How to install Norton Ghost backup of hard drive

[Chef]

Greetings!

Where can I find instructions on how to install a DVD (that I have) of a Norton Ghost backup of my hard drive?

I've had a "free space" issue with my A31P over the last few years and the size of that shrunk down to literally just a few Mgs at which point I set it aside. Just this past week I reopened it and (with the help of a friend) I some how recovered gigs of free space! However I had dumped virtually all my files and as many programs as I possibly could in my desperate attempts to gain free space. Now I wish to restore my basic OS. I originally got my A31 from E-bay via a friend who made me a Norton Ghost backup of the hard disc but without any instructions on how to install that. I'm sure it's easy and I'm "gun shy" on proceeding after I all I've been through with this machine. Enlightened suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

Do you know what version of Ghost that was used to create the backup? I use Ghost 2003 in DOS mode to create my backups/images and there is an option to install a boot copy of the Ghost program directly onto the optical disk, be it CD or DVD. This makes the disk bootable without any other software. For a Thinkpad you would power up the system, press the F12 key right away, open the drive tray, mount the disk and then specify the CD/DVD drive in the boot menu.

I wrote up a procedure several years ago:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ghost_2003/dvd_restore/

If your DVD is not bootable, then you will have to get a copy of the Ghost program and probably boot it from a floppy. You could then follow my instructions from Figure 4 onward.

I would also suggest that you perform the restore operation onto a different hard drive than what you are using now. That way you might still have access to some files that were created after your friend make the backup.

[Chef]

Thank you!

Have a fabulous rest of your week!
~chef