Norton Ghost-Boot disk failure-HELP!!!

pd123 · 08-25-2004, 09:20 AM

I have a perfectly good Compaq (I know Compaq stinks) Pentium II running Windows 98. I installed Ghost, decided to backup the computer. I installed and ran Ghost for the first time on this computer (it worked on my Dell Pentium 2.4 running XP just fine), it went through it's paces, restarted the computer and now I get "Boot Disk Error". I am in a loop, I can't start my computer. I tried SafeMode, it won't go into SafeMode, I tried booting with the Norton Systemworks Pro cd in, that won't work. Any suggestions? If I can just reboot, I can delete Ghost, maybe that will end this problem.

zero2dash · 08-25-2004, 10:58 AM

Have you tried a Windows 98 boot disk? Boot off that and then run /fixmbr to fix the master boot record; maybe that's all screwed up for some reason (it's happened to me before after uninstalling another OS).

You can download Win98 boot disks off the net, just google it...I would say bootdisk.com but I think they charge you to download (which is ridiculous).

DarkFury · 08-25-2004, 01:52 PM

Umm... I don't see how Norton Ghost would have crashed your hard drive.

So are you saying that you took the Norton Ghost floppy out of the drive and then when you restart it doesn't recognize the startup drive? Is your main hard drive partitioned... or do you have 2 or more hard drives in your system?

It is possible that you had some bad sectors on your hard disk and that this is coincidental to you ghosting the drive.

pd123 · 08-25-2004, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkFury

Umm... I don't see how Norton Ghost would have crashed your hard drive.

So are you saying that you took the Norton Ghost floppy out of the drive and then when you restart it doesn't recognize the startup drive? Is your main hard drive partitioned... or do you have 2 or more hard drives in your system?

It is possible that you had some bad sectors on your hard disk and that this is coincidental to you ghosting the drive.

Hi DarkFury, I didn't use a floppy. The day before I ran a full recovery of my computer to have a fresh computer. I installed no other program on this recovered computer except Ghost. I did that so in the future I can more easily recover the computer. When I ran Ghost, I wanted to backup my computer so I ran Ghost. It went through it's paces just like it did on my other computer, a Dell. When it restarted, I expected it to start backing up my computer on to a cdr but instead I keep getting "boot disk failure". I took the advice of zero2dash and tried starting with a Windows98 startup disk. That looked like it would work, it said to wait a few minutes while it starts the computer, but eventually it just took me to an "A" prompt in dos. In dos, I pulled a directory, I found Ghost. I can't start this computer no matter what I do, it won't start in Safe Mode. DEFINITELY Ghost is to blame.

zero2dash · 08-26-2004, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pd123

When it restarted, I expected it to start backing up my computer on to a cdr but instead I keep getting "boot disk failure".

Oooh...umm...I've seen this problem once before and I couldn't recover the drive without reformatting and reinstalling everything.

I was helping my friend with his laptop...I clean installed Win2k, and installed a few programs for him, and then told him I'd Ghost it, so I installed Ghost 2003, went through the motions ("backup computer to a cdr", "click here to restart and run Ghost" etc) and the exited out of Windows 2000, and after the bios boot prompts, the laptop didn't load up Ghost or Windows. Instead it "black screened" (if you can call it that) and said something about a boot disk failure like you mentioned.

I couldn't get the laptop to reboot into anything except that stupid black screen. That was the only one time I've ever had a problem with Ghost, and unfortunately the only way I could get back into the laptop was to fdisk it and reformat/reinstall Windows and decide *not to* install Ghost.

I hate to say it but you might be outta luck on it man...I wish you the best of luck and hope that you can figure this out where I couldn't. Good luck to you

pd123 · 08-26-2004, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zero2dash

...I hate to say it but you might be outta luck on it man...I wish you the best of luck and hope that you can figure this out where I couldn't. Good luck to you

Thank you for your help, unfortunately, I agree with you. Can you give me info on how to do an "Fdisk". Do you think that is necessary or can I just use the disaster recovery cd? I wonder why Ghost is so popular and why this problem is not more known? I'm sure I'm not the only one with the problem because you confirmed my problem. I was very hesitant to intall anything Norton after a bad Mcaffee experience.

DarkFury · 08-26-2004, 09:39 AM

Well personally....

Whenever I Ghost anything, I use a Norton Ghost Boot Disk (which you could've create in the Norton Utilities Tab while you were running Norton in Windows).

With this disk, you boot your computer directly to Ghost and then backup your system. I never use the Windows interface to do a backup, but that's just my personal preference and I've NEVER had a system crash due to ghosting. The files that it creates are not even in the same area as your system files...

You never did answer the question as to where you ghosted the copy to... did you have a separate partition on your hard drive or did you have a second hard drive since you can't Ghost to the same partition or non partitioned drive that you are copying the image from.

But hey... I don't know what happend to FUBAR your system and I guess Ghost is your only suspect. Is it possible that your "full recovery" image could have been corrupted prior to ghosting? Your O/S can run normally until you shut it down and restart in most cases. I've seen weird things happen before using Windows Recovery as well... so I wouldn't rule that out, which is why I like using Ghost instead and doing full re-installs when things get totally FUBAR.

Norton Ghost is popular because it works (usually)... you have a case here that is not the normal to what usually happens. For the most part, we still have not determined that there could be other factors at work here.

Pretty much, even if your hard drive was FUBAR... you still should be able to boot to a DOS A: prompt using a boot disk... if you can't, then that is not Ghost's fault. Sounds like something else is messed up in your system. Can you run any disk utilities to tell you whether or not you have any bad sectors on your disk? BTW... to get a Windows98 "boot disk", you'll need to find someone who has Win98 to create you one and then you can do an FDISK from there (someone here might be able to point you to where the necessary files are to download them from the web to create one as well.)

Honestly, my BEST suggestion at this point would be to upgrade from Win98 and get WinXP on your machine. Win98 is "old news" now... and Microsoft will soon be eliminating tech support on it... so more or less, this might be your opportunity to upgrade your OS.

pd123 · 08-26-2004, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkFury

...you could've create in the Norton Utilities Tab while you were running Norton in Windows).I NEVER INSTALLED NORTON UTILITIES, I WANTED TO DO GHOST BY ITSELF SO I COULD RECOVER TO A FRESHER SYSTEM.

...You never did answer the question as to where you ghosted the copy to....
I NEVER GOT TO THAT POINT, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE GHOSTED TO MY CDRW JUST LIKE I DID IT ON MY DELL.

...I guess Ghost is your only suspect. Is it possible that your "full recovery" image could have been corrupted prior to ghosting? AFTER I DID THE FULL RECOVERY, I ESTABLISHED A DIAL UP CONNECTION, THEN I WENT TO TOOLS AND CHOSE "WINDOWS UPDATE" THAT TOOK HOURS. aFTER THAT THE SYSTEM SEEMED FINE AND CONNECTED FINE. THEN I DID GHOST AND UPON REBOOT, IT CRASHED.

Norton Ghost is popular because it works (usually)... you have a case here that is not the normal to what usually happens. For the most part, we still have not determined that there could be other factors at work here... THAT'S FOR SURE, BUT I SUSPECT GHOST AND HERE IS ANOTHER CLUE, A FEW YEARS AGO I RAN MACAFFEE AND IT HAD PROBLEMS, THEN I INSTALLED WINDOWS XP. AFTER MANY HOURS OF TECH SUPPORT TO COMPAQ BUT MOSTLY MICROSOFT, IT WAS DETERMINED COMPAQ DIDN'T SUPPORT THE DRIVERS FOR XP AND MICROSOFT DIDN'T SUPPORT THE DRIVERS. MICROSOFT SAID TO REVERT BACK TO 98. UPON DOING THAT, I HAD A COMPLETE FATAL CRASH THAT COULDN'T BE RECOVERED. MICROSOFT SAID THAT WAS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH MY MODEL, COMPAQ PENTIUM II 450.

Pretty much, even if your hard drive was FUBAR... you still should be able to boot to a DOS A: prompt using a boot disk...YES I CAN DO THAT AND I CAN PULL A DIRECTORY.
Sounds like something else is messed up in your system. I STILL THINK IT WAS GHOST, ESPECIALLY AFTER ZERO2DASH CONFIRMED HE HAD A SIMILIAR PROBLEM.

Can you run any disk utilities to tell you whether or not you have any bad sectors on your disk? DID THAT AND NOTHING FOUND
BTW... to get a Windows98 "boot disk", you'll need to find someone who has Win98 to create you one LUCKILY, I HAD A WINDOWS BOOT DISK THAT I MADE YEARS AGO, IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS WORKING BUT EVENTUALLY IT JUST RETURNED ME TO AN "A" DOS PROMPT.

Honestly, my BEST suggestion at this point would be to upgrade from Win98 and get WinXP on your machine. AS I EXPLAINED MY COMPAQ IS NOT SUPPORTED AND CAN'T RUN XP, THAT WAS TOLD TO ME BY MICROSOFT. I OWN A FULL INSTALL OF XP BUT I WON'T TRY THAT AGAIN

Thank you for your effort Darkfury, if you can think of anything else, I will try it. Thanks again for your effort.

pd123 · 08-27-2004, 12:10 AM

I found this at Symantic site http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT...ev=&minive r= I think they have a solution and the cause of the problem. Here is what they say, "Causes of the problem Using a hidden diagnostic partition
The computer has a hidden diagnostic partition. A diagnostic partition is placed on some computers by the computer manufacturer. The Ghost Virtual Partition does not work on a computer that has a diagnostic partition. To solve the problem, use a Ghost bootable floppy disk rather than the Ghost Virtual Partition when using Ghost."

pd123 · 08-27-2004, 07:31 AM

The problem is now clearly diagnosed, it is known issues with Ghost. What happened was Ghost created a virtual partition. Now, according to Norton, I have to boot using either the Norton Ghost cd (I have it on my Systemworks) . That takes me to a Dos "A" prompt, then I have to type E:\Support\ghost\ghreboot.exe I type "E" because that is the letter of my cd drive. MY PROBLEM is that I still stay at an A prompt. How to I switch to an E prompt?

Paymaster · 08-27-2004, 08:39 AM

Just type "e:".

Of course, you could also type the whole thing from the a: prompt, and that would work as well.

DarkFury · 08-27-2004, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pd123

THAT'S FOR SURE, BUT I SUSPECT GHOST AND HERE IS ANOTHER CLUE, A FEW YEARS AGO I RAN MACAFFEE AND IT HAD PROBLEMS, THEN I INSTALLED WINDOWS XP. AFTER MANY HOURS OF TECH SUPPORT TO COMPAQ BUT MOSTLY MICROSOFT, IT WAS DETERMINED COMPAQ DIDN'T SUPPORT THE DRIVERS FOR XP AND MICROSOFT DIDN'T SUPPORT THE DRIVERS. MICROSOFT SAID TO REVERT BACK TO 98. UPON DOING THAT, I HAD A COMPLETE FATAL CRASH THAT COULDN'T BE RECOVERED. MICROSOFT SAID THAT WAS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH MY MODEL, COMPAQ PENTIUM II 450.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pd123

AS I EXPLAINED MY COMPAQ IS NOT SUPPORTED AND CAN'T RUN XP, THAT WAS TOLD TO ME BY MICROSOFT. I OWN A FULL INSTALL OF XP BUT I WON'T TRY THAT AGAIN

Thanks for reminding me why I ABSOLUTELY HATE Compaq computers...

I swear, I've actually made a policy that I charge MORE to even work on them because they are such a friggin' headache (I have several friends who have older Presario models... and honestly, I've told them that I won't ever work on them again unless I charge them more just because of all the stupid stuff that happens with them.) It's like they "defy the natural laws of computer physics" or something.

Well... I PM'ed you an answer to your previous question. Good luck getting it fixed (if possible). Honestly, I'd say save yourself the headaches and hassles and just go buy one of those awesome Dell deals (that $399 deal for the 4600 P4 2.8 was sweet!). Sh@tpacs just got too many dayuum issues.

pd123 · 08-27-2004, 08:56 PM

If anyone has a problem like I had, it's because Ghost created a partition. You have to go to dos, run a program called "ghreboot"

GHOST was clearly the culprit and Norton admits to that fact.

Should I forget about ever running Ghost on that computer or is there a way I can use that program.

Thank you Zero2dash for confirming that you had seen the problem, I am most grateful to Darkfury for his help in responding to me in PM

08-25-2004, 09:20 AM	#1
pd123 Commander Join Date: Apr 2000 Posts: 1,465	Norton Ghost-Boot disk failure-HELP!!! I have a perfectly good Compaq (I know Compaq stinks) Pentium II running Windows 98. I installed Ghost, decided to backup the computer. I installed and ran Ghost for the first time on this computer (it worked on my Dell Pentium 2.4 running XP just fine), it went through it's paces, restarted the computer and now I get "Boot Disk Error". I am in a loop, I can't start my computer. I tried SafeMode, it won't go into SafeMode, I tried booting with the Norton Systemworks Pro cd in, that won't work. Any suggestions? If I can just reboot, I can delete Ghost, maybe that will end this problem.

08-25-2004, 01:52 PM	#3
DarkFury Secretary of the Navy Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Chillin' N Da 'Hood Posts: 34,997	Umm... I don't see how Norton Ghost would have crashed your hard drive. So are you saying that you took the Norton Ghost floppy out of the drive and then when you restart it doesn't recognize the startup drive? Is your main hard drive partitioned... or do you have 2 or more hard drives in your system? It is possible that you had some bad sectors on your hard disk and that this is coincidental to you ghosting the drive. __________________ DarkFury's Pimptopia - Don't Hate the Playa, Hate the Game! Home of the Original OG Pimp (accept NO imitations)

08-26-2004, 09:39 AM	#7
DarkFury Secretary of the Navy Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Chillin' N Da 'Hood Posts: 34,997	Well personally.... Whenever I Ghost anything, I use a Norton Ghost Boot Disk (which you could've create in the Norton Utilities Tab while you were running Norton in Windows). With this disk, you boot your computer directly to Ghost and then backup your system. I never use the Windows interface to do a backup, but that's just my personal preference and I've NEVER had a system crash due to ghosting. The files that it creates are not even in the same area as your system files... You never did answer the question as to where you ghosted the copy to... did you have a separate partition on your hard drive or did you have a second hard drive since you can't Ghost to the same partition or non partitioned drive that you are copying the image from. But hey... I don't know what happend to FUBAR your system and I guess Ghost is your only suspect. Is it possible that your "full recovery" image could have been corrupted prior to ghosting? Your O/S can run normally until you shut it down and restart in most cases. I've seen weird things happen before using Windows Recovery as well... so I wouldn't rule that out, which is why I like using Ghost instead and doing full re-installs when things get totally FUBAR. Norton Ghost is popular because it works (usually)... you have a case here that is not the normal to what usually happens. For the most part, we still have not determined that there could be other factors at work here. Pretty much, even if your hard drive was FUBAR... you still should be able to boot to a DOS A: prompt using a boot disk... if you can't, then that is not Ghost's fault. Sounds like something else is messed up in your system. Can you run any disk utilities to tell you whether or not you have any bad sectors on your disk? BTW... to get a Windows98 "boot disk", you'll need to find someone who has Win98 to create you one and then you can do an FDISK from there (someone here might be able to point you to where the necessary files are to download them from the web to create one as well.) Honestly, my BEST suggestion at this point would be to upgrade from Win98 and get WinXP on your machine. Win98 is "old news" now... and Microsoft will soon be eliminating tech support on it... so more or less, this might be your opportunity to upgrade your OS. Last edited by DarkFury : 08-26-2004 at 09:47 AM.

08-27-2004, 12:10 AM	#9
pd123 Commander Join Date: Apr 2000 Posts: 1,465	Turns out to be a known problem, there may be a cure I found this at Symantic site http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT...ev=&minive r= I think they have a solution and the cause of the problem. Here is what they say, "Causes of the problem Using a hidden diagnostic partition The computer has a hidden diagnostic partition. A diagnostic partition is placed on some computers by the computer manufacturer. The Ghost Virtual Partition does not work on a computer that has a diagnostic partition. To solve the problem, use a Ghost bootable floppy disk rather than the Ghost Virtual Partition when using Ghost."

08-27-2004, 07:31 AM	#10
pd123 Commander Join Date: Apr 2000 Posts: 1,465	Now that I diagnosed the problem, I need help. The problem is now clearly diagnosed, it is known issues with Ghost. What happened was Ghost created a virtual partition. Now, according to Norton, I have to boot using either the Norton Ghost cd (I have it on my Systemworks) . That takes me to a Dos "A" prompt, then I have to type E:\Support\ghost\ghreboot.exe I type "E" because that is the letter of my cd drive. MY PROBLEM is that I still stay at an A prompt. How to I switch to an E prompt?

08-25-2004, 10:58 AM	#2
zero2dash Commander Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Fenton, MO - but I wish I was at the beach. ANY beach. Posts: 1,367	Have you tried a Windows 98 boot disk? Boot off that and then run /fixmbr to fix the master boot record; maybe that's all screwed up for some reason (it's happened to me before after uninstalling another OS). You can download Win98 boot disks off the net, just google it...I would say bootdisk.com but I think they charge you to download (which is ridiculous).

08-27-2004, 08:39 AM	#11
Paymaster Commander Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Middle Earth Posts: 1,367	Just type "e:". Of course, you could also type the whole thing from the a: prompt, and that would work as well. __________________ "eh, take your opinion and shove it... somewhere else other than this thread" ~ welfareloser

08-27-2004, 08:56 PM	#13
pd123 Commander Join Date: Apr 2000 Posts: 1,465	Problem fixed If anyone has a problem like I had, it's because Ghost created a partition. You have to go to dos, run a program called "ghreboot" GHOST was clearly the culprit and Norton admits to that fact. Should I forget about ever running Ghost on that computer or is there a way I can use that program. Thank you Zero2dash for confirming that you had seen the problem, I am most grateful to Darkfury for his help in responding to me in PM

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