Storing Ghost image files directly to NTFS partitions

Symantec.com > Enterprise > Support > Knowledge Base

Storing Ghost image files directly to NTFS partitions

Question/Issue:
You are using Ghost (Ghost.exe) to create an image of a disk or partition. You want Ghost to save the image file to a partition that has been formatted with NTFS (the Windows NT file system).

Solution:
Ghost's ability to save an image file directly to an NTFS partition depends on your Ghost version:

Symantec Ghost 8.x, Norton Ghost 9.0, and Norton Ghost 2003 can save image files directly to NTFS partitions.
Ghost consumer versions other than Norton Ghost 9.0 and Norton Ghost 2003 cannot save image files directly to NTFS partitions. See the section "Alternative storage locations." Note that the version of Ghost included in Norton SystemWorks Professional Edition is a consumer version.
The ability of Ghost corporate versions to save an image file directly to an NTFS partition depends on whether your Ghost version supports that connection type and whether that connection type supports NTFS.

Note:

For more information on Symantec Ghost 8.x, see the document Symantec Ghost 8.0 features and system requirements.
For more information on Norton Ghost 9.0, see the Norton Ghost 9.0 Web page.
For more information on Norton Ghost 2003, see the document Introduction to Norton Ghost 2003.
Norton Ghost 9.0 and 2003 are available for purchase at major retail outlets and online at the Symantec Store.

To determine whether Ghost can save an image file to an NTFS partition

Note your Ghost version.
If the version is Symantec Ghost 8.x, Norton Ghost 9.0, or Norton Ghost 2003, then yes, Ghost can save an image file to an NTFS partition.
If the version is Norton Ghost 2000, Norton Ghost 2001, or Norton Ghost 2002, then no, Ghost cannot save an image file to an NTFS partition. See the section "Alternative storage locations."
If the version is not Norton Ghost 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, or 9.0, then continue with step 2.
Determine what connection type you want to use. For an introduction to various connection types, see the document Using Ghost to save or write an image to a different computer.
Locate your Ghost version in the following table, "Supported peer-to-peer connection types" and note the entry under your chosen connection type.
If your supported connection type is marked as "No," then stop. Your Ghost version cannot save images using that connection type. Choose a different connection type.
If your supported connection type is marked as "Yes," then continue with step 4.
Locate your chosen connection type in the table "Support for writing to NTFS partitions" and note the entry in the column "Does the connection type support NTFS?"

Supported peer-to-peer connection types:

	LPT	USB 1.1	*USB 2	Net BIOS	TCP/IP Peer-to-Peer	Mapped drive
Symantec Ghost 8.x	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Symantec Ghost 7.5	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Symantec Ghost 7.0	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Symantec Ghost 6.5 Enterprise Edition	Yes	Yes (Version 6.51)	No	No	Yes	Yes
Norton Ghost 6.0 Enterprise Edition	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Norton Ghost 6.0 Standard Edition	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Norton Ghost 2003	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Norton Ghost 2002	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Norton Ghost 2001	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Norton Ghost 2000	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No
Norton Ghost in Norton SystemWorks 2001 Professional Editions	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Norton Ghost in Norton SystemWorks 2000 Professional Editions	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No

*Norton Ghost 2003 supports USB 2 for connecting a computer to an external storage device but not for connecting two computers to each other.

Support for writing to NTFS partitions
Note that the information in this table is not applicable to Norton Ghost 9.0 or 2003. These versions of Ghost can save image files to an NTFS partition provided that Ghost supports the connection type (as in the previous table).

Connection type		Does the connection type support NTFS?
Local	Saving an image file to an external device such as tape drive, CD-R/RW, Jaz, Zip, etc.	Not applicable. These devices do not use NTFS partitions.
Local	Saving an image file to another partition or to another disk on the same computer	No, because Ghost works in DOS, and DOS does not support NTFS.
Remote: Peer-to-peer network	LPT (parallel port)	No, because Ghost works in DOS at both computers.
	USB connection	No, because Ghost works in DOS at both computers.
	NetBIOS	No, because Ghost works in DOS at both computers.
	TCP/IP peer-to-peer	No, because Ghost works in DOS at both computers. The TCP/IP stack does not include a client for the network operating system, and so does not add support for various file systems. The only supported file systems are those that are supported by DOS (FAT and FAT32).
	Mapped drive	Yes, because a mapped drive requires a client for the network operating system (network client). The network client is usually the Novell client or the Microsoft client. These network clients support NTFS. The image file is written to or from the mapped drive by means of the network client, rather than DOS.
Remote: Client-server network	Multicasting (over TCP/IP) with Multicast Server or GhostCast Server	Yes, because the file is saved by means of the Windows operating system, rather than by DOS.
	Multicasting (over TCP/IP) with Ghost Console	Yes, because the file is saved by means of the Windows operating system, rather than by DOS.
	Multicasting (over TCP/IP) with Multicast Server or GhostCast Server, from a network boot	Yes, because the file is saved by means of the Windows operating system, rather than by DOS.

References:
Cloning NTFS partitions
There is difference between creating an image of an NTFS partition, and saving an image file to an NTFS partition. In the first case, the NTFS partition is included in the image file. In the second case, the NTFS partition is a location that Ghost saves the image file to. In general, this document discusses saving an image file to an NTFS partition.

Ghost can create an image of a local NTFS partition and save the image file directly to supported media such as another partition or a CD drive. See the document Ghost compatibility for links to specific documents regarding Ghost's compatibility with various hardware devices.

The inability to write directly to an NTFS partition does not interfere with Ghost's ability to clone a disk or partition dynamically. That is, Ghost can copy a disk or partition image from a disk or partition on one computer directly to a disk or partition on another computer by writing over the destination disk or partition, even when the disk or partition at the source or destination is NTFS.

Alternative storage locations
When your computer includes one or more NTFS partitions and Ghost cannot save the image file to those partitions, here are some other places that you can have Ghost save the image file to:

A partition that is formatted as FAT or FAT32.
External storage devices such as a Jaz drive, Zip drive, SCSI DAT tape drive, CD-R drive, or CD-RW drive.
A different computer. See the document Using Ghost to save or write an image to a different computer.

NTFS support when using only the Ghost DOS executable file, Ghost.exe
The Ghost DOS executable file for the Ghost corporate versions and for Norton Ghost 2003 is Ghost.exe. When you use Ghost.exe without also using Ghost Multicast Server or Ghost Enterprise Console, you run Ghost.exe in one of the following configurations:

Corporate Ghost versions other than Symantec Ghost 8.x cannot save image files to local NTFS partitions:
In this configuration, you run Ghost.exe at one computer only. Because Ghost.exe runs in DOS and DOS cannot access local NTFS partitions, Ghost cannot save image files to local NTFS partitions. Note that Norton Ghost 2003, which also uses Ghost.exe, can save image files to local NTFS partitions in this configuration.

Corporate Ghost versions other than Symantec Ghost 8.x cannot save image files to remote NTFS partitions accessed through a peer-to-peer connection:
In this configuration, you run Ghost.exe at each of two computers that are connected by a USB cable (Ghost's "Local" option), through an LPT port (Ghost's "LPT" option), or through a network interface card (Ghost's peer-to-peer "TCP/IP" option). These are all peer-to-peer connection types. Because Ghost.exe runs in DOS and DOS cannot access remote NTFS partitions through a peer-to-peer connection, Ghost cannot save image files to remote NTFS partitions.

Corporate Ghost versions can save image files to remote NTFS partitions accessed through a mapped drive (a non-peer-to-peer connection):
In this configuration, you run Ghost.exe at one computer only, and that computer is running network client software for DOS, such as the Microsoft Client or the NetWare Client. The file Autoexec.bat has an entry that maps a network drive. Because DOS accesses the remote computers through the network client software, which understands the NT file system (NTFS) and can work with files on an NTFS partition, corporate Ghost versions and Norton Ghost 2003 can save image files directly to remote NTFS partitions in this configuration.

NTFS support when using Ghost.exe with Ghost Multicast Server or Ghost Enterprise Console
When you use the Ghost DOS executable with Multicast Server or the Ghost Console, Ghost.exe runs at one or more client computers, and Ghost Multicast Server or Ghost Enterprise Console run at a Ghost server computer.

Because the image file is transferred through the Ghost Multicast Server or the Ghost Enterprise Console, Ghost's ability to save image files directly to NTFS partitions depends on the operating system that the Multicast Server or the Ghost Console are running in.

When run in Windows NT or Windows 2000, Ghost Multicast Server and Ghost Enterprise Console can save image files directly to local and remote NTFS partitions.
When run in Windows 95b/98/Me, Ghost Multicast Server and Ghost Enterprise Console can save image files directly to remote NTFS partitions when on a network such as Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Novell NetWare.
When run in Windows 95b/98/Me, Ghost Multicast Server and Ghost Enterprise Console cannot save image files directly to NTFS partitions on the Ghost server (that is, the local computer), because Windows 95b/98/Me does not recognize NTFS partitions.

Available Translations:

Document ID: 2000012811284125
Last Modified: 12/14/2007
Date Created: 01/28/2000
Operating System(s): Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP
Product(s): Symantec Ghost 7.0, Symantec Ghost 7.5, Symantec Ghost 8.0, Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 1.0
Release(s): Ghost 7.0 [All Releases], Ghost 7.5 [All Releases], Ghost 8.0 [All Releases], Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 1.0 [All Releases]