Entered CNET Catalog: 08/10/2005
SKU: CNETNORTONGHOST10
Manufacturer: Symantec Corporation
Manufacturer description
Symantec's Norton Ghost provides advanced backup and recovery for your PC. Protect your data by making a backup of your hard drive's contents - without restarting Windows. Incremental backups save you time and disk space. You can even schedule backups to run automatically. Quickly restore individual files, selected folders, or the entire hard drive.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 10/18/2005
Those with long memories may recall earlier versions of Norton Ghost, a DOS-based disk-imaging utility aimed mostly at system administrators. The Ghost 10 box edition includes a copy of Ghost 2003, the last iteration of the DOS software, but Ghost 9 and 10 are now Windows based, thanks largely to the DriveImage technology Symantec acquired when it bought PowerQuest in 2003.
When you first install Norton Ghost 10, a wizard guides you through the process of creating a backup schedule; Ghost even scans your system and suggests locations to store the backup. Though Ghost can back up data to removable media, such as DVD-RW drives, it works best with an external or secondary internal hard drive. It places an icon in the system tray and works seamlessly in the background, creating complete backups and incrementally updating those backups daily.
Double-click the system-tray icon to bring up Ghost's control console. Ghost 10 will look and feel familiar to users of other Symantec products, such as Norton AntiVirus or SystemWorks. You can use the console to explore and restore files and folders from backups you've made. The new version also includes easy-to-use tools for managing backups: you can manually delete or archive backups onto removable media, such a DVD-R drive, or have the software automatically delete old backups to save disk space.
In case of a real disaster, the Ghost installation disk also serves as a recovery disk. You can boot your PC from it and use its familiar Windows-style interface to restore your PC to its previous running state. In fact, this feature is similar to the System Restore functionality included in Windows ME and XP.
Norton Ghost 10 delivers a slew of new features and usability enhancements--users of Ghost 9 will definitely want to upgrade. The software's clever design gives you a great deal of power and flexibility, creating a complete backup each month and updating that backup daily. It lets you recover from serious mishaps, such as a virus infection or a hard disk crash, or more minor troubles, such as accidentally deleting a file or a folder. You can even retrieve a file from a few days ago if you don't like the changes you've made in the meantime.
Norton Ghost 10 can also serve as a time machine. It lets you easily explore the contents of your disk as it was a day or a week ago, retrieving older versions of files that have changed or been deleted. You can also restore your entire disk to the state it was on a given day. The software can create restore points based on trigger events, such as installing a new piece of software or adding a certain amount of data to the disk.
Also new in Ghost 10 is optional password-based AES 128-bit, 192-bit, or 256-bit encryption. This is especially useful for keeping data secure if you are making backups onto removable media, since external hard drives are vulnerable to theft.
In addition to backup, Ghost 10 offers a Copy My Hard Drive function that replicates the complete contents of one hard drive onto another--very helpful if you are upgrading your system drive to a larger hard disk.
Norton Ghost 10 performed well in our informal tests. The backup software can create a complete image of your Windows system drive while working in the background. You never need to restart your system or interrupt what you're doing.
By default, the software creates a complete backup once a month and performs daily updates of the data that has changed. Though the complete backup can take up to several hours, we found the iterative updates much shorter. If the backups slow down your system too much, a handy slider lets you trade off speed for performance.
Norton Ghost 10's complete image backup is both its greatest strength and its greatest limitation. Unlike many backup solutions, Ghost provides no way to back up only specific folders or file types; it backs up complete drive partitions only--ouch. That means you can't perform a daily backup of work documents to a DVD-R drive, for instance. If you have a lot of media files on your drive partition, you could end up with large image files.
Though Ghost 10 compresses data, you still need a suitably large backup destination to get the most out of the program. Whether you use a local hard drive or a network resource, plan on dedicating more than half the size of the source disk to the compressed image. For instance, using standard compression, the backup image of our 30GB test disk required 20GB of backup space; this proportion will vary depending on the type of data you have stored on your PC.
Norton Ghost 10 comes with a detailed printed manual, which guides you through installation and, if things go wrong, recovery. (A product like this needs a printed manual, since in a real disaster you may not be able to boot your computer and access online help.) The software also includes a detailed help file.
Symantec offers free support via its Web site, including e-mail response to support questions and an extensive and helpful knowledge base. However, it charges $29.95 per incident for 24/7 phone tech support.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71
User Rating: 
2/10
Simply Horrible
Pros: Scheduler works well, easy to use. The files I recovered manually from restore points were intact.
Cons: Recovery feature using the Recovery Environment FAILED!!!!
Anyways, after about a year of creating automatic restore points, which I saved on another partition, I blew a hole in Windows and wanted to restore my C:\ partition. Wouldn't you know . . . the Ghost recovery envir. wouldn't work. Ghost runnng in Windows wouldn't allow me to restore to another HD, either. I reinstalled Windows and Ghost, and finally got the recovery envir working. I navigated to my desired restore point and began the restoration only to get the error: EC8F178F "The internal structure of the image file is invalid or unsupported" Got the same error trying to restore to the other drive, too. (I was, however, able to recover specific files manually through restore points.)
I got in touch with tech online, and he vnc'd into my box. He poked around for about 30 minutes, restarted, etc. but didn't really seem like he had a clue. Worthless.
I'm a moderate to advanced user and can get around most issues, but not being able to recover my entire drive " . . .to a specific time and day when it was working correctly" IS ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. I have been hacking along for a year now with a false security!!!!! What are the "Grandmas" supposed to do with a situation like this? Contact tech support? Forget that. You're DONE.
User Rating: 
1/10
sucks, documentation and support go nowhere, it sucks.
Pros: it does create backup
Cons: cannot find where supposed boot wizard is located or howto.
User Rating: 1/10
It stinks! It won't even update itself, like many Norton products!
Pros: None, unless you like dealing with a company that has no support.
Cons: This is bloat ware. Use a RAID1 system.
User Rating: 
10/10
Symantec was Great, but CNET Blew-Up my Review
Pros: Symantec's Service and Products
Cons: CNET's Scorched Earth Pattern of Handling Reviews
User Rating: 1/10
Stay with the older version...
Pros: At least it is something.
Cons: Can you say MACHINE_EXCEPTION_ERROR
I am giving it a "1" only because any systems that can't be reliant for a disk restore is like having a new car without an engine; you aren't going anywhere, fast. Symantec is failing to listen to their clients and their "Fat-Ware" is hogging-up more resources, release after release. The only reason why they didn't get a Zero? They actually had some decent company techs trying in earnest to help.
My recommendation, let Symantec get the bugs out, especially when it is reliant upon a working O/S.
One short note- My hat does go off to Symantec for their tech support staff. They are really trying hard and have become far more personable and caring. I remember when the common answer was, "...re-partition and format the hard drive."
User Rating: 
3/10
Lacks full recovery capabilities.
Pros: Easy to use for backup.
Cons: Not easy to use for recovery, when it can find anything to recover.
User Rating: 1/10
very poor support
Pros: same as others
Cons: poor support
User Rating: 1/10
Stay away!!!!!!
Pros: If you want to kill your system - very destructive
Cons: Very - very destructive
User Rating: 1/10
Pathetic customer service
Pros: Nothing I can recomment. product does not work. horrible support
Cons: Product does not work as advertized. bad support.
User Rating: 3/10
Worse than Ghost 9
Pros: Easy Installation
Cons: Back-up is unreliable; Tech Support sucks
Peter
User Rating: 1/10
DO NOT WASTE YOUR $If I could give it a 0 I would. The company is just too paranoid about theft.
Pros: If you never have to restore a boot drive it's ok.
Cons: But If you do, YOU ARE TOAST! DO NOT BUY THIS SOFTWARE!
User Rating: 2/10
Dumbed down version
Pros: Low functioning SW for low functioning persons
Cons: Won't actually clone your drive;support is a bad joke
Norton Ghost 10: not the same product, no cloning ability, booting from CD useless. A nearly-useless addon to XP that does approximately what System Restore and Windows backup will do.
Stupidity. Acronis True Image Home 9.0 is cheaper and more capable.
User Rating: 1/10
Terrible Bloatware
Pros: Pretty Box
Cons: Buggy As Hell
User Rating: 2/10
It backs up but doesn't restore!
Pros: Simple interface, backs up easily
Cons: Major flaw in file restoration
We unsuccessfully tried using Symantec's support resources after we could not recover files from backups. See their Premimum Support web page that advertises: http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/support/premium_support.jsp
that advertises "No waiting! Fast access to North American call center experts"
Willing to pay the $39.95-$69.95 for Premium support to avoid waiting on hold, we followed the phone menus and sure enough got someone fairly quickly. But all he could do was take our credit card info and log the call. After FIVE hours on hold or getting transferred to the wrong departments several times (first level tech support, virus support, back to general tech support), we were ready to scream. Each new person (by the way, located in India NOT Northern America) would dutifully log out case number, name, and phone. Then they would curorily listen to our description and...yes, want to transfer us again.
We begged, pleaded and demanded to talk to SOMEONE who would give us what we paid for. We pointed out that our credit card had already been charged 3.5 hours ago, and yet no help was forthcoming. Finally a sympathetic floor manager did a 'warm transfer' (they actually get a live person on the phone instead of sending you to more menus) and we reached someone we were told was "Customer Relations Tech Support". He worked with us for perhaps another 45 minutes before concluding we were NOT going to be able to recover our files.
And what, might you ask, was the problem? We use an external hard drive for our backup destination. We disconnect it and store it safely away from our workstation. Apparently at some point when we connected the drive, it was assigned a different drive letter than before. Norton Ghost was able to figure this out and keep on running backups, but... it isn't smart enough to actually access the backups that are noted as a different drive.
Now we have to figure out what to do from here... get a new drive and start over, because we want to keep the backups that do work (128 & 365 days old!). But do we start over with Ghost? Sure, says their tech support, just make sure you always have the backup drive connected as the same drive letter.
Ick. With connecting USB flash & pocket drives, we would rather Ghost was smart enough to figure things out.
User Rating: 1/10
Re: Trial download from Symantec
Pros: Program is available by download.
Cons: Doesn't install as advertised.
Must be uninstalled before reinstalling which results in the trial being voided (see article on Symantec site).
Can't imagine how they got this past the government regulatory bodies.
User Rating: 2/10
Supposedly good product with Horrendous Support
Pros: Don't know - could not get it to work
Cons: Horrible support
Do not buy this product. *** Buyer beware *** While some of Symantec's products are not bad, this one is terrible. But the software itself isn't so bad (or so I'm told), it's the support that comes/doesn't come along with it. I installed this five weeks ago and have spent my weekends since trying to get it to work using their infamous chat support for free. If you want telephone support, you have to pay $29.95 for someone to guide you through what's already there on their website. I'm no newbie. I'm a software engineer--I do this stuff for a living, so I'm surprised I couldn't get it to function. I have to say I'm extremely disappointed in Symantec.
User Rating: 
9/10
Excellent product - been using over a year now
Pros: Works as advertised, can really forget my backup
Cons: Has a problem running with Volume Shadow Copy service running at the same time
User Rating: 1/10
Worthless. Shame on you Symantec!
Pros: Could not find any.
Cons: Nothing works like it should.
User Rating: 2/10
POS: dell ships this with with raid config. BAD< BAD
Pros: The Nrton Name. designed to theoretically back up your system, in practice watch out.
Cons: makes intial recovery point in 2 hours. the won't allow for an incremental back up. Still takes 2 hours. DELL ship this with their dual core RAID/mirror systems.
User Rating: 1/10
lyleandaileen
Pros: downloaded and installed easily
Cons: would not recommend due poor customer service
User Rating: 1/10
Does Not Work
Pros: I rated it 1 because there is no zero.
Cons: Hangs constantly
seizes control of the machine and will not give it up;
goes into "black holes" doing who knows what;
cancel operations not only does not work but you have to unplug your computer to get control back;
I cannot discern whether there is a single useable backup after months of use;
no useful documentation;
no help available;
stops making backup files whenever a drive is unavailable with no notice to the user;
the file management software does not work;
you cannot tell what the files it writes are for so you cannot manage them manually;
you will soon be out of space on your 500 gig backup drive;
pass on this junk and pass on anything from Norton;
User Rating: 2/10
Dont waste your money on software that doesnt work
Pros: looks good, very easy to use
Cons: can be a pain to install, produced corrupted backup images for me, crashes when trying to schedule
User Rating: 2/10
Could not restore; abysmal tech support (INDIA)
Pros: None that I could discern
Cons: Could not restore. Tech service said the program would not recognize my DVD drive.
User Rating: 1/10
Look elsewhere
Pros: none that I can find
Cons: non-intuitive, does not run properly
User Rating: 1/10
Doesn't work
Pros: Backs up data fast
Cons: Can't restore backed up data
User Rating: 3/10
Too "easy" to use - makes it hard to use...
Pros: "ease" of use, probably very reliable
Cons: inflexible interface; repeatedly unregistered itself
User Rating: 2/10
Complicated, absurd, bloated, a waste of my hard earnt money.
Pros: Symantec stock holders will be very happy if you buy this junk
Cons: Complicated interface and use compared to ghost 2003. Installs programs that you don't need or want.
Symantec is producing more and more programs that I don't want to buy. PcAnywhere was the first to go from my computer then Norton antivirus and now Ghost.
I spent $50 in an upgrade that I will never use.
User Rating: 
8/10
I have just switched from Acronis 8 full to Norton Ghost 10 full
Pros: So far it appears all is well with this software
Cons: None so far
full system image of C / D drives to an external hard drive of the same size 160 GB. This backup was quick, and after the backup i was able to view all my system/files in recovery point as a drive; also, mounting a recovery point from windows explorer. I am happy thus far because i never got to view any of the images that were created using Acronis; although, i am using a different storage format this time: External HD, instead of cd's with Acronis.
User Rating: 8/10
No Problems Installing or Using
Pros: Can Store Jobs and Settings
Cons: Restore disk takes many minutes to load
It recognized my internal 250GB SATA drive and my external 500GB USB drive. The Ghost sofware checks if the proper drivers are present on the recovery CD, which they were.
The full image options (from the boot partition) on my PC takes about 12 minutes imaging to a partition on the internal HD and about twice as long using the USB drive.
I had one error when the system went into hibernate mode. It caused the backup to error out. Setting the screen saver, monitor, hard disk and hibernate modes to times long enough to allow the backup process to complete cured that.
Be aware the that the source partition/drive and the destination partition/drive must be checked. Using CHKDSK with the appropriate switches is a prudent step. Also, set the Ghost program to verify and note any problems in the event log.
When used as intended, Ghost is an excellent preventative measure. I was not disappointed.
User Rating: 2/10
Brittle. Won't do half of what is advertised.
Pros: Quick chat help early AM.
Cons: Will not do system copy, will not do partition copy.
Typical Norton/Symantec... Big, slow, unfriendly and brittle. Save you money and look elsewhere.
User Rating: 1/10
Blue Screen of Death
Pros: Free with rebate
Cons: Useless when it crashes your system
About one minute into my first backup, Windows crashes with a blue screen of death. I thought that perhaps the program had a problem with my USB drive so I tried backing up to a network drive. Same problem.
I used Symantec Live Update to download the latest fixes. Same problem...repeated blue screens of death.
As others have mentioned, the on-line FAQ and support is useless.
User Rating: 8/10
Great for copying your hard drive
Pros: Backed up my entire hard drive - easy
Cons: Can not think of any, but...
I didnt try the other back up features,so I can not comment on that, but if you need to change your hard drive this is the software for you. Comp usa had it bundled with virus 97 for $ 79 with a $ 50 rebate!
User Rating: 9/10
SATA drives OK, but TEST FIRST
Pros: Works very well with a little effort
Cons: Product Activation MIGHT trip you up.
I wanted to try Acronis True Image, but I've seen WAY too many rants where people find their images are corrupt only AFTER an emergency. Ghost hasn't let me down. Not once.
User Rating: 1/10
symantec support doesnt exist!!!!
Pros: it runs fast .. thats about all u can say
Cons: product is not very flexible, only allows recovery to the same exact drive that the image came from, but the worst thing is symantec itself. they are so screwed up its ridiculous.
User Rating: 2/10
Great Idea; Poor Results and Terrible Service
Pros: Great Concept
Cons: Wouldn't Restore Specific Files; Terrible Service
Regretably, my experience with the product was awful. The product was worthless to me. The product's problems started with installation and ended with terrible customer service when I couldn't get the product to restore a specific file. What good is a backup program, if it won't restore?
Installation was a snap. However, when I tried to format a recovery disk, the product wouldn't let me do so, after repeated attempts. When you call Customer Service. after waiting 60 minutes on hold, you get a thick accented foreigner that I could barely understand and who simply parrotted back the same instructions on the on line help file. Ultimately, if you buy the disk version of the program (an extra $10), you get a recovery disk in the package. The internet download site doesn't say this, nor did the Customer Service Guys and I wasted an entire afternoon fooling with them for nothing. Thanks, Norton.
As for my main gripes, the program took 24 hours to back up 700 gigs, which is unacceptable in my book. Windows Explorer copy function worked faster. I can't have my computer out of commission for that long.
Even more disasterous was the restore function. After backing up my system, I tried to restore a specific file which got corrupted one day and found that the back up copied the directory structure, but my file could not be located.
After 3-4 separate backupus, again taking 24 hours each, I found that often certain files, which did in fact exist, were not being copied, even though all the right boxes were checked, AND the back up was allegedly verified, and I received no error in the log. I may be chastized for this, but sorry, I didn't want to give Customer Service another chance to waste an afternoon of my life.
So instead, I picked up Folder Clone for half the price, it backed up my whole system in about 12 hours, AND one can point and click to specific files and see that the backup was done correctly, and you can run the file from the mirrored location without a cumberson "restore" program. Just point and click. It also does incremental backups.
Memo to Norton: You have a great product concept that installs flawlessly. I may have made mistakes along the way but given the complete idiots you have for customer service, I won't ever know what went wrong. The product was worthless to me.
I will note that others may have different, and obviously better experiences with the product than I did. I'm no computer expert, but I do have 2 college degrees and am no dummy.
User Rating: 3/10
Sort of works...
Pros: When it works, it's nice
Cons: Ghost is not stable
User Rating: 1/10
Caused loss of data
Pros: None noted
Cons: corrupted my windows file
User Rating: 1/10
Not the "real" Ghost -- will not work for cloning.
Pros: Good for end users with no technical knowledge, I guess... NO PROs for IT personnel!
Cons: NOT the real Symantec Ghost. This is a program from a competitor that they bought a couple of years ago, called PowerQuest. This will NOT work for machine cloning or disk upgrades.
This application is meant to run on ONE workstation and perform BACKUPS for that one workstation -- NOT disk imaging.
Norton Ghost 2003 was the last version created by Symantec to be the actual Ghost product. Subsequent packages are the PowerQuest V2i Protector application masked with Symantec's branding and the Ghost name. The program files are actually the same names as they were when it was called PowerQuest V2i Protector (Pqboot32.exe, V2iBrowser.exe, and etc.). They now call this appliation "Norton Ghost 10.0", which is designed to run on a single PC as a recovery application and not as a disk imaging program.
This leads to the problem. The real Ghost application allows that functionality, but the only way to get the real Ghost application that has the ability to create an entire disk image and to copy it to another computer is to purchase the Ghost Solution Suite.
DON'T buy this product if you are attempting to clone machines or to store images for later use. It WILL NOT work for that purpose.
User Rating: 1/10
Waste of Money
Pros: Easy to Install
Cons: No technical support from symantec
I have ditched the programme and stick to my old Disk Image and a normal back up programme for day to day use.
User Rating: 2/10
I couldn't believe the user ratings. Now I do!
Pros: None that I can see.
Cons: Everything. I can't even install it. Mr 23ys network experience... I agree with you.
User Rating: 1/10
Something is Sadly wrong in Cupertino!
Pros: User Interface for Dummies
Cons: Poor Support, causes system to hang
User Rating: 2/10
Please don't waste your $
Pros: Does do a backup
Cons: Crashes system; can't select what you want backed up, even though the box says you can
User Rating: 3/10
Crash Crash Crash Crash - uninstall !
Pros: Seemed to work okay backing up to the same HD
Cons: crashed everytime I tried to backup to a slave HD
It seemed to work fine on a brand new dell desktop with only one hard drive - but if the HD goes down so does your backup. Installed a second HD which works for everything else - but Ghost could not back up to it successfully.
Maybe it was me - so three stars.
User Rating: 1/10
Can't Load It on RW-CD Or Get Help From Semantic
Pros: None, I can't load in on a RW CD
Cons: Can't Load It on RW-CD Or Get Help From Semantic
User Rating: 1/10
Should be a case study in foobar'd sw engineering
Pros: Absolutely NONE.
Cons: It drags Norton's name through the mud. Is he a moron or a tool?
Besides instability, the whole suite of Norton products are a big overgrown monstrosity.
Ghost IS a utility. It has no business living its life in the system tray. It has no business phoning home. And for goodness sake, it has no business in the registry. Symantec is so heavy handed and destructive that no good can come of that. Think of a bull in a china shop.
AVOID.
User Rating: 8/10
So Far, So Good
Pros: Easy Installation, Easy Back-up
Cons: None so far
After reading the manual, I loaded the program on my Compaq Presario (649MHz ? 740MB Ram ? 32G Memory with 19G free) and saved the back-up to a Seagate 160G external drive (USB connection) with no problem. I was able to activate the product with the provided key code during the installation process. I was also able to boot my machine from the supplied disk ? a step recommended by Symantec. I have not experienced slowed response time in any of my applications due to Ghost running in the background. I can run Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, as well as Outlook Calendar in conjunction with one another, access the internet, including Yahoo IM, piece of cake.
I must admit, that when I loaded the software, my system was stable (and still is), all of my software was registered, and I loaded from a disk, not an internet download. I highly recommend reading the manual prior to installation, as some of the problems that I have read about on this site and others are addressed.
User Rating: 1/10
Awful - Activation required during Boot Disk Restoration
Pros: Ends my relationship with Symantec - User of Norton since Dos
Cons: After you've bought the program, Symantec does not want to hear from you!!!!
User Rating: 1/10
Don't Buy This Program
Pros: Lighting A $50 Bill On Fire is More Usefull
Cons: Lousy Support And Ineffective Program
Another license? For a program that didn't work the first three times?
User Rating: 2/10
Copy My Hard Drive function doesn't work
Pros: backup seemed to be okay, but I haven't used it for recovery yet
Cons: copied C drive, but can't boot from new disk at all
Okay, I take back the stuff I wrote about Ghost. I tried lots of different ways to boot and fix the BIOS and reloaded my XP... Then the new drive would boot but it was still being recognized as the E drive so most of my applications were confused. Finally, I called tech support and they told me that if the destination drive was formatted before the Copy My Hard Drive function, it won't work. So they told me to use Disk Management to delete the partition (right-click on the drive) and make sure it appears as unallocated space. THEN you can use Copy My Hard drive, make sure you check the boxes for "set active drive (for starting OS)" and "Copy MBR." And don't assign any drive letter; leave it as "none." Then when the copying process is done, you can remove the source drive and use the destination drive as the new boot drive. Well, it finally worked! I'm so happy and relieved. But the user manual doesn't mention anything about making sure the destination drive is unformatted unallocated space. It just doesn't give enough basic information and instructions. So the software does work. I just hope anyone else who runs into this problem will read this posting and save themselves some work.
User Rating: 3/10
resource hog. Poor support
Pros: easy install
Cons: Slooooow unless you don't use computer during backup
User Rating: 2/10
Horrible support
Pros: Works ok, scheduling good
Cons: Terrible on-line support
User Rating: 1/10
Very disappointing
Pros: can't find anything good to say
Cons: Doesn't work on my system
But I decided that even for my primary computer I needed something better than XP's backup. So I tried to run it and received supposed hard drive errors. I ran a full chkdsk and there was nothing wrong. Then I ran XP's backup and it found nothing wrong. I reran ghost and it still can't cope with my system.
I can't imagine trusting this thing in my time of need. Maybe I should go back to Iomega and a tape backup??? At least it worked!
I've listened to the gripes about Symantec and struggled thru various issues with its antivirus, and figured that ghost 10 was the only game in town. But now I've waited 3 days for a response to my plea for help, and realized I got suckered and should have listened to the feedback of other disgruntled users, not some idiot reviewers rating of "7".
This sucker is going to be testing their returns system.
2 more issues that have come up since my original posting:
It took Symantec over 3 weeks to reply to my request for help, and then I received a boilerplate email that said "Please note that we are experiencing higher than normal message volumes. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and thank you for your patience.
Hence, we request you to go through the below link which has the troubleshooting steps for some of the Top Issues for Ghost 10"
after which they pointed me at their useless website support. 3 weeks and a guy named Girish says we can't help. This is ludicrous.
2 - I've been having trouble with my Kodak camera download for a few weeks and today I discovered that it was Ghost that was causing the problem. It appears it isn't compatible with a number of other products. At least Kodak got back to me promptly with good support and an accurate answer. A full removal of Ghost and a repair of the Kodak software and it's running again.
How can anyone give this turkey a positive review???
User Rating: 2/10
destroys system files
Pros: hopefully get refund
Cons: terrible experience
User Rating: 1/10
Just what you would expect from Symantec
Pros: Backup great
Cons: Restoring might be a bit of a problem
Ghost boot image runs on a stripped down version of windows xp; in parallel, Symantec completely ignored people that might not have "default windows compatible" hardware (read: you needed to load a driver during windows installation")
Also, windows from a CD takes good 5 minutes to load, each menu takes about 1 minute load;- this unnecessary pain could be easily avoided - dont use them ; instead go get Acronis True Image.
User Rating: 1/10
Just plain useless
Pros: None- won't load!
Cons: Can't run the program
User Rating: 8/10
Good Product
Pros: It Works . . . . . .
Cons: . . . . They Oversimplified It
User Rating: 2/10
Don't rely on this product...
Pros: OK for small backups...
Cons: Hopeless for large ones
However, backing up my 140Gb of iTunes and pictures every day gave me a warm feeling of security until I needed to restore. It's been running two hours and at this rate is going to take 2 WEEKS to restore my data and even then, I can't restore my C drive because the dedicated recovery environment will not let me.
Backup Recovery software has to be 100% reliable and this is not.
And don't even get me started on their hopeless support. I'd much rather pay alot more money and get a product and support to match. Symantec sucks!
User Rating: 1/10
Bend over and grab your ankles - Symantec's Backup gets User's Butt-Up!
Pros: Integrates well with Norton control panel and update service.
Cons: Does not allow for recovery "Even if the worst should happen"
If you use Symantec's Backup and Recovery tool, do you expect, ?no matter what you have stored on your computer, Symantec's Norton Ghost will help keep it safe. Even if the worst should happen.? (a quote from the product box)
Think again!
According to Symantec: ?Please be aware that if your backup location is damaged or corrupted by any means then Norton Ghost will not be able to restore it back.?
...?by any means? ... what happened to ?Even if the worst should happen??
Symantec DOES offer the ability to restore your backup to your replacement computer, but only if you shell out additional cash. When I inquired how to protect my data ?Even if the worst should happen,? Symantec Customer Support informed me, ?you need to purchase multiple Licenses from the Customer Support Department.? (Even though using Norton Ghost to recover from the scenarios described does not violate their EULA.)
Is this Bait and Switch? Probably not, in this instance, the unsuspecting user finds they are screwed AFTER "the worst should happen" ... too late to purchase the ?multiple Licenses,? but plenty of time to lament their choice!
Finally, thank you to Kiran.byrappa at Symantec Authorized Technical Support. Without Kiran's inept and insulting response to my inquiry, I would not have been motivated to share this... A little bad support CAN go a long way!
User Rating: 1/10
Unreliable. File Errors. No Repair or Salvage Possible
Pros: No problem installing or setting up
Cons: Unreliable Files
Previous editions seem to have had a command line option to explore files (.gho)that are "corrupted" but it does not work on Ghost 10 files (.2vi). Symantec's help for error EA39070A was not helpful.
User Rating: 2/10
Disappointed - Symantec should add a refund wizard
Pros: Does properly backup hard drive contents that are not in use.
Cons: Doesn?t use shadow copy for files that are in use, removable drives such as cameras and memory cards cannot be backed up, forced product activation, overly simplified interface.
Microsoft Outlook usually runs in the background even after closing the program. This is especially true if it is synced to a PDA. If the outlook.pst file changes due to new mail coming in, Ghost will have an invalid/corrupt version of the file saved in the image. Any documents that you are actively working in during the backup can also end up being invalid because ghost does not use a shadow copy of files that are in use.
Removable drives:
Ghost does handle removable hard drives, but not any other type of removable drive. The picture on the box cover showing the digital camera and the side panel that says ?back up your digital music? and everything else on your computer in one easy step.? are misleading.
Forced product activation:
I am so tired of Software companies assuming that we are software thieves. The activation wizard should be replaced with a refund wizard.
Overly simplified interface:
Symantec simplified the interface to the point that flexibility is gone. Maybe they actually realize that their target client is no longer knowledgeable users.
Summary:
They were smart to buy out PowerQuest and remove an innovative company as competition.
If I had properly read the reviews on this site, I could have saved myself a lot of aggravation. I misread the 'user' rating of this product. 7 out of 10 was from the 'editor'.
User Rating: 2/10
Disappointed - Symantec should include a refund wizard in this product.
Pros: Does properly backup hard drive contents that are not in use.
Cons: Doesn?t use shadow copy for files that are in use, removable drives such as cameras and memory cards cannot be backed up, forced product activation, overly simplified interface.
Microsoft Outlook usually runs in the background even after closing the program. This is especially true if it is synced to a PDA. If the outlook.pst file changes due to new mail coming in, Ghost will have an invalid/corrupt version of the file saved in the image. Any documents that you are actively working in during the backup can also end up being invalid because ghost does not use a shadow copy of files that are in use.
Removable drives:
Ghost does handle removable hard drives, but not any other type of removable drive. The picture on the box cover showing the digital camera and the side panel that says ?back up your digital music? and everything else on your computer in one easy step.? are misleading.
Forced product activation:
I am so tired of Software companies assuming that we are software thieves. The activation wizard should be replaced with a refund wizard.
Overly simplified interface:
Symantec simplified the interface to the point that flexibility is gone. Maybe they actually realize that their target client is no longer knowledgeable users.
Summary:
They were smart to buy out PowerQuest and remove an innovative company as competition.
I could have saved myself a lot of aggravation by carefully ready that the 7 out of 10 was from the editor and not the average user rating.
User Rating: 
4/10
Incremental Data Sets a No-no
Pros: Full featured and excellent GUI
Cons: Incremental Backups eliminated
This may be a terrific application for most folks with small source drives, huge destination drives, and lots of time to spare while your PC cranks away creating full backups. Unfortunately, not for me.
User Rating: 1/10
Unable to install
Pros: None whatsover, presently
Cons: Unable to install
User Rating: 1/10
Great product, if you can activate it
Pros: Comprehensive backup
Cons: Online activation required,and often doesn't work
User Rating: 1/10
Dell Dimension E510 Bio doe not supported this product
Pros: Doe not work with Dell Dimension E510
Cons: Don't try its on Dell Dimension E510
User Rating: 1/10
Not trustworthy Stick with Ghost 2003
Pros: Easy to use
Cons: A backup you can't fully trust is useless
For a casual web browsing user, losing an important file would be rare but possible. For a power user with lots of programs running in the background that might be doing updates during a scheduled backup the risk may go as high as "sure thing" (Google Desktop anyone?, Tivo downloads?, Web Crawlers? Windows Update?, Fetch your email into an Outlook database?).
If you?re thinking "OK the risk of occurrence is not all that great. What's the big deal?" Think of it this way. When you turn your machine on tomorrow and the hard drive fails do you want to KNOW that your restore will put EVERYTHING back?
Consider using Ghost 2003 instead. It is far more reliable and you can probably get your hands on it for less money (it also comes with Ghost 10 which should tell you something). It boots to DOS for the actual backup which may seem like bad idea to a non-technical user but in this case it is very good. A nice clean shutdown of your system followed by a Ghost 2003 backup to a USB hard drive makes for a backup you can trust; and that is a beautiful thing!
I have confirmed this information in a support chat session with Symantec and I kept the script from that session.
Here is a quote from Felix today...
"Felix > Please note that Norton Ghost 10 is a consumer product. It has very limited features that can help a workstation to backup. It cannot do a real time backup."
I guess that says it all...
User Rating: 1/10
Did not disclose RAID 1 mirror not supported
Pros: enterprise level support, but for useless systems,obsolete
Cons: deceptive sales practice, undisclosed requirements
User Rating: 9/10
Major Improvement over its predecessor
Pros: Excellently easy incremental backup
Cons: High price with a rebate coupon (just price it $20 less, huh?)
User Rating: 
7/10
Easy Installation - easy functionality (requires 6th grade reading abilities)
Pros: Worked as Stated
Cons: Well, since it worked as stated I have no problems with it
User Rating: 1/10
Totally Unuseable!
Pros: Corp version has support.
Cons: Won't Register or Install Crashes
User Rating: 2/10
Beware Symantec
Pros: Probably good support for corporate user
Cons: Horrible support for small user
