XP disk cloning difficulty

[Quantax]

On two occasions, my attempt to restore a ghost created image failed, the OS in question being Windows XP.

The first time, about a third of the way in the restoration process, I got an error message that said "decompression overrun". So I decided to do an integrity check on the image itself which said the same thing.
I then decided to create another backup but this time got yet another message saying "corrupt image file". I then read about it on the Symantec website and it pretty says the drive or the image are at fault.

However, just a short while ago, I was reading through the big book, "Windows XP, Inside and Out" and noticed that the authors state that before cloning, one runs a System Preparation Utility(Sysprep.exe)which removes the unique security identifier(SID). Yet on the following page they warn that Sysprep.exe is a powerful tool which if run by mistake on a working system will wipe out the security settings and prevent access to files in the user profile.

This may explain the restoration problem I have but curious if anyone knows anything about this.

[Paul Komski]

Sysprep seems to be a tool used by system administrators/oems setting up clones of Windows Installations on multiple pcs with the same hardware. The result being minimal user intervention when first run.

Imaging programs such as Ghost, Drive Image, and so on create clones (of partitions or drives) for one particular PC - such that a "snapshot" taken at one moment in time can be restored at a later moment in time. The two cloning procedures are different from one another.

It's not clear whether you have run sysprep or not but even if you have and your system is working properly it should be possible to use ghost to make an image clone of it or to restore an earlier image clone created by ghost.

It looks more likely that the ghost image is corrupted in some way. I am not familiar with Ghost, being a DI fan, but DI has an option to verify the image after it has been made; this makes the imaging process take a little longer but means you don't have a corrupt file on your hands, when you need to restore from it.

Compression itself perhaps went wonky. Generally speaking compressing image files isn't problematic - other than the fact that greater compression just makes it take longer to create and restore the files.

[Quantax]

Paul--

Actually I held off using the sysprep.exe out of concern that I might botch things up based on what the above mentioned authors state. I have, however, run a chkdsk in case errors on the drive contributed to the corrupted file image.

But I gather then that it's not really necessary to run the sysprep.exe before doing the ghost imaging process? I understand though that you might not be certain about this since you use the alternative image cloning program.

[Quantax]

Sorry, I didn't realize I had inadvertently started a new thread instead of continuing with the previous one. I did want to add that the Norton Ghost program(like Drive Image)can check the state of the image file via an Integrity check. This was where the corrupted file message came up(as opposed to the previous "decompression overrun" message on the previously created backup).

Gets rather confusing, I know...........:confused:

[Budfred]

I hope you posted this info in the original thread or it will get even more confusing!!:rolleyes:

To avoid starting a new thread accidently in the future, you can simply not enter a subject. New Threads require a subject, but posts don't, so if you don't enter a subject on a new thread, it will prompt you to do so before you post. When that happens, Right click to copy your post and then click Back to return to the original thread, click on Reply and paste your reply into the Reply space....

[Fruss Tray Ted]

I will mention again that the "Start New Thread" button is in an odd location AND is even LARGER than the "Post Reply" button. It should be removed IMO.

Many, many of the poster's on this forum would not have the difficulty of replying to the right thread if there wasn't any 'New Thread' button within a thread but only on the forum page instead.

Then to add insult to injury, you are not allowed to 'cut' a post and delete it to paste into the original thread, only mods and admins can... :rolleyes: One of those 'Go figure' things I guess...

[Quantax]

Just an update several hours later..............

Alot of detective work but I FINALLY got everything working OK. Turned out that the problem was most likely due to incorrectly set jumper settings on the optical drives, both the DVD ROM and CD RW set to master! (Interestingly I discovered that a Win 98 backup I did a couple of weeks ago likewise had a corrupted file image so I knew something was amiss here). I also changed the recording speed, setting it for a slower rate which was also good because it used one less CDR in the backup.

However, it was still necessary to do a repair/install because there was no booting into XP(this is also a dual boot setup) and the recovery console commands(like bootcfg/ rebuild)didn't work.