Rating:

01/28/03

Symantec Swings and Misses With Norton Ghost 2003

Earlier this year in their January issue, PC World published a short but decidedly negative review of Norton Ghost 2003. Sadly, after testing this newest version of Symantec's renowned backup / disk imaging program, I have to concur.

Norton Ghost 2003 promises a lot, but for me and many others, it failed to deliver anything but trouble. Those are difficult words for me to utter, as I am a long-time fan of Symantec products and a successful user of Norton Ghost 2002, which I recommend in my latest book, PC Fear Factor.

First, the positive news about NG 2003. This latest version of Ghost has many great new features, including a Windows based user interface for launching backups (to replace the DOS user interface), support for more internal CD writers, support for some USB and firewire CD writers, and support for some DVD writers. The user can now set a password on his hard disk backup without having to run Ghost using a command line switch, a task that would vex most mortal PC users.  In addition, the product comes with some truly outstanding interactive tutorials that help compensate for the (still) Einsteinian product documentation.

99% Doesn't Cut It

Unfortunately, it all goes for naught for me, as the product crashed during my hard disk backup. Based on reviews from actual users on Amazon and CNET, and problems reported by actual users in Symantec's knowledgebase, a large number of people who have tried Norton Ghost 2003 get 99% of the way through the backup, only to have Norton Ghost crash on the last CD. Some have reported far more serious problems, including damage to their hard disk's boot sector. One user commented ironically that he wished he had taken a hard disk backup (presumably with Norton Ghost 2002) before installing Norton Ghost 2003.

My experience was similar, with a twist. Norton Ghost 2003 crashed on the last CD when my hard disk backup was 99% complete, and then my system then exhibited the following strange behavior:

It ejected the CD, and then immediate retracted it again into the drive before I could even take it out. My computer then automatically booted up into Windows, and that is when the really strange things happened. When my computer booted up, I saw, for the first time ever (and I have had this computer for more than two years) the Windows 98 set up screen, which required me to enter my name. My computer then displayed the Windows 98 product key entry screen. Fortunately for me, the product key was pre-filled in so I was able to continue to boot up. 

Thankfully, these screens did not reappear when I rebooted my computer.

I should note that I was using NG 2003 on the same computer that I have successfully backed up and restored many times using NG 2002. I should also note that prior to running NG 2003 I ran live update to download the latest program fixes, so I was in fact working with the latest, greatest version of the software.

To add insult to injury, when I tried to uninstall NG 2003 and reinstall NG 2002, I was unable to do so. Apparently, the Norton Ghost uninstall program does not work properly, because I received the following error message when I tried to reinstall NG 2002 after uninstalling NG 2003:

Ultimately, I was forced to restore my hard disk from my most recent NG 2002 backup in order to get NG 2002 reinstalled on my hard disk. In other words, NG 2003, which is supposed to help you recover from hard disk disasters, caused a hard disk disaster for me.  It took me the better part of a day to recover from this problem.

So for me and many others, NG 2003 gets a big thumbs down. And that's a shame, because it would be a big improvement in ease-of-use and functionality over NG 2002 had it actually worked. Having said all of the above, there are many users who have reported positive experiences with the product.

What Happened?

What happened to this great product?

I am guessing that the newer your computer, the more likely you are to have a positive experience with NG 2003.  I also wonder if an incomplete uninstall of NG 2002 caused a corrupted install of NG 2003.

I also suspect that Symantec added so many new features to NG 2003 that they didn't have time to test it adequately, but again this is just speculation on my part.

What Should You Do?

Given the dangers, there is certainly no need to upgrade if you are currently (successfully) using NG 2002, and I think that many are likely to find more success with NG 2002 than NG 2003.

If you do decide to use NG 2003, you should be aware of the following:

Symantec left out the most important interactive tutorial of all: disaster recovery. Symantec's hard disk restore tutorial assumes that you can still boot into Windows and launch the hard disk restore from within Windows. This is certainly not the case if you have experienced a hard disk crash, or if a computer virus for badly behaved application has trashed your hard disk to the extent that you can no longer boot up.

The documentation does not clearly state which emergency boot disc you will need to create to facilitate an emergency disaster recovery. It is the last option among four choices (CD/DVD Startup Disk with Ghost). This option creates a floppy boot disc that includes generic drivers to access your optical drive to restore your backup. (Note: if your computer's BIOS is set to include your optical drive in its' boot sequence, you won't need the floppy boot disc. However, it is a good idea to create one just in case. And I should also mention that in NG 2003, this process actually creates a set of two floppy discs.)

If you are currently using NG 2002 and wish to switch to NG 2003, take a complete backup of your hard disk prior to uninstalling NG 2002 and installing NG 2003. You may need to restore from this backup, as I did, should NG 2003 not work properly, and it is always preferable to install from a current backup.

I am sure that Symantec will eventually get it right, although I fear we may have to wait until Norton Ghost 2004.  If you do not own either version of Norton Ghost, I would suggest that you try NG 2002 first if your CD-writer is supported under Norton Ghost 2002. You can purchase it on eBay for as little as $15. Then I suggest that you forego the Einsteinian user documentation and follow the detailed, step-by-step illustrated instructions for using Norton Ghost 2002 that are found in PC Fear Factor. (Frankly, I wish Symantec would engage me to write their documentation.)

Of course, if your CD writer is only supported by the latest version of Norton Ghost, you will have to purchase NG 2003 if you want to use this product. Hopefully, your experience will be better than mine.

Finally, I would urge Symantec to dedicate its resources to making Norton Ghost 2004 a stable, reliable application, rather than adding any new features to the product.

 

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