In this post you will know how to create a recovery image using Ghost imaging utility. An image is a snapshot of a partition or a whole hard drive. A recovery image is the snapshot of your operating system partition or hard drive.
If you create a recovery image of your Windows, you can restore your Windows at any time and it will return to the orginial state at the time when you created the recovery image. This is useful when you need to:
- Restore Windows due to viruses
- Retore Windows due to corruptions
- Upgrade your existing hard drive
Previously we have discussed setting up a computer with at least 3 partitions - SYSTEM (where Windows and programs are installed), DATA (where your data is stored), and RECOVERY (where the recovery image is stored).
What is the benefit of this?
Using Ghost utility, you can take a snapshot of your SYSTEM partition and store it in the RECOVERY partition. As long as you store all your data in the DATA drive, you can perform a restore of your Windows (the SYSTEM partition) using the recovery image without worrying about backing up your files.
Viruses, hacks, exploits usually target system files stored in the same partition of your Windows. Most of the time, performing a restore of your SYSTEM partition will get rid of all the viruses, hacks, and exploits at the same time.
You can save a lot of time since restoring from an image is a lot faster than reinstalling everything (Windows, programs, updates...etc.).
When is a good time to create a recovery image?
You should create a recovery image after a clean install of Windows with all the Windows Updates and your software(s) loaded.
If you run your own IT business, it is a good practice to create a recovery image for your clients' computers. This will save you a lot of time down the road. Remember to educate your clients to save all their data in their DATA drives.
Let's get started, shall we?
Step 1: Download 1KeyGhost Boot CD ISO (1KeyGhostCDImage.zip, 5.27MB)
Step 2: Unzip the file and burn the ISO file to a CD.
Step 3: Set the computer to boot from CD. This can be achieved from the BIOS.
Step 4: Boot from CD, Select the 1. Ghost v2008.008.08 option.
Step 5: Select 1. 1KEY GHOST 11.2 Option
Step 6: Select IDE / SATA option
Step 7: Hit the ESC key
Step 8: Select 4. GHOST 11.2 option
Step 9: Assuming you have a single hard drive with 3 partitions. Choose Local => Partition => To Image
Step 10: Assuming you have a single drive with 3 partitions, you should only see a single source drive. Hit OK
Step 11: Select the SYSTEM partition as your source partition
Step 12: Save the image in your RECOVERY partition. Give it a name - "recovery" in this example. Hit Save.
Step 12: Select High Compression. Then hit OK to start the image creation process.
Step 13: Ghost should be creating your recovery image now.
In the screenshot above it says its creating an image from the source partition "SYSTEM" to an image file named "recovery.GHO". Once when it's finished, take out the Ghost boot CD and hit CTR-ALT-DEL to restart.
Step 14: Confirm that the recovery image has been created in the recovery partition in Windows.
Multiple Hard Drives
The process above may vary depending on the number of hard drives you have and their partition configurations.
For example, if you have multiple hard drives with the following configuration:
Drive 1: (80GB Hard Drive)
- C: [SYSTEM] 80GB
Drive 2: (120GB Hard Drive)
- D: [DATA] 100GB
- E: [RECOVERY] 20GB
Back to Step 10 above, you will see 2 drives (80GB and 120GB). You have to select the 80GB hard drive and then the SYSTEM partition for the source partition.
How big is the recovery image?
It depends on the size of files on the source partition. Ghost utility's high compression can compress files with the size of 10GB down to somewhere around 5~6GB.
Keep the recovery files safe
It is a good practice to tell your clients not to touch anything in the RECOVERY partition. You can also make the recovery files (*.GHO) hidden in Windows to avoid accidental deletion.
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