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[tuftedduck]

I know that this program can be used to back-up data files and also to create drive images for use in or after some form of failure etc.

But....can it be used to clone the entire contents of a HDD onto a new HDD ?

Thank you for any advices.

[camallison]

According to my Ghost "expert":

Full system (disk image) backup lets you easily backup everything on a hard drive or partition

I read that as make an image and then put the image back - where I am unsure is whether you can put the image back to ANOTHER drive is still in question isn't it.

I will ask further.

[EDIT]  According to http://disk-imaging-software-review.toptenreviews.com/, it does disc-to-disc image transfer.

[UncleUB]

Acronis True Image gets excellent reviews,not sure if its exactly what you are looking for TD.

http://www.acronis.co.uk/promo/Disk-Clone-Software/index.html?source=uk_google&ad=backup+software&c=4294734984&k=hdd%20cloning%20software&gclid=CIWZ85jltaACFZFo4wodzkuVTQ

Plenty of reviews here.

http://disk-imaging-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

[tuftedduck]

Thank you, Kind Kitizens, for taking the time and trouble to respond to old TD's plea for assistance.

@ Camallison........yes, I have seen these explanations of what Ghost can do, but to be honest am still a bit confused. Disc imaging and disc cloning are, as far as I understand things, different processes and I cannot find anywhere a clear statement to the effect that Ghost can clone..
I stand to be corrected.

@ unkyUb.........Acronis is without doubt the way to go, and thank you for the linkys.
I have had Acronis True Image on my machine for some years now and always did backups/incremental backups on a regular basis. And I also used it once in the past to clone a dying disc onto a new disc....and that is the insurance I want.
However, recently it had ceased to function and I could not get it to run again. I spent hours on the Acronis forums, getting all sorts of good help but not finding the solution.
My copy of ATI was a download, therefore no disc, and I was beginning to think that the downloaded .exe was corrupted but was reluctant to buy another copy (on disc) in case I ran into the same non-function saga.

However, I have spent hours this afternoon playing around in the guts of the prog. and in the Services area of Windows and found a vital component which was disabled...enabled that and all is sweetness and light again.
ATI now working again as it should and hence no need to consider buying Ghost or anything else.

Thank you both again for your time and trouble.

[BritBrat]

Yes used it many times to clone back a disc.

Now running WHS (Windows Home Server) so not used Ghost in a while.

This was/is one of the best peices of software Norton ever made.

Symantec backup exec is a lot like ghost and I think can use ghost images, it is more for profesional use I think.
http://www.symantec.com/business/products/family.jsp?familyid=backupexec

[oldfogy]

.....yes, I have seen these explanations of what Ghost can do, but to be honest am still a bit confused.

Disc imaging and disc cloning are, as far as I understand things, different processes and I cannot find anywhere a clear statement to the effect that Ghost can clone..

A disc "Image" is the equivalent of a backup of any particular Partition or Drive, which can be saved anywhere, even to CD/DVD but not to the same partition (or if imaging the drive to the same drive that is being imaged).

**********

A Disc "Clone" (copy) will transfer the entire contents from one drive to the other drive, thus giving you two drives which are identical the "Including MBR etc"
You would then remove the old C: drive and replace it with the newly created cloned drive.
"You can also clone one drive to another drive using a different PC" just temporarily set both drives as slaves on the other PC as if they were part of the other PC.

If cloning a small drive which contains partitions to a larger drive, the new partitions are created as a percentage of the drive.

IE.
A 100GB drive with two partitions of say, 20Gb and 80Gb each. = 100GB
If the new drive is, lets say, 200 Gb, the new partitions would be created as, 40GB and 160GB = 200GB

*************

However, personally I prefer to use the Disc Image option so that I can format and set the size of partitions on the new drive to what I want without having to use third party software afterwards to re-size the partitions, such as Acronis True Image etc.
But this also means creating a Image file of each partition, which is quicker in the long run.

[tuftedduck]

Thank you for your further comments, and for the clear explanation of the differences between "image" and "clone".