no DHCP server (or the DHCP server will
be unavailable) when you recover.
Static IP
Select this option if you want the Symantec pcAnywhere thin host
to start automatically when you start the Symantec recovery
environment. Useful for troubleshooting a system recovery.
Click Configure to specify pcAnywhere log on credentials and the
following optional parameters:
■Host name
In the Host name box, type the name that you want to use for
the host.
You can leave this box blank to configure the host name to be
the same as the computer name.
■Encryption level
To encrypt the data stream between the host and remote
computer, in the Encryption level list, select one of the
following:
■None
No encryption of the data stream occurs between the host
and remote computer.
■pcAnywhere
Scrambles data using a mathematical algorithm so that a
third party cannot easily interpret it.
This option is available on any operating system that
pcAnywhere supports.
■Symmetric
Encodes and decodes data using a cryptographic key.
This option is available on any Windows operating system
that supports the Microsoft CryptoAPI.
Automatically start
Symantec pcAnywhere
Reconfiguring Using the LightsOut Restore Wizard
You can run the LightsOut Restore wizard again if you need to reconfigure your
options.
Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Restoring using LightsOut Restore
170
Reconfiguring Using the LightsOut Restore Option Wizard
1From Windows, click Start > All Programs > Symantec > Norton Ghost 15.0
> LightsOut Restore Setup.
2Make your desired changes in the wizard screens, and then click Finish.
3Click Yes if you want to recopy all of the files, or click No to only make the
changes necessary for updating your system.
171Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Restoring using LightsOut Restore
Recovering files, folders, or entire drives
Restoring using LightsOut Restore
172
Recovering a computer
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About recovering a computer
■Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk
■How to prepare to recover a computer
■Recovering a computer
■Recovering a computer from a virtual disk file
■Recovering files and folders using Symantec Recovery Disk
■About using the networking tools in Symantec Recovery Disk
■About viewing properties of recovery points and drives
■About the Support Utilities
About recovering a computer
If Windows fails to start or does not run normally, you can recover your computer
using the Symantec Recovery Disk CD and an available recovery point or a virtual
disk that you created from a recovery point.
Note: If you can start Windows and the drive that you want to restore is a secondary
drive (which is any drive other than your system drive, or the drive where your
operating system is installed), you can restore the drive within Windows.
The Symantec Recovery Disk CD lets you run a recovery environment that provides
temporary access to Norton Ghost recovery features. For example, you can access
14
Chapter
the Recover My Computer Wizard to restart the computer into its previous, usable
state.
Note: If you purchased Norton Ghost from your computer manufacturer, some
features in the recovery environment might not be available. For example, if the
manufacturer installed the recovery environment on your computer's hard disk.
Your manufacturer might also assign a keyboard key for the purpose of starting
the recovery environment.
When you restart your computer, watch for instructions on your computer monitor,
or refer to your manufacturer's instructions.
Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk
The Symantec Recovery Disk CD lets you start a computer that can no longer run
the Windows operating system. Symantec Recovery Disk is included with Norton
Ghost. When you boot your computer using the Symantec Recovery Disk CD, a
simplified version of Windows starts that runs a recovery environment. In the
recovery environment, you can access the recovery features of Norton Ghost.
Note: Depending on which version of the product you have purchased, Symantec
Recovery Disk is either included on your product CD, or as a separate CD. You
should place the CD containing Symantec Recovery Disk in a safe place. See If
driver validation fails in the Norton Ghost™User's Guide.
Note: Symantec Recovery Disk requires a minimum of 512 MB of RAM to run. If
your computer's video card is configured to share your computer's RAM, you
might need more than 512 MB of RAM.
Also, if you are installing a multilingual version of the product, you must have a
minimum of 768 MB of RAM to run Symantec Recovery Disk.
Recovering a computer
Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk
174
To start a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk
1If you store your recovery points on a USB device, attach the device now (for
example, an external hard drive).
Note: You should attach the device before you restart the computer. Otherwise,
Symantec Recovery Disk might not detect it.
2Insert the Symantec Recovery Disk CD into the media drive of the computer.
If Norton Ghost was installed by your computer manufacturer, the recovery
environment already could be installed on your computer's hard drive. Either
watch your computer monitor after the computer restarts for on-screen
instructions, or refer to your manufacturer's documentation.
3Restart the computer.
If you cannot start the computer from the CD, you might need to change the
startup settings on your computer.
See “Configuring a computer to boot from a CD”on page 175.
4As soon as you see the prompt Press any key to boot from CD, press a key to
start Symantec Recovery Disk.
Note: You must watch for this prompt. It can come and go quickly. If you miss
the prompt, you must restart your computer again.
5Read the license agreement, and then click Accept.
If you decline, you cannot start Symantec Recovery Disk, and your computer
will restart.
Configuring a computer to boot from a CD
To run Symantec Recovery Disk, you must be able to start your computer using
a CD.
To configure a computer to boot from a CD
1Turn on your computer.
2As the computer starts, watch the bottom of the screen for a prompt that tells
you how to access the BIOS setup.
Generally, you need to press the Delete key or a function key to start your
computer's BIOS setup program.
175Recovering a computer
Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk
3In the BIOS setup window, select Boot Sequence, and then press Enter.
4Follow the on-screen instructions to make the CD or DVD device be the first
bootable device in the list.
5Put your Symantec Recovery Disk CD into the CD drive, and then restart your
computer.
Note: Depending on which version of the product you have purchased,
Symantec Recovery Disk is either included on your product CD, or as a
separate CD. You should place the CD containing Symantec Recovery Disk in
a safe place. Should you lose the CD, you can create a new one if you have
have a CD burner.
6Save the changes and exit the BIOS setup to restart the computer with the
new settings.
7Press any key to start Symantec Recovery Disk.
When you start your computer with the Symantec Recovery Disk CD in the
drive, you will see a prompt telling you to Press any key to boot from CD. If
you do not press a key within five seconds, your computer will attempt to
start from the next bootable device listed in the BIOS.
Note: Watch carefully as the computer starts. If you miss the prompt, the
computer will need to be restarted again.
How to prepare to recover a computer
You should scan your hard disk to check it for corrupted data or surface damage
before recovering your computer.
You should scan your computer for viruses before you attempt to recover. You
can run a virus scan using Symantec Recovery Disk.
See “Scanning for viruses”on page 176.
See “Checking a hard disk for errors”on page 178.
Scanning for viruses
If you suspect that your computer was damaged by a virus or other threat, you
should run a virus scan before you restore your computer.
Recovering a computer
How to prepare to recover a computer
176
To scan for viruses
1On the Analyze panel, click Scan for Viruses.
2Select one of the following:
Select this option to use the definitions
that are included on the Symantec
Recovery Disk CD.
Use the virus definitions currently
available
Select this option if you downloaded the
latest virus definitions to a disk.
Use Update Locator virus definitions
folder
See “Locating the latest virus definitions”on page 177.
Locating the latest virus definitions
The Symantec Recovery Disk CD includes virus definitions. However, to help
protect your computer from the latest threats, you should use the latest virus
definitions that are available. The Update Locator locates the latest virus
definitions that are available from Symantec. You must run the Update Locator
on a working computer that has Internet access. You can save the virus definitions
to a disk and then use them on the troubled computer.
Note: Depending on which version of the product you have purchased, Symantec
Recovery Disk is either included on your product CD, or as a separate CD. You
should place the CD containing Symantec Recovery Disk in a safe place. Should
you lose the CD, you can create a new one if you have a CD burner. See If driver
validation fails in the Norton Ghost User's Guide.
To locate the latest virus definitions
1Insert the Symantec Recovery Disk CD into the media drive of the computer.
The installation program should start automatically.
2If the installation program does not start, on the Windows taskbar, click Start
> Run, type the following command, then click OK.
<drive>:\autorun.exe
where <drive> is the drive letter of your media drive.
For Windows Vista, if the Run option is not visible, do the following:
■Right-click the Start button, and click Properties.
■On the Start Menu tab, click Customize.
177Recovering a computer
How to prepare to recover a computer
■Scroll down and select Run command.
■Click OK.
3Click Run Update Locator.
4Click Find and retrieve virus definitions.
If more recent virus definitions are not found, you can still scan for viruses
on your damaged computer by using the virus definitions that are on the
Symantec Recovery Disk CD. However, the computer might not be protected
from new viruses or threats.
5When prompted, click OK.
6Do one of the following:
■Insert a floppy disk into the floppy disk drive.
■Insert a blank, writable CD or DVD into the computer's CD or DVD
recordable drive.
7Locate the newly created Update Locator Virus Definitions folder on your
computer's desktop and copy it to the blank disk.
Checking a hard disk for errors
If you suspect that your hard disk is damaged, you can examine it for errors.
To check a hard disk for errors
1In the Analyze panel, click Check Hard Disks for Errors.
2Select the drive that you want to check.
3Select any of the following options.
Fixes errors on the selected disk. When
this option is not selected, errors are
displayed but are not fixed.
Automatically fix file system errors
Locates bad sectors and recovers readable
information.
Find and correct bad sectors
4Click Start.
Recovering a computer
You can restore your computer from within the recovery environment. If you
have a recovery point for the hard drives that you want to recover, you can fully
Recovering a computer
Recovering a computer
178
recover your computer or other hard drive back to the state it was in when the
recovery point was created.
See “Recovering a computer from a virtual disk file”on page 183.
To recover a computer
1Start the computer by using the Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
See “Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 174.
2On the Home panel, click Recover My Computer.
If your recovery points are stored on a CD or DVD and you only have one
CD/DVD drive, you can eject the Symantec Recovery Disk CD now. Insert the
CD or DVD that contains your recovery points.
3On the Welcome page of the wizard, click Next.
4Do one of the following:
■If Symantec Recovery Disk located recovery points, proceed to step 6
■If Symantec Recovery Disk did not locate any recovery points, proceed to
the next step.
5In the View recovery points by list, select one of the following options:
Displays all of the discovered recovery points in the order in
which they were created.
If no recovery points were discovered, the table is empty. If such
cases, you can search all local drives on the computer or browse
to find a recovery point.
In the Select source folder list, do one of the following:
■Click All local drives to view a list of all available recovery
points that may exist on your computer's local drives.
■Click Browse to locate a recovery point on a local drive or a
network folder.
Date
Lets you browse to another location to select a recovery point
file (.v2i).
Select this option, and then click Browse. Locate and select a
recovery point file (.v2i), and then click Open.
If necessary, click Mapa network drive. Specify a shared network
folder path and assign it a drive letter. You can then browse the
folder location for the file you want.
File name
179Recovering a computer
Recovering a computer
This type of recovery operation uses a system index file (.sv2i)
to restore a computer that has multiple drives.
A system index file reduces the amount of time that is needed to
restore the drives. When a recovery point is created, a system
index file is saved with it. The system index file contains a list
of the most recent recovery points, which includes the original
drive location of each recovery point
Select this option, and then click Browse. Locate and select a
system index file (.sv2i), and then click Open.
System
6Click Next.
7In the Drives to Recover panel, select each recovery point that you want to
recover.
If necessary, add or remove recovery points from the list.
If you are recovering your computer, select the drive on which Windows is
installed. On most computer systems, this drive is the C drive. In the recovery
environment, the drive letters and labels might not match what appears in
Windows. You might need to identify the correct drive based on its label, the
name assigned to it, or by browsing the files and folders in the recovery point.
8Do the following:
■Optionally, select a drive that you want to recover, and then click Edit.
Select the options that you want to perform during the recovery process,
and then click OK to return to the Drives to Restore pane.
See “Edit target drive and options”on page 181.
■Set the following:
Verifies whether a recovery point is
valid or corrupt before it is restored. If
the recovery point is invalid, the
recovery is discontinued.
This option can significantly increase
the time required for the recovery to
complete.
Verify recovery point before restore
See “Recovering files and folders using Symantec Recovery Disk ”on page 187.
9Click Next to review the recovery options that you selected.
Recovering a computer
Recovering a computer
180
10 Select Rebootwhenfinished if you want the computer to restart automatically
after the recovery process finishes.
11 Click Finish.
12 Click Yes to begin the recovery process.
Edit target drive and options
The following table describes the options that are available on the Edit Target
Drive and Options page after booting to the Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
DescriptionOptions
Delete a selected drive in the list to make
space available to restore your recovery
point.
When you click Delete Drive, the drive is
only marked for deletion. The actual deletion
of the drive takes place after you click Finish
in the wizard.
Delete Drive
If you delete a drive and then change your
mind, click Undo Delete to return the drive
to the list.
Undo Delete
Select a disk (or volume label) that you want
to resize after the recovery point is restored.
Then, select this option and specify the new
size in megabytes. The size must be greater
than the identified size of the disk that you
selected in the list.
Resize drive after recover (unallocated space
only)
Sets the partition type as follows:
■Primary partition: Because hard disks are
limited to four primary partitions, select
this type if the drive will have four or less
partitions.
■Logical partition: Select this type if you
need more than four partitions. You can
have up to three primary partitions, plus
any number of logical partitions, up to
the maximum size of your hard disk.
Partition type
Checks the restored drive for errors after the
recovery point is restored.
Check for file system errors after recovery
181Recovering a computer
Recovering a computer
DescriptionOptions
Makes the restored drive the active partition
(for example, the drive from which the
computer starts).
You should select this option if you are
restoring the drive on which your operating
system is installed.
Set drive active (for booting OS)
Restores the original, physical disk signature
of the hard drive.
Disk signatures are part of all Windows
operating systems that Norton Ghost
supports. Disk signatures are required to use
the hard drive.
Select this option if either of the following
situations are true:
■Your computer's drive letters are atypical
(for example, assigned letters other than
C, D, E, and so forth).
■You are restoring a recovery point to a
new, empty hard disk.
Restore original disk signature
Recovering a computer
Recovering a computer
182
DescriptionOptions
Restores the master boot record. The master
boot record is contained in the first sector
of a physical hard disk. The master boot
record consists of a master boot program
and a partition table that describes the disk
partitions. The master boot program
analyzes the partition table of the first
physical hard disk to see which primary
partition is active. It then starts the boot
program from the boot sector of the active
partition.
This option is recommended only for
advanced users and is available only if you
restore a whole drive in the recovery
environment.
Select this option if any of the following
situations are true:
■You are restoring a recovery point to a
new, empty hard disk.
■You are restoring a recovery point to the
original drive, but the drive's partitions
were modified since the recovery point
was created.
■You suspect that a virus or some other
problem has corrupted your drive's
master boot record.
Restore master boot record
Recovering a computer from a virtual disk file
Using the recovery environment, you can recover your computer from within a
virtual disk file (.vmdk or .vhd). If you have a virtual disk for the hard drives that
you want to recover, you can fully recover your computer or other hard drive back
to the state it was in when the original virtual disk was created.
See “Defining a virtual conversion job”on page 147.
See “Running a one-time virtual conversion”on page 141.
See “Recovering a computer”on page 178.
183Recovering a computer
Recovering a computer from a virtual disk file
To recover a computer from a virtual disk file
1Start the computer by using the Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
See “Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 174.
2On the Home panel, click Recover My Computer.
3On the Welcome page of the wizard, click Next.
4In the View recovery points by list, select Filename and then do the following:
■Click Browse.
■Locate and select a virtual disk file (.vmdk or .vhd), and then click Open.
■If necessary, click Map a network drive.
Specify a shared network folder path and assign it a drive letter. You can
then browse the folder location for the virtual disk file you want.
5Click Next.
6Select the target drive where you want to restore the virtual disk.
7Optionally, do any of the following:
■Click Delete Drive.
Delete a selected drive in the list to make space available to restore your
virtual disk.
When you click Delete Drive, the drive is only marked for deletion. The
actual deletion of the drive takes place after you click Finish in the wizard.
■Click Undo Delete.
If you delete a drive and then change your mind, click Undo Delete to
return the drive to the list.
8Click Next.
9Select the options that you want to perform during the recovery process.
See “Virtual disk recovery options”on page 185.
The options that are available depend on the target drive that you selected
earlier.
10 Click Next to review the recovery options that you selected.
11 Select Rebootwhenfinished if you want the computer to restart automatically
after the recovery process finishes.
12 Click Finish.
13 Click Yes to begin the recovery process.
Recovering a computer
Recovering a computer from a virtual disk file
184
Virtual disk recovery options
The following table describes the recovery options that are available when you
recover a virtual disk.
DescriptionOption
Verifies whether a recovery point is valid or
corrupt before it is restored. If the recovery
point is invalid, the recovery is discontinued.
This option can significantly increase the
time that is required for the recovery to
complete.
Verify recovery point before restore
Checks the restored drive for errors after the
recovery point is restored.
Check for file system errors after recovery
Select this option and specify the new drive
size in megabytes.
Resize drive after recover (unallocated space
only)
Sets the partition type as follows:
■Primary partition: Because hard disks are
limited to four primary partitions, select
this type if the drive has four or less
partitions.
■Logical partition: Select this type if you
need more than four partitions. You can
have up to three primary partitions, plus
any number of logical partitions, up to
the maximum size of your hard disk.
Partition type
Makes the restored drive the active partition
(for example, the drive from which the
computer starts).
You should select this option if you restore
the drive on which your operating system is
installed.
Set drive active (for booting OS)
185Recovering a computer
Recovering a computer from a virtual disk file
DescriptionOption
Restores the original, physical disk signature
of the hard drive.
Disk signatures are part of all Windows
operating systems that Norton Ghost
supports. Disk signatures are required to use
the hard drive.
Select this option if either of the following
situations are true:
■Your computer's drive letters are atypical
(for example, assigned letters other than
C, D, E, and so forth).
■You restore a recovery point to a new,
empty hard disk.
Restore original disk signature
Restores the master boot record. The master
boot record is contained in the first sector
of a physical hard disk. The master boot
record consists of a master boot program
and a partition table that describes the disk
partitions. The master boot program
analyzes the partition table of the first,
physical hard disk to see which primary
partition is active. It then starts the boot
program from the boot sector of the active
partition.
This option is recommended only for
advanced users and is available only if you
restore a whole drive in the recovery
environment.
Select this option if any of the following
situations are true:
■You restore a recovery point to a new,
empty hard disk.
■You restore a recovery point to the
original drive, but the drive's partitions
were modified since the recovery point
was created.
■You suspect that a virus or some other
problem has corrupted your drive's
master boot record.
Restore master boot record
Recovering a computer
Recovering a computer from a virtual disk file
186
Recovering files and folders using Symantec Recovery
Disk
You can use the Symantec Recovery Disk CD to start your computer and to restore
files and folders from within a recovery point.
To recover files and folders using Symantec Recovery Disk
1Start the computer by using the Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
See “Starting a computer by using Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 174.
2Click Recover, and then click Recover My Files.
3Do one of the following:
■If Symantec Recovery Disk cannot locate any recovery points, you are
prompted to locate one. In the Open dialog box, navigate to a recovery
point, select one, and then click Open.
■If Symantec Recovery Disk finds recovery points, select a recovery point
from the list, and then click OK.
Note: If you have trouble finding the recovery points in a network location,
in the File name box, type the name of the computer and share that holds
your recovery points. For example, \\computer_name\share_name.
If you are still having problems, try entering the computer's IP address.
See “About using the networking tools in Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 188.
4In the tree view pane of the Recovery Point Browser, double-click the drive
that contains the files or folders that you want to restore to expand it.
5In the content pane of the Recovery Point Browser, do one of the following
to select the files or folders that you want to restore.
Press Ctrl+A.To select all items
Select the top file, press Shift, and then
select the last file in the list.
To select a group of files that are next to
each other
Press Ctrl as you select the files.To select a group of files that are not next
to each other
187Recovering a computer
Recovering files and folders using Symantec Recovery Disk
6Click Recover Files.
Where possible, the Recover Items dialog box automatically completes the
Restore to this folder box with the original path from which the files
originated.
If the original location does not include a drive letter you must type the drive
letter at the beginning of the path.
Note: While in the recovery environment, drive letters and labels might not
match what appears in Windows. You might have to identify the correct drive
based on its label, which is the name assigned to it.
7If the original path is unknown or you want to restore the selected files to a
different location, click Browse to locate the destination.
8Click Recover to restore the files.
9Click OK to finish.
Exploring files and folders on your computer using Symantec Recovery
Disk
You can explore the files and folders on your computer from the recovery
environment by using the Explore My Computer feature.
This feature uses the Recovery Point Browser and functions similarly to Windows
Explorer. You can browse the file structure of any drive that is attached to your
computer from the recovery environment.
To explore files and folders on your computer using Symantec Recovery Disk
◆In the Analyze pane, click Explore My Computer.
About using the networking tools in Symantec
Recovery Disk
If you store your recovery points on a network, you need access to the network
to restore your computer or your files and folders fromSymantec Recovery Disk.
Note: Additional computer memory might be required to recover your computer
across a network.
See “Starting networking services”on page 189.
Recovering a computer
About using the networking tools in Symantec Recovery Disk
188
See “Using the pcAnywhere thin host for a remote recovery”on page 189.
See “Mapping a network drive from within Symantec Recovery Disk”on page 191.
See “Configuring network connection settings”on page 192.
Starting networking services
If you need to start networking services, you can do so manually.
To start networking services
◆On the Network panel, click Start My Networking Services.
To verify the connection to the network, you can map a network drive.
See “Mapping a network drive from within Symantec Recovery Disk”
on page 191.
Using the pcAnywhere thin host for a remote recovery
The Symantec Recovery Disk CD includes a pcAnywhere thin host. It lets you
remotely access a computer in the recovery environment. The pcAnywhere thin
host contains the minimum settings that are needed to support a single-use remote
control session. The thin host requires an IP address for hosting a remote control
session.
Note: You cannot deploy a thin host to Symantec Recovery Disk. The thin host
can only be started from the Symantec Recovery Disk CD to host a remote control
session in Symantec Recovery Disk. The thin host in Symantec Recovery Disk
does not support file transfers and cannot be used to add drivers for network or
storage devices.
After you start the thin host from Symantec Recovery Disk, it waits for a
connection from a remote computer. You can connect to the thin host to remotely
manage a recovery or to perform other tasks in Symantec Recovery Disk. You
must use Symantec pcAnywhere to connect to the thin host.
To start the pcAnywhere thin host
1On Network panel, in the recovery environment, click Start the pcAnywhere
Thin Host.
2The networking services are started, if necessary. The thin host waits for a
connection.
189Recovering a computer
About using the networking tools in Symantec Recovery Disk
Remotely connecting to the pcAnywhere thin host
Symantec pcAnywhere lets you remotely connect to a computer that is running
in the recovery environment. The computer must be running the pcAnywhere
thin host that is included in the Symantec Recovery Disk CD, and it must be waiting
for a connection. When connected, the client computer can remotely manage a
recovery or perform other tasks that are supported in Symantec Recovery Disk.
Note: The client computer cannot transfer files or add additional drivers for
network or storage devices on the computer that is running the thin host.
To remotely connect to the pcAnywhere thin host
1Ensure that the computer to be remotely managed (the host) has started in
the recovery environment. Also, ensure that the pcAnywhere thin host is
waiting for a connection.
2Obtain the IP address of the thin host computer.
3On the client computer, in Symantec pcAnywhere, configure a remote
connection item.
For more information, see the Symantec pcAnywhere User's Guide.
Note: You do not need to choose to automatically logon to the host on
connection.
4When you configure the connection in pcAnywhere, do the following:
■Select TCP/IP as the connection type.
■Specify the IP address of the host computer.
■Choose to automatically logon to the host on connection.
If you do not include the logon information, you are prompted for it when
you connect to the thin host.
■Type the following log on name:
symantec
■Type the following password:
recover
The thin host shuts down when there is an attempt to connect by using any
incorrect configuration settings.
Recovering a computer
About using the networking tools in Symantec Recovery Disk
190
To prevent unauthorized users from tampering with your settings or trying
to launch a session without your permission, set a password for your remote
connection item.
This option is available in the Remote Properties window on the Protect Item
tab. The thin host does not support encryption.
5In pcAnywhere, start the remote control session.
If the connection attempt is unsuccessful, the thin host must be restarted on
the host computer before you attempt to connect again.
6Remotely perform the necessary tasks on the host computer.
The remote control session ends when the thin host is closed, when the thin
host computer is restarted, or when the remote control session is ended.
After the host computer starts Windows, the client computer can deploy and
connect a thin host on the computer to verify the success of tasks that were
performed in the recovery environment.
Mapping a network drive from within Symantec Recovery Disk
If you started the networking services after you started the recovery environment,
you can map a network drive. This lets you browse to that drive and select the
recovery point that you want to restore. Or, if you create backups from the recovery
environment, you can select a destination that resides on a network location.
If there is no DHCP server or the DHCP server is unavailable, you must provide a
static IP address and a subnet mask address for the computer on which you are
running Symantec Recovery Disk.
See “Configuring network connection settings”on page 192.
After you provide the static IP address and subnet mask address, you can enter
the recovery environment. However, because there is no way to resolve computer
names, when you run the Recover My Computer Wizard or the Recovery Point
Browser, you can only browse the network by using the IP addresses to locate a
recovery point. You can map a network drive so that you can locate the recovery
points more effectively. Or, you can use the mapped network drive as a destination
for recovery points that you create from within the recovery environment.
To map a network drive from within Symantec Recovery Disk
1Do one of the following:
■On the left side of the recovery environment window, click Home, and
then in the right pane click Map a Network Drive.
191Recovering a computer
About using the networking tools in Symantec Recovery Disk
■On the left side of the recovery environment window, click Network, and
then in the right pane click Map a Network Drive.
2Map a network drive by using the UNC path of the computer on which the
recovery point is located.
For example: \\computer_name\share_name or \\IP_address\share_name
You can also map a network drive from within the Recover My Computer
wizard or the Back Up My Computer wizard in the recovery environment.
Configuring network connection settings
You can access the Network Configuration window to configure basic network
settings while running in the recovery environment.
To configure network connection settings
1In the recovery environment main window, click Network, and then click
Configure Network Connection Settings.
2If you are prompted to start networking services, click Yes.
Getting a static IP address
If you want to restore a recovery point that is located on a network drive or share,
but you are unable to map a drive or browse to the drive/share on the network
(usually caused by the lack of an available DHCP service), you can assign a unique
static IP address to the computer that is running the recovery environment. You
can then map to the network drive or share.
To get a static IP address
1In the Network Adapter Configuration box, click Usethefollowing IP address.
2Specify a unique IP address and subnet mask for the computer that you want
to restore.
Be sure that the subnet mask matches the subnet mask of the network
segment.
3Click OK.
4Click Close to return to the recovery environment's main menu.
5In the Network pane, click Ping a Remote Computer.
Recovering a computer
About using the networking tools in Symantec Recovery Disk
192
6Type the address of the computer that you want to ping on the network
segment.
7Click OK.
If you specified a computer name or a computer name and domain as the
address method, make note of the IP address that is returned from the
computer that you pinged.
If communication to the storage computer is operating as expected, you can
use the Map Network Drive utility to map a drive to the recovery point
location.
Getting a static IP address if pinging is unsuccessful
If you ping an address and the address does not respond, you can use the ipconfig
/all command to determine the correct IP address.
To get an IP address if the ping is unsuccessful
1On the computer that contains the recovery point that you want to restore,
at a DOS prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter.
ipconfig /all
2Write down the IP address that is displayed.
3Return to the computer that is running the recovery environment and run
the utility Ping Remote Computer with this IP address.
About viewing properties of recovery points and
drives
You can view the properties of recovery points and the drives that are contained
in them. For example, you can view the recovery point's description, size, and
compression level. You can also view the name of the computer on which the
recovery point was created.
■Viewing the properties of a recovery point
■Viewing the properties of a drive within a recovery point
Viewing the properties of a recovery point
You can view various properties of a recovery point by using the Recovery Point
Browser. The following properties are available for viewing:
193Recovering a computer
About viewing properties of recovery points and drives
A user-assigned comment associated with the recovery pointDescription
The total size (in megabytes) of the recovery pointSize
The date and time that the recovery point file was createdCreated
The compression level that is used in the recovery pointCompression
Whether the entire recovery point file is spanned over
several files
Split across multiple files
The password protection status of the selected drivePassword protected
The encryption strength that is used with the recovery pointEncryption
The version number associated with the recovery pointVersion
The name of the computer on which the recovery point was
created
Computer name
If you enabled search engine support for the recovery point,
this property is displayed.
Search engine support
Identifies the application (Norton Ghost) that was used to
create the recovery point.
Created by
To view the properties of a recovery point
1In the Recovery Point Browser, in the tree panel, select the recovery point
that you want to view.
2Do one of the following:
■On the File menu, click Properties.
■Right-click the recovery point, and then click Properties.
Viewing the properties of a drive within a recovery point
You can view the following properties of a drive within a recovery point:
A user-assigned comment associated with the recovery
point.
Description
The original drive letter that was assigned to the drive.Original drive letter
The cluster size (in bytes) that is used in a FAT, FAT32, or
NTFS drive.
Cluster size
The file system type that is used within the drive.File system
Recovering a computer
About viewing properties of recovery points and drives
194
The selected drive's drive status as either the primary
partition or the logical partition.
Primary/Logical
The total size (in megabytes) of the drive.
This total includes used and unused space.
Size
The amount of used space (in megabytes) within the drive.Used space
The amount of unused space (in megabytes) within the drive.Unused space
Indicates if there are any bad sectors on the drive.Contains bad sectors
Indicates whether the database application quiesced
properly when a recovery point was created.
Cleanly quiesced
To view the properties of a drive within a recovery point
1In the Recovery Point Browser, in the tree panel, double-click the recovery
point that contains the drive that you want to view.
2Select a drive.
3Do one of the following:
■On the File menu, click Properties.
■Right-click the recovery point, and then click Properties.
About the Support Utilities
The recovery environment has several support utilities that Symantec Technical
Support might ask you to use to troubleshoot any hardware issues that you
encounter.
You might be required to supply the information that is generated by these utilities
if you call Symantec Technical Support for help resolving problems.
Note: You should only use these tools as directed by Symantec Technical Support.
195Recovering a computer
About the Support Utilities
Recovering a computer
About the Support Utilities
196
Copying a drive
This chapter includes the following topics:
■About copying a drive
■Preparing to copy drives
■Copying one hard drive to another hard drive
About copying a drive
You can use the Copy Drive feature to copy your operating system, applications,
and data from one hard drive to another hard drive.
You can even copy a larger hard drive to a smaller hard drive if the data on the
drive being copied is at least 1/16th smaller in size than the total size of the new
drive.
If the hard drive that you want to copy contains more than one partition, you
must copy the partitions one at a time to the new hard drive.
You can use the Copy Drive feature when you upgrade to a larger hard drive or
when you add a second hard drive. You should not use the Copy Drive feature to
set up a hard drive that will be used in another computer. The drivers that are
used to run the hardware on one computer will likely not match the drivers on a
second computer.
Preparing to copy drives
Before you can copy drives, you must have the hardware configured correctly.
To prepare to copy drives
1Do all of the following:
15
Chapter
■Prepare the computer.
■Get the manufacturer's directions for installing the drive.
■Shut down the computer, and then disconnect the power cord.
■Discharge electricity by touching a grounded metal object.
■Remove the computer cover.
2Change the jumper settings on the hard drive to make the new hard drive the
slave drive, or connect it as the slave drive if you are using cable select instead
of jumper settings to determine the master and slave drives.
3Do the following to attach the new hard drive:
■Connect the cable so that the colored stripe on the edge lines up with the
I/O pins on the motherboard.
The motherboard is marked Pin1 or 1 where the colored stripe should go.
■Connect the other end of the cable to the back of the hard drive, and match
the striped edge with the I/O pin position on the drive itself.
The I/O pin is usually on the side closest to the power supply.
4Attach the power connector to the new hard drive.
Make sure that the angled edge of the plastic connector lines up with the
angled edge of the pin socket.
5Anchor the drive in the bay area according to the manufacturer's instructions.
6Do the following to change the BIOS settings to recognize the new hard drive:
■Open the BIOS setup. As the computer starts, watch the computer screen
for instructions on how to open the BIOS setup.
■Select Auto Detect for both the master and slave drives.
■Save the BIOS changes, and then exit.
Your computer will restart automatically.
Copying one hard drive to another hard drive
After you install a new hard drive, you can copy your old hard drive to the new
one. The new hard drive does not need to be formatted.
If the hard drive that you want to copy contains more than one partition, you
must copy each partition, one at a time, to the new hard drive.
If the power or the hardware fails while you copy the data, no data is lost from
the source drive. However, you must restart the copying process.
Copying a drive
Copying one hard drive to another hard drive
198
To copy one hard drive to another hard drive
1On the Tools page, click Copy My Hard Drive.
2Complete the steps in the wizard to copy the drive.
The wizard steps you through the process of selecting the right drive to copy,
selecting the destination drive, and selecting the options for copying the data
from one drive to another.
About drive-to-drive copying options
When you copy a drive from one hard drive to another, you can use the
drive-to-drive copying options.
The following table describes the options for copying from one hard drive to
another.
Table 15-1 Drive-to-drive copying options
DescriptionOption
Check the source drive for errors before you copy it. The
source drive is the original drive.
Check source for file system
errors
Check the destination drive for errors after you copy the
drive. The destination drive is the new drive.
Check destination for file
system errors
This option automatically expands the drive to occupy the
destination drive's remaining unallocated space.
Resize drive to fill
unallocated space.
Make the destination drive the active partition (the drive
from which the computer starts). Only one drive can be
active at a time. To boot the computer, it must be on the
first physical hard disk, and it must contain an operating
system. When the computer boots, it reads the partition
table of the first physical hard disk to find out which drive
is active. It then boots from that location. If the drive is not
bootable or you are not certain if it is, have a boot disk ready.
You can use the Symantec Recovery Disk CD.
The Set drive active option is valid for basic disks only (not
dynamic disks).
Set drive active (for booting
OS)
The SmartSector technology from Symantec speeds up the
copying process by only copying the clusters and sectors
that contain data. However, in a high-security environments,
you might want to copy all clusters and sectors in their
original layout, regardless of whether they contain data.
Disable SmartSector copying
199Copying a drive
Copying one hard drive to another hard drive
Table 15-1 Drive-to-drive copying options (continued)
DescriptionOption
This option copies the drive even if there are errors on the
disk.
Ignore bad sectors during
copy
This option copies the master boot record from the source
drive to the destination drive. Select this option if you are
copying the C:\ drive to a new, empty hard drive. You should
not select this option if you want to copy a drive to another
space on the same hard drive as a backup. You should also
not select this option if you want to copy the drive to a hard
drive that has existing partitions that you do not want to
replace.
Copy MBR
Click Primary partition to make the destination (new) drive
a primary partition.
Click Logical partition to make the destination (new) drive
a logical partition inside an extended partition.
Destination partition type
Select the drive letter you want assigned to the partition
from the Drive letter list
Drive letter
Copying a drive
Copying one hard drive to another hard drive
200
Using a search engine to
search recovery points
This appendix includes the following topics:
■About using a search engine to search recovery points
■Enabling search engine support
■Recovering files using Google Desktop's Search Desktop feature
About using a search engine to search recovery points
Norton Ghost supports the use of Google Desktop for searching file names that
are contained in recovery points.
When you enable search engine support, Norton Ghost creates a catalog of all of
the files that are contained in a recovery point. Search engines like Google Desktop
use the catalog file generate an index. You can then search for files by name.
Google Desktop does not index the content of files. It only indexes the file names.
Enabling search engine support
To use this feature with a search engine such as Google Desktop, you must do all
of the following:
You can download and install Google Desktop for free
from the Internet. Visit desktop.google.com.
See “To install Google Desktop”on page 202.
Install a search engine
A
Appendix
A Google plug-in for Norton Ghost is required before
you can use Google Search to locate and recover files.
The plug-in is installed for you automatically when
you enable this feature.
See “To enable Google Desktop support”on page 202.
Enable Google Desktop support
When you define a backup job, or edit an existing
backup job, enable search engine support.
The next time the backup is run, it creates a list of all
the files that are contained in the resulting recovery
point. A search engine such as Google Desktop can
then use the list to generate its own index. You can
then use the index to perform searches by file name.
See “To enable search engine support for a backup
job”on page 203.
Enable search engine support when
defining or editing a backup job
Note: Recovery points that already exist when you enable this feature cannot be
indexed. This restriction is because the generated list of files that search engines
require for generating searchable indexes are appended to recovery points as they
are created. After you enable this feature, run each of your backups to create a
new recovery point that contains the required information for indexing.
Note: If your backup destination is on a network drive, be sure to add the location
to the Google Desktop preferences.
To install Google Desktop
1Start Norton Ghost.
2Click Tasks > Options > Google Desktop.
3Click Download Google Desktop from the Web and follow instructions for
installation.
4When installed, click OK in the Norton Ghost Options window.
For more information, visit desktop.google.com.
To enable Google Desktop support
1Start Norton Ghost.
2Click Tasks > Options > Google Desktop.
3Select Enable Google Desktop File and Folder Recovery.
Using a search engine to search recovery points
Enabling search engine support
202
4Click OK.
This option is not available if you do not have Google Desktop installed. Install
Google Desktop, and then repeat this procedure.
5Click OK to install the Google Plugin.
To enable search engine support for a backup job
1Start Norton Ghost.
2Do one of the following:
■Edit an existing backup job and select Enable search engine support for
Google Desktop and Backup Exec Retrieve on the Options page of the
wizard.
■Define a new backup job and select Enable search engine support for
Google Desktop and Backup Exec Retrieve on the Options page of the
wizard.
Recovering files using Google Desktop's Search
Desktop feature
If you have correctly set up and enabled support for Google Desktop, you can
search recovery points to located and recover files using Google Desktop.
See “Enabling search engine support”on page 201.
To recover files using Google Desktop's Search Desktop feature
1Start Google Desktop.
2Enter the name (or part of the name) of a file you want to recover, and then
click Search Desktop.
3Click the search result that contains the file you want to recover.
4When the file opens in the associated application, click File > Save As to save
the recovered file.
You can also right-click the search result and click Open to open the recovery
point in the Recovery Point Browser.
See “Opening and restoring files within a recovery point”on page 131.
About finding a file using Google Desktop
If you are certain that your file is included in a recovery point that has search
engine support enabled, but the file is not found, do the following:
203Using a search engine to search recovery points
Recovering files using Google Desktop's Search Desktop feature
■Right-click the Google Desktop icon in the system tray and click Indexing >
Re-Index.
Re-indexing can take a significant amount of time. Be sure to wait until it
completes before attempting to search again.
■Right-click the Google Desktop icon in the system tray and click Preferences.
Under Search Types, verify that Web history is checked. This option must be
checked or Google Desktop cannot index the content of your recovery points.
■Verify that the drive that contains your recovery points (backup destination)
is available.
For example, if your backup destination is on a USB drive, be sure that the
drive is plugged in and that the power is turned on. Or, if your backup
destination is on a network, be sure you are connected and logged in with the
correct credentials.
■Adding v2i to the search string to narrow down the number of search results.
For example, if you search for My Tune mp3, add v2i so that the search string
is My Tune mp3 v2i.
Recovery point files use .v2i as their file extension name. When you add it to
the search string it eliminates any results that are not found in a recovery
point.
■If your backup destination is on a network drive, be sure to add the location
to the Search These Locations setting in Google Desktop Preferences.
Using a search engine to search recovery points
Recovering files using Google Desktop's Search Desktop feature
204
About backing up Microsoft
virtual environments
This appendix includes the following topics:
■About backing up Microsoft virtual hard disks
■About backing up and restoring Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines
About backing up Microsoft virtual hard disks
Microsoft Windows 7 now supports the use of Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs). Microsoft
does not support backing up a physical disk and a VHD on that physical disk in
the same backup job. This limitation also applies to Norton Ghost. You cannot
back up a physical disk and its VHD counterpart in the same backup job using
Norton Ghost. Also not supported is the ability to back up a VHD that is hosted
on or "nested" within another VHD. If you want to back up a physical disk and a
VHD on that disk, you must create separate backup jobs for each disk.
Backing up a physical disk that hosts a VHD is supported as long as you do not
include the VHD as another volume in the same backup. If you backup a physical
disk that hosts a VHD, the VHD is treated as another file that is part of the physical
disk backup.
VHDs can be attached and detached from their physical disk hosts (volumes).
Microsoft recommends that you detach a VHD that is stored on a host volume
before you back up. Not detaching a VHD before you back up a host volume can
result in an inconsistent copy of the VHD in the backup. After you restore a host
volume, you can re-attach the VHD file.
http://entsupport.symantec.com/umi/V-306-2
You can find more information on backing up VHDs on the Microsoft Web site.
B
Appendix
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd440865(WS.10).aspx
About backing up and restoring Microsoft Hyper-V
virtual machines
To create a backup of a Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machine, you must back up the
volumes of the computer where the virtual machine is hosted. To do this, create
either a live backup or a system state backup of the host machine.You cannot back
up or restore a specific virtual machine. A live backup is created while the virtual
machine is running (hot backup). A system state backup is created when the guest
operating system on the virtual machine is not running (cold backup) or the
Hyper-V VSS integration component is not installed in the virtual machine.
Note: Norton Ghost is unable to back up clustered shared volumes. Because volumes
in such a configuration are accessible to each of the clustered Hyper-V host
computers, a given volume cannot be locked for backup . However, clustered disks
can be backed up by Norton Ghost because one host has exclusive access to the
disk.
To create a backup of a running virtual machine, the following conditions must
be met:
If you attempt to perform a backup when the conditions above are not met, Norton
Ghost creates a system state recovery point that is crash-consistent. A
crash-consistent recovery point captures the virtual machine as if it had
experienced a system failure or power outage.
To restore a virtual machine, you must restore the recovery point of the host
computer. The host computer recovery point must include the volume that holds
the virtual machine you want to restore. You cannot restore a specific virtual
machine.
http://entsupport.symantec.com/umi/V-306-2
About backing up Microsoft virtual environments
About backing up and restoring Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines
206
Symbols
.sv2i, using to restore multiple drives 178
A
access
allow or deny users or groups 111
activate the product 24
administrator, running Norton Ghost as 113
Advanced page
about 15
showing or hiding 15
Advanced scheduling options 66
agent
dependencies, viewing 108, 110
Microsoft Services 106
set security for 111
setting up recovery actions for 109
starting, stopping, or restarting 108
troubleshooting in Services 106
Agent Deployment
using 103
Windows Vista 103
agents
setting security for 98
archive
copying recovery points 139
attached VHD 62
B
backing up dual-boot computers 58
backup data
automating management of 156
password protecting 71
storing on removable media 58
using for recovering files and folders 159
backup destination
how it works 135
moving 157
Backup destination options 64
backup jobs
edit advanced options 72
backup status 95
backup storage
about 135
backups
about defining drive-based 59
allowing other users to define 98
best practices 50–51
define first 24
defining drive-based 60
defining file and folder 87
deleting 97
disabling 97
dual-boot computers 58
edit advanced options 72
edit schedule 97
edit settings 95
event-triggered 96
file and folder 136
folders excluded during file and folder
backups 89
ignoring bad sectors during drive-based 71
managing storage of 135
monitoring 115
one time from Symantec Recovery Disk,
about 76
one time from Windows 75
other computers from your computer 101
run immediately 91
run with options 92
running command files during 68
running one time from Symantec Recovery
Disk 77
selecting a backup destination 56
setting advanced options for drive-based 66
setting advanced options for file and folder 88
slowing down to improve PC performance 94
speeding up 94
status 118
status of 95
storage location 38
Index
backups (continued)
things to do after 53
things to do before 51
things to do during 53
tips 54
tips for a better backup 50
types of 50
verifying success 95, 118
viewing progress 74
benefits of using Norton Ghost 13
best practices, services 107
boot configuration database 62
C
cancelling the current operation 94
categories
managing file types 41
checking computer agent services 105
clustered shared volumes 206
cold backups
about 76
running one time 77
command files
running during a backup 68
compression levels in recovery point 74
computer
configuring for CD booting 175
recovering 27–28, 178
recovering from virtual disk file 183
recovering remotely 189
recovering, about 173
recovering, preparing for 176
computer agent
services, checking 105
tour 105
Computer List
adding computers to 102
computers
adding to the Computer List 102
configuring agent security 111
conversion job
deleting 154
editing 153
recovery points to virtual disks 147
run now 153
viewing progress 153
viewing properties 153
convert recovery point to virtual disk one time 141
copying a drive 197
creating recovery points
options 65
credentials, changing for agent 113
D
default options
configuring 36
default settings
changing for the Norton Ghost Agent 107
dependencies, viewing agent 108, 110
devices
supported storage 19
disable a backup 97
disabled features 20
disk media
supported 19
disks
rescanning 116
drive
copying 197
drive letter
assign to a recovery point 129
drive-based backup
about 136
drive-based backups
about 50, 59
defining 60
files excluded from 67
setting advanced options 70
Driver Validation 27–28
drives
backup protection level 116
details about each 124
improving protection levels of 124
protecting 116
recovering 159
recovering multiple using system index file 178
unmounting recovery point 133
viewing properties from within Symantec
Recovery Disk 194
viewing within recovery point 133
dual-boot computers
backing up 58
E
Easy Setup
define first backup 24
Index208
email notification
setting up to send warnings and errors 46
emergency
recovering a computer 178
recovering a computer, about 173
encryption
recovery point 72
error messages
configuring to show or hide 40
errors
setting notification for
warnings:setting up email to send 46
evaluation version
installing or upgrading 20
Event Log
about 127
use to troubleshoot 127
event-triggered backups
enabling 96
ThreatCon Response 96
Events tab, log file history 107
expiration of trial version 20
explore computer from Symantec Recovery Disk
188
external drive
assigning a nickname 43
F
file and folder backup
about 136
deleting files from 155
recovering using backup data from 159
file and folder backup data
backup destination 56
default storage location 38
managing 154
recommended storage location 58
viewing amount of data stored 155
file and folder backups
about 50
defining 87
folders excluded from 89
file systems
supported 19
file types
create new 42
delete 42
edit 42
managing 41
file versions
limiting number kept 155
files
locating versions of 156
manually deleting from file and folder
backup 155
opening from within a recovery point 131
recovering lost or damaged 159
files and folders
opening when stored in a recovery point 163
recover using Symantec Recovery Disk 187
recovering lost or damaged 159
restoring using a recovery point 161
searching for 163
folders
locating versions of 156
recovering lost or damaged 159
G
Google Desktop
configure backups to support 132
enable support for 23
set up support for using 201
use to search for recovery points 201
H
hard disks
recovering primary 178
recovery of 159
rescanning 116
hard drive
copying one to another 198
hot backups
defining drive-based 60
running one time 75
hybernate.sys 67
Hyper-V machines, support for 206
I
independent recovery point 63
installation
after 23
disabled features 20
prepare for 17
steps 21
supported file systems 19
supported removable media 19
system requirements 17
209Index
L
license product 23
LightsOut Restore 166
reconfiguring 170
starting 168
LightsOutRestore
restoring with 166
LiveUpdate, using 25
log file
event 127
log files
checking 107
M
mapping drive from Symantec Recovery Disk 191
master boot, restoring 183, 186
Microsoft Virtual Disk 141
Microsoft Virtual Disk (.vhd) 147
Microsoft virtual hard disks, support for 205
N
network
adjust throttling during backup 39
network credentials, about 68
network drive, how to map 191
network services
configuring connection settings 192
getting a static IP address 192
starting in Symantec Recovery Disk 189
using in Symantec Recovery Disk 188
Norton Ghost
configuring default options 36
how to use 34
more information about 16
new features 14
running with different user rights 113
Norton Ghost Agent
automatic start 107
deploy over a network 103
manually install from product CD 103
setting up recovery actions for 109
Norton Ghost Agent, changing default settings
for 107
O
Offsite Copy
about 81
Offsite Copy (continued)
assigning nicknames to external drives for use
with 43
copy recovery points 81
One Time Backup from Windows 75
operating system
backing up computers with multiple 58
Options
configuring defaults 36
original disk signature, recovering 182, 186
P
P2V
one time 141
scheduling 147
virtual conversion job, deleting 154
virtual conversion job, editing 153
virtual conversion job, run now 153
virtual conversion job, viewing progress 153
virtual conversion job, viewing properties 153
pagefile.sys 67
pcAnywhere thin host
using to recover remotely 189
performance during backup, adjusting for network 39
permissions
allowing other users to back up 98
physical-to-virtual
job, deleting 154
job, editing 153
job, run now 153
job, viewing progress 153
job, viewing properties 153
scheduling 141, 147
progress of backup, viewing 74
protection
hard disks 116
protection status 95
push install of agent 103
R
RAM drives
not supported 20
recovery point type options 63
recovery
about 159
computer (C drive) 173
customize 164
files and folders 159
Index210
recovery (continued)
options for drives 165
original disk signature 182, 186
restoring files and folders 159
recovery actions
setting up when agent does not start 109
recovery point
archiving 139
checking integrity of 65
cleaning up old 138
copying to CD or DVD 139
create a specific type 92
default storage location 38
deleting sets 138
encrypting 72
independent 63
limiting number of sets 65
managing 137
one time conversion to virtual disk 141
opening files and folders stored in 163
opening up hard disk space 139
recovering files using 161
scheduling conversion to virtual disk format 147
types, defined 63
use a search engine to find 201
verifying 65
viewing properties of drive from Symantec
Recovery Disk 193
virtual conversion job, deleting 154
virtual conversion job, editing 153
virtual conversion job, run now 153
virtual conversion job, viewing progress 153
virtual conversion job, viewing properties 153
Recovery Point Browser
using to open files within recovery points 131
recovery point files
locating 56
Recovery point options 64
recovery point options, Symantec Recovery Disk 181
recovery points
assign a drive letter to 129
checking for viruses 129
checking integrity of 73
choosing options for 65
copying supported media for storing 57
explore 129
mount 129–130
mount from Windows Explorer 131
Offsite Copy 81
recovery points (continued)
on removable media 58
opening files within 131
protecting password protecting 71
recommended storage location 58
setting compression levels 74
unmounting as a drive letter 133
verifying after creation 73
viewing properties of drive within 133
viewing properties of mounted 133
related drives option 62
remote backup 101
removable media
saving recovery points to 57
splitting recovery points across multiple 57
supported 19
reports, log file 107
requirements
system 17
rescanning disks 116
restarting agent 108
Run as, changing logon using 113
Run Backup Now
about 91
Run Backup With Options feature 92
S
schedule
edit backup 97
scripts
running during a backup 68
search engine
enabling support 202
use for searching recovery points 201
search engines
using 132
Secondary drive
recovering 164
security
agent 98, 111
allow or deny permissions 111
giving other users rights to back up 98
granting access to users to back up 111
service
starting, stopping or restarting agent 108
services
best practices for using 107
opening on local computer 108
using with agent 106
211Index
SmartSector Copying
about 71
starting
computer Agent services 105
starting agent 108
status messages
configuring to show or hide 40
status reporting
customize per drive 122
stopping agent 108
stopping computer agent services 105
stopping tasks 94
Support Utilities 195
Symantec Backup Exec Web Retrieve
configuring with backups 132
use to search for recovery points 201
Symantec Recovery Disk
about 173
about creating backups from 76
booting into 174
configuring network connection settings 192
create custom 29
creating backups from 77
exploring computer while using 188
getting a static IP address 192
mapping drive from 191
networking tools 188
options, LightsOut Restore 169
recovering computer 178
recovering computer from virtual disk file 183
recovering files and folders 187
recovery options 181
scanning for viruses 176
scanning hard disk 178
starting 174
Support Utilities 195
testing 27–28
troubleshooting 175
viewing drive properties 194
viewing recovery point and drive properties 193
viewing recovery point properties 193
system drive
recovering 27–28
system index file, using to recover multiple
drives 178
system requirements 17
system tray icon
adjusting default settings 40
show or hide 40
system tray icon (continued)
show or hide error messages 40
show or hide status messages 40
T
tabs
Events and log file 107
tasks, cancelling 94
ThreatCon Response
enable or disable 96
throttling
adjust during backup, network 39
time, elapsed time in Events tab 107
tips for running backups 54
trial version
installing or upgrading 20
troubleshooting
agent 106
U
unmounting recovery point drives 133
updating
automatically with LiveUpdate 25
upgrading
trial version of Norton Ghost 20
users
rights to run Norton Ghost 111
V
verify recovery point 73
verifying recovery point after creation 118
VHD, attached 62
virtual disk
conversion job, viewing progress 153
conversion job, viewing properties 153
one time conversion of recovery point to 141
recovering computer from a 183
scheduling conversion of recovery point to 147
virtual conversion job, deleting 154
virtual conversion job, editing 153
virtual conversion job, run now 153
viruses
checking recovery points for 129
VMware ESX 147
VMware ESX Server 141
VMware Virtual Disk 141
VMware Virtual Disk (.vmdk) 147
Index212
W
Windows 7
support for 14, 17
Windows Explorer
mount recovery points from 131
viewing file and folder version information
in 156
213Index

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