If your version Windows is corrupted or your hard disk breaks, you could end up with a PC that won't start and from which it's almost impossible to recover your data. Using Norton Ghost you can take a copy - an 'image' - of your entire hard disk, including Windows and all your files and programs. If something did happen and Windows stopped working, you could copy this image back onto your hard disk to take your PC back to its previous working state. We awarded Ghost 9.0 our Best Buy in our November 2005 round-up of backup software, so we were interested to see what version 10.0 has to offer.
The answer is quite a lot. Symantec has made lots of small changes that make a fairly big difference to how Ghost looks and feels. Everything looks a bit fresher and is quicker to navigate. The component programs have all been grouped more logically, making it easier for inexperienced users to figure out what everything does.
When you install Ghost, it automatically creates a backup schedule and it decided that our test machine needed to be backed up every night. This seemed a little excessive, but you can edit the schedule manually. Like its predecessor, this release supports incremental backups, allowing you to save just those files and settings that have changed since the last time you made a backup.
This is also the first version of Ghost that creates backup images, or 'restore points' as the program now calls them, whenever a significant change is made to Windows. Windows own System Restore feature does this, but the saved information is nowhere near as useful as the images made by Ghost - a top new feature.
The first time you create an image of your hard disk, Ghost checks the storage device you're saving the image to in order to make sure that its bootable recovery disc has drivers for the device. This is very useful - using Ghost 9.0 you only found out the recovery disc couldn't access your backup device once your PC had failed and you were trying to restore your system. This was very frustrating. If you save your image to a networked storage device there's a useful throttle option that limits how quickly the program can transmit data, guaranteeing some bandwidth for other traffic.
Like previous versions, it integrates well with the default security configuration of your network. It will only allow you to copy image files to and from a network location if you provide a domain (or workgroup) name and password. This version of Ghost also allows you to encrypt image files for extra security.
The installation CD also serves as a bootable rescue disc. This contains a cut-down PC operating system. If Windows won't start, boot your PC from the operating system on the Ghost CD and use the CD's tools to recover files from your corrupted PC and overwrite your corrupted installation of Windows with one of your disk images. The rescue disc also has lots of other useful tools, including a virus scanner and a network client, which is vital if you want to restore an image over your home network. This version also comes with the PCAnywhere thin client, so if you have PCAnywhere installed on another computer on your network you can use it to troubleshoot a PC that's running from the Ghost rescue disc.
Ghost 10.0 is a simple, effective and versatile disk imaging program that, properly used, will keep your data and your PC safe as houses.
System Specifications
REQUIRES 300MHz or higher processor, 256MB RAM, 160MB disk space, Windows 2000 Professional SP4 or Windows XP, Microsoft .NET framework (included on CD)
Verdict
The latest version of Norton Ghost is easy to use and lets you copy all the information on your hard disk.
Author: Simon Handby
Computer Buyer Online