Making an image of your hard disk using Norton Ghost - Page 3

Next thing that we need to do is give the ghost image a name for easy identification.

This part of the process is as simple as saving any document or file, but one thing to remember is that ms-dos is limited to a filename length of 8 characters, so it will reject any lengthy filenames such as : "backup copy of my windows 2000 install.gho"

When you click save, the next dialog you will be presented with, offers to compress the image file, so that you can save some disk space :

Using compression is up to you.  Using no compression will make the image in the shortest space of time, but will yield the largest file.  Conversely, using the highest level of compression will create a significantly smaller file, but will take the longest period of time to create.  I personally tend to use the "fast" compression method, which gives you the best of both worlds.

When you have decided on the compression method that best suits you, simply click on the associated button, and ghost will than present you with this dialog :

Basically, all ghost is asking is "are you sure".  If you are happy that you've got everything right so far, then just click "yes"

• The "License Number" warning displayed in the above screenshot is there simply because of the version of ghost which i am using in this tutorial.  I purchased Ghost Personal Edition direct from Symantec at a cost of $50 US Dollars. Money well spent IMO.

Once you click yes, ghost will start to create and compress your image file :

Depending on the size of your partition or hard disk, this process may take from 10 to 30 minutes to complete.

Once the imaging is complete, ghost will present you with the following dialog :

And thats it!  Click Continue, and exit out of ghost, or reboot if it gives you that option.  Make sure you remove any floppy disks from the drive, and your pc should restart normally.

You may wish to change your boot priority back to it's previous settings thorough the BIOS to prevent it from inadvertently attempting a floppy boot.