ROT: Bloody Windoze - or is it???

Right, I've loads and loads of Dell Poweredge servers all happily
running *nix distros of various flavours without hassle. Got a spare
one here and decided to try and do a bit of learning about Windows -
specifically W2K Advanced Server. (This is all so I can offer some
support to a local voluntary group - and W2K is what they have the
'Certificate of Authenticity' for!).

Right - got it installed, got all of the zillions of service packs and
updates on, did a nice basic config then - as I do on the linux boxes,
decided to back it all up before playing so I can roll back when I
bugger it up.

Obviously Doze doesn't have rsync - but I've used Ghost a fair amount
and it's always been fine - so, decided to ghost one drive to 't other
with the clone (I've done this lots before...)

Server shuts down Doze, loads PC Dos - starts Ghost then hangs -
overnight. I reboot this morning and it's all fecked - the ghost
partition is there - and hidden away is the Doze partition (NTFS), but
cannot get any further.

OK - load the W2K CD, drop into consol mode, see the Doze partition,
login as root (or "Administrator" as doze like to call it) and run the
FIXMBR and FIXBOOT commands (the same as fdisk /mbr) - reboot, still
fecked...

Now, tisn't an issue as I can reinstall and have lost nout, but WTF
happened? Is it likely to be anything to do with the drives being
SATA? Do I need to get a more recent version of Ghost (currently
using 2003)?

Finally, should the drive have contained all the accounts or whatever,
what would I have done (more importantly, had I done it at the
customers, how would I have got the old partition back?).

I really hate windows but will not be beaten...

.... easily...




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On 2006-08-10, Mother <"@ {mother} @"@101fc.net> wrote:

> Right - got it installed, got all of the zillions of service packs
> and updates on, did a nice basic config then - as I do on the linux
> boxes, decided to back it all up before playing so I can roll back
> when I bugger it up.

Put a proper OS on the box then put VMWare Server on top, feck about,
get used to winblows, then once you're comfortable then you can put it
on it properly. With VMWare Server (which is free) you can even set
up a virtual network of virtual machines using virtual network cards,
virtual subnets and so on so you can prototype common setups, e.g. a
domain server, backup domain server, and a desktop box, all using the
one machine and all with a snapshot facility to get you out of trouble
so you can experiment freely.

Other than that, I can't help with windoze problems ;-)

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:14:34 +0100, Ian Rawlings
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Put a proper OS on the box then put VMWare Server on top

I've been using VMWare for kin years - this wouldn't help me to deploy
what needs to be deployed - in other words, I need to do it in
real-time, on the same platform and with the same config that will be
rolled out eventually. I generally advise customers who use windows
to try Ghost - and make regular clones. I'm wondering if this is
still good advice if Microsloth or Dell have done something to break
an otherwise foolproof strategy.

Agree totally with your sentiments - though.


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Mother wrote:

> Server shuts down Doze, loads PC Dos - starts Ghost then hangs -
> overnight. I reboot this morning and it's all fecked - the ghost
> partition is there - and hidden away is the Doze partition (NTFS), but
> cannot get any further.

Is the Doze partition marked as active?



--
EMB

Mother wrote:
> Right, I've loads and loads of Dell Poweredge servers all happily
> running *nix distros of various flavours without hassle. Got a spare
> one here and decided to try and do a bit of learning about Windows -
> specifically W2K Advanced Server. (This is all so I can offer some
> support to a local voluntary group - and W2K is what they have the
> 'Certificate of Authenticity' for!).
>
> Right - got it installed, got all of the zillions of service packs and
> updates on, did a nice basic config then - as I do on the linux boxes,
> decided to back it all up before playing so I can roll back when I
> bugger it up.
>
> Obviously Doze doesn't have rsync - but I've used Ghost a fair amount
> and it's always been fine - so, decided to ghost one drive to 't other
> with the clone (I've done this lots before...)
>
> Server shuts down Doze, loads PC Dos - starts Ghost then hangs -
> overnight. I reboot this morning and it's all fecked - the ghost
> partition is there - and hidden away is the Doze partition (NTFS), but
> cannot get any further.
>
> OK - load the W2K CD, drop into consol mode, see the Doze partition,
> login as root (or "Administrator" as doze like to call it) and run the
> FIXMBR and FIXBOOT commands (the same as fdisk /mbr) - reboot, still
> fecked...
>
> Now, tisn't an issue as I can reinstall and have lost nout, but WTF
> happened? Is it likely to be anything to do with the drives being
> SATA? Do I need to get a more recent version of Ghost (currently
> using 2003)?
>
> Finally, should the drive have contained all the accounts or whatever,
> what would I have done (more importantly, had I done it at the
> customers, how would I have got the old partition back?).
>
> I really hate windows but will not be beaten...
>
> ... easily...
>
>
>
>
I had the same issue years ago with a box. Turned out it was Ghost. I changed
the Ghost boot OS from PC DOS to MS DOS and all was well.

No idea why ...

Karen

--
"Sometimes I think I have a Guardian Idiot - a little invisible spirit just
behind my shoulder, looking out for me ... only he's an imbecile" - Jake Stonebender

Ive never had any luck backing up with ghost using the hidden
partition/same machine stuff, it always seems to bugger up the machine
i try it on.
I always back it up using the DOS client over the network onto a
mapped drive and this seems to work perfectly all the time.

Also - the newer versions of ghost are nothing like the older ones (up
to 2003). They dont run from dos for starters.
I bought a newer version but it didnt work under windows server (which
considering that i bought it after reading a symantec knowledgebase
article saying that it did ****ed me off somewhat!). It did however
come with a free copy of the old version in the box! (which tells you
something..)
Stick with the DOS version. you can also get away without installing
it in windows and just boot off the CD to use it (or roll your own
boot disk)

On or around Sat, 12 Aug 2006 00:53:03 +0100, Tom Woods
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>symantec knowledgebase

there's an oxymoron if ever I saw one.

I wouldn't touch anything that's been near symantec with a long barge pole.
--
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On Sat, 12 Aug 2006 00:53:03 +0100, Tom Woods
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Also - the newer versions of ghost are nothing like the older ones (up
>to 2003). They dont run from dos for starters.
>I bought a newer version but it didnt work under windows server (which
>considering that i bought it after reading a symantec knowledgebase
>article saying that it did ****ed me off somewhat!).

Feck it! Why couldn't you have posted this before I went out and
bought Ghost 10 last night and found exactly what you point out. WTF
doesn't it work with W2K Server???


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On Sat, 12 Aug 2006 08:24:50 +0100, Austin Shackles
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I wouldn't touch anything that's been near symantec with a long barge pole.

Generally yes, I'd agree (more so now), however Ghost was the only
Norton prog I'd ever have recommended - having used it a great deal
myself.


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Mother wrote:

> Generally yes, I'd agree (more so now), however Ghost was the only
> Norton prog I'd ever have recommended - having used it a great deal
> myself.


What else is there for disk cloning anyway ?

Steve

On 2006-08-12, steve <[email protected]> wrote:

> What else is there for disk cloning anyway ?

Knoppix and dd, works a treat for me ;-)

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

On Sat, 12 Aug 2006 11:06:09 +0100, Mother <"@ {mother} @"@101fc.net>
wrote:

>On Sat, 12 Aug 2006 00:53:03 +0100, Tom Woods
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Also - the newer versions of ghost are nothing like the older ones (up
>>to 2003). They dont run from dos for starters.
>>I bought a newer version but it didnt work under windows server (which
>>considering that i bought it after reading a symantec knowledgebase
>>article saying that it did ****ed me off somewhat!).
>
>Feck it! Why couldn't you have posted this before I went out and
>bought Ghost 10 last night and found exactly what you point out. WTF
>doesn't it work with W2K Server???

I was fairly ****ed off too!. I actually bought ghost 10 after trying
to clone a raided windows server with the DOS ghost and it failing and
then reading on the site that the newer version would do it. Since it
wouldnt even run under the OS it was a bit useless!
I thought it was funny that the new version was obviously so good that
it comes with a free copy of the old version...