Create as good as new HDD using (mnfr. name)tools

[sadicote]

Hi, This is my first post and i am not sure if my sp3, build2600, X86 type system is 64 bit or 32bit 'coz i found nothing in System Information about that; just so you know my level of competence. My problem is:

i) After Zero filling my HDD how do i pre-partition it if i am to install my Norton Ghost image instead of XP.

ii) A couple of times before, Nortom Ghost Image got corrupted, either during creation or installation, the result being that i lost internet conncectivity. I have verified this was so by installing another image and checking for connectivity.

Edited July 8, 2008 by sadicote

[CoffeeFiend]

i) After Zero filling my HDD how do i pre-partition it if i am to install my Norton Ghost image instead of XP.

First, there's no need whatsoever to zero-fill the hard drive first.

Then, you can make some partitions with your preferred partitioning tool if you want, but ghost and other similar tools will handle that too.

ii) A couple of times before, Nortom Ghost Image got corrupted, either during creation or installation

Might be a scratched disc or such, there are options to verify if you want.

[sadicote]

i) After Zero filling my HDD how do i pre-partition it if i am to install my Norton Ghost image instead of XP.

First, there's no need whatsoever to zero-fill the hard drive first.

Then, you can make some partitions with your preferred partitioning tool if you want, but ghost and other similar tools will handle that too.

ii) A couple of times before, Nortom Ghost Image got corrupted, either during creation or installation

Might be a scratched disc or such, there are options to verify if you want.

thanks for your prompt replies, as to, please refer below:

i)ever since i bought my setup i have overwritten and overinstalled on it umpteen times, and besides i believe it will improve stability and performance even if to a minuscule degree.

ii)the images were loaded on a seperate partition in the same disc.

iii)A new related problem has surfaced; I have just created a Norton Ghost image and it exists in my D drive, but when i use Nero Burning Rom, choose the DVD rom (Boot) option and point to the image path in the Burn tab, no image is detected in the D drive. I have not renamed the image.gho file

[CoffeeFiend]

i)ever since i bought my setup i have overwritten and overinstalled on it umpteen times, and besides i believe it will improve stability and performance even if to a minuscule degree.

Won't make any difference. What numbers are written on unused parts of the hard disk are irrelevant, and when time comes to use it, it'll write data on it first.

ii)the images were loaded on a seperate partition in the same disc.

It can read from/restore to different partitions no problem. Done it hundreds of times.

iii)A new related problem has surfaced; I have just created a Norton Ghost image and it exists in my D drive, but when i use Nero Burning Rom, choose the DVD rom (Boot) option and point to the image path in the Burn tab, no image is detected in the D drive. I have not renamed the image.gho file

Ghost images aren't DVD disk images (a .gho isn't a .iso). It's not the same thing at all. And they're not bootable (unless that's some kind of new feature introduced in a new version -- I've stopped using Ghost in favor of Acronis TrueImage a couple years ago), so you'd burn them as a data DVD.

[Ponch]

If you burn a "bootable DVD", Nero will ask you for a boot image of a floppy (*.IMA or .IMG) to add to the data part of your DVD and make it bootable.

If Ghost created an ISO, you need to "burn image" as the boot part is already included in the iso. We need to know whjat file you got at first to help you burn it the correct way..

About zero fill, it's overkill in 99% of the cases, but sometimes usefull on the fery first sector of the drive (that takes less than half a second).

About partitionning, I use a dos boot cd with "Ranish Partition Manager". Partitionning beforehand is not needed if you apply a Ghost DISK image, but it is if you apply a Ghost PARTITION image.

[sadicote]

If you burn a "bootable DVD", Nero will ask you for a boot image of a floppy (*.IMA or .IMG) to add to the data part of your DVD and make it bootable.

If Ghost created an ISO, you need to "burn image" as the boot part is already included in the iso. We need to know whjat file you got at first to help you burn it the correct way..

I am sorry, 'file i got at first..'? I normally choose the whole primary drive as the source.

About zero fill, it's overkill in 99% of the cases, but sometimes usefull on the fery first sector of the drive (that takes less than half a second).

I will keep this project on hold.

About partitionning, I use a dos boot cd with "Ranish Partition Manager". Partitionning beforehand is not needed if you apply a Ghost DISK image, but it is if you apply a Ghost PARTITION image.

When using Norton Ghost i choose Ghost Normal-->Local-->Partition-->To image to create the image, so i guess that makes it a partition image.