# Create a Boot CD for Norton Ghost?



## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Here is my dilemma. I have created the boot disk with my correct NIC drivers and commands. I have tested it and it launches perfectly and allows network ghosting. However, the problem is that our new computers we want to ghost have no floppy disk drives so I need to make a boot CD to use ghost. Is there any way to create a boot CD using my bootable floppy I already made, or does anyone know of another setup used to make boot cd's? I have already tried using Roxio and Nero's bootable CD methods and neither have worked as of yet. I have as far as I know, configured the protocol.ini and config.sys files correctly as it does work on my floppy and I just can't make it into a CD.

My bootable floppy contains the following:

-||GHOST
---GHOST.EXE
-||NET
---B57.dos
---DIS_PKT.DOS
---NETBIND.COM
---PROTMAN.DOS
---PROTMAN.EXE
---PROTOCOL.INI
-AUTOEXEC.BAT
-COMMAND.COM
-CONFIG.SYS
-HIMEM.SYS
-IO.SYS
-MOUSE.COM
-MSDOS.SYS
-RAMDRIVE.SYS

Any quick resolution would be great. I need to be able to ghost the 50-some PC's we just got before school starts.

Thanks,
Tartarus


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## Squashman (Apr 4, 2003)

http://help.ischool.washington.edu/faqs/12_29_en.html


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

I have tried using this method once and it didn't work. For one thing I am using Norton Ghost 7 or 7.5, I think. Anyways, my autoexec.bat file looks like this:

@echo off
prompt $p$g
mscdex /L /d:mscd001
\net\netbind.com
MOUSE.COM
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE -nousb

And the entire floppy looks like this:
-||GHOST
---GHOST.EXE
-||NET
---B57.dos
---DIS_PKT.DOS
---NETBIND.COM
---PROTMAN.DOS
---PROTMAN.EXE
---PROTOCOL.INI
-AUTOEXEC.BAT
-COMMAND.COM
-CONFIG.SYS
-IO.SYS
-MOUSE.COM
-MOUSE.INI
-mscdex.exe
-MSDOS.SYS
-oakcdrom.sys

Is there anything wrong with this, or anything need changed?


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

When I boot with the CD it appears to be working until it says that the "Device drive MSCD001" cannot be found. Abort installation."

I am hoping it is an issue with the autoexec.bat file and can be easily fixed. Anyone got a solution?

Thanks,
-Tartarus


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

What exactly is in the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files?


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

The autoexec.bat file contains the following code exactly:

@echo off
prompt $p$g
mscdex /L /d:mscd001
\net\netbind.com
MOUSE.COM
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE -nousb

The config.sys file contains this following code exactly:

DEVICE=OAKCDROM.SYS /D:mscd001
DEVICE=\net\protman.dos /I:\net
DEVICE=\net\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\net\B57.dos
LASTDRIVE=Z

Is there anything I need to change? I am thinking it has to be something with either of these two files.

Thanks for the help so far.
-Tartarus


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Try adding a path here like this:

DEVICE=A:\OAKCDROM.SYS /D:mscd001

Don't know if it'll fix it, but it's the only reason I see that the device isn't being recognized.

Also, on my working CD boot floppy, I have:

a:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd001

Those are the only two lines that really affect CD driver recognition.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Where exactly on your floppy did you have these lines?
DEVICE=A:\OAKCDROM.SYS /D:mscd001
a:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd001

The original error would say. "No device (mscd001) found. Aborting installation" and "Device driver not found: 'mscd001'"


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Any other possibilities?


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Right where they are on your files should do the trick the position isn't critical.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

So, does this line go in the config.sys file replacing my current line that I have for mscdex?
a:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd001


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Well I tried it with this autoexec.bat file and still go the error:

@echo off
prompt $p$g
a:\mscdex.exe /L /d:mscd001
\net\netbind.com
MOUSE.COM
cd \ghost
echo Loading...
GHOST.EXE -nousb

The error keeps saying "No drives found. Aborting installation." and then farther down it says "Device driver not found: 'MSCD001'
No valid CDROM device drivers selected."

I admit I'm lost and don't know what to do with the autoexec.bat and config.sys files. Can someone copy and paste their layouts for these two files and I can try to configure mine identically to those. I think it would help if you had a disk for Ghost 7 or 7.5, since that one "How to" page only tells you how with Ghost 8.0, which there are many differences. One such difference is that supposedly in Ghost 8.0 you can't fit the boot disk on one floppy, but with my Ghost 7.5 I can fit all the necessary files on one floppy with no problem, so some of the steps are confusing to me for whether or not they apply to the older versions as well as Ghost 8.0.

Thanks for your efforts so far, guys.
Tartarus


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Other than making sure that the OAKCDROM.SYS is not corrupt, I'd say there's some issue recognizing your optical drive. I've used those two commands on a host of systems, and I've always had access to the optical drive(s), it's really not rocket science. Note that I happen to store the drivers in \DOS on the floppy, but that's not important as long as the path is correct.

Here are the ACTUAL contents of my configuration files, and I've attached the version of the CD driver I use. This is the "MS-DOS" from W98SE, FWIW.

*CONFIG.SYS*
device=a:\dos\himem.sys /testmemff
device=a:\dos\oakcdrom.sys /D:mscd001
SWITCHES=/F
buffers=13
shell=a:\COMMAND.COM a:\ /e:1024 /P
DOS=HIGH

*AUTOEXEC.BAT*
path a:\dos;a:\pgms;a:\
PROMPT=$p$g
a:\dos\smartdrv
a:\dos\MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd001
a:\dos\mouse

I've also included actual pictures of the driver and MSCDEX initializing, and I was able to read the attached drive (a DVD+/-RW in this case).

This really does work.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Wow, I have tried about everything you have said, and I am still getting that same simple error because of the device not being found, driver not found, etc.

Is there any way I can get a pre-made image for this particular driver?
Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller

Or any different sollution? I really need this within the next couple of weeks.

Thanks again, John for all your help... I just wish my CD would work!
-Tartarus


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I think I've invested about all the time I can afford into this venture.  If you duplicate my setup, there's no reason on the planet that you can't access the CD if the hardware is working properly. I've used that boot floppy on a bunch of systems, and it's never failed to recognize the optical drives.

The network drivers are a whole other issue, and the principal reason I no longer use GHOST.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Ok, I guess I'll just copy and paste and see what happens. Thanks for all your time.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Try to get a simple disk booting and recognizing the CD-ROM, then work on the network drivers.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Sadly, when I just copied and pasted what you had it loads up as the following:

Booting from CD:
1. 1.44 MB Floppy
Please remove all disks and media.
Then press any key to restart.

I swear both my new computers are cursed.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Have you considered downloading a boot disk from one of these places as a starting platform?

Some MS-DOS Boot Disks for all occasions.

NetBootDisk - Universal Network Boot Floppy

AllBootDisks

BootDisk


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## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

I'm having a hard time following the thread. *xBdTartarus* says his new computers don't have floppy drives and *JohnWill* refers to and links boot floppies to get the CD drive recognized.

It is my understanding from Ghost help that the Ghost CD that the program comes on acts as a boot CD. I just gave up and got the Acronis program.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

No, they don't have floppy drives, but the computers I use to make the boot cd's do have floppy drives, and the floppies are needed to make the boot cd's. Anyways... Where can I get this Acronis program? And about how much does it cost, because it becoming an increasingly large pain trying to make new boot cd's everytime we get a new computer.


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## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

For the approach you are using you can probably get by with the home edition. The enterprise edition is pricey: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Would you recommend Snap Deploy 2.0? It sounds almost exactly like what we would need. I just need to know how exactly it makes the images and sends them out. Does it use boot cd's to load the client like Ghost or is it a much better interface. For only $20, it seems the answer to my prayers if this will suit my needs.

Basically I will need a program that can take the image from about 6-10 standard PC setups (different computer labs, grade levels, etc. at my school) and then multicast to all the remaining PC's for those segments... usually between 20-30 PC's each. Would this work, and if so, how again does the client operate as far as taking an image and then distributing it?

-Tartarus


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Look carefully. Snap Deploy costs $20 for EACH machine. 

What you're looking at will cost a lot more than $20 from any software manufacturer.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

So, in other words, Snap Deploy is installed individually on each and every machine, and that is how it takes/broadcasts images? I knew it sounded too good to be true. However, there is a multi-license agreement of some kind, and I work for the school so we will have tax exemption as well as other discounts that may apply to this. Is there anything you would recommend for our setup? Include anything good, no matter the price, but try to find some cheaper solutions as well, if either of you can. I'm sorry I am not looking into this much myself, but one tech guy with a weeks full of tasks and looking for new solutions isn't the most efficient.

Thanks,
Tartarus


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I'd contact Acronis and describe your situation, see what they suggest. They know their product line a lot better than any of us.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

If you wanted to stick with the technique of just visiting each machine with a USB drive, Acronis True Image would do that just fine. You could have images of each of the different configurations on a single disk. If you had two-three USB disks, you could do them in parallel.

Multicasting with any of these products will require more configuration and preparation.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Yes, we have about 8 or so USB Floppy drives, if that is what you mean. And we could always use this. It would just be a bit slower than having a few button clicks or 10 CD's to swap in and out so that I could do 30 at a time in less than half an hour. We may end up just using floppies, but boy will that be a pain.

Thanks again, John, I know this has been a lot of your time and it means a lot.
-Tartarus


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I was actually thinking of USB hard disks to have the images on. It's much faster to run restore them from a USB hard disk than over the network. A typical Windows image would only take a few minutes to restore from a USB hard disk, especially if it doesn't have a ton of applications installed.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Our image files are usually around 2GB size. To buy USB HDD's to fit that size could be a bit pricey.. but I guess it would be cheaper than Acronis and a possible alternative.

A 4GB USB Flash Drive is between $40-80 depending on brand name and reliability. So I guess 5 $80 USB drives wouldn't be too unreasonable.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You can buy a 250gig USB hard disk for less than $100 every day of the week.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Oh, you're just talking about an External Hard Drive with a USB 2.0 connector?


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Ok, my boss just mentioned a new possibility. He said that he had used a hard drive, made it bootable, got all the right drivers installed, and then was able to use the hard drive to make a bootable CD. This is just a simple inquiry as I am looking into many different options. But would anyone know how I would do this?


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Trust me, it's much easier to use a CD to boot and just use the USB drive for data.


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## xBdTartarus (Nov 1, 2006)

Great news everyone! We purchased a couple of 4GB USB flash drives and I was able to make them bootable AND run Ghost. Now Im in the process of making a Universal USB Boot device so that we can use just 5-10 USB FDs for all out computers! Well, atleast our newer ones.. the old may still need to use CDs for now.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Thanks for the feedback. 

*You can mark your own threads solved using the thread tools at the top of the page in the upper right corner.©*


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## Samanyc (Jul 20, 2007)

Wow i wish i seen this thread earlier but i've made several bootable CD's for using Nortons Ghost. and Several as in at least 10 of them because i work in a company that keeps upgrading laptops on me and they dont always have the same NIC in them. But now i have a master boot disk that has 10 different laptop models on it and this is what i did. You can download a program called UBCD (Ultimate boot CD). It has a few menus. Get the program and check it out. Basically what i did was change the menu to say like press F1 for D600 , Press F2 for C840, Press F3 for D620, etc (yes those are dell laptops. . piece of . . eh ) but then write the script that says if (F1) then go to (Whatever) and whatever will be the page it points to that has the nic driver, ghost.exe. . ( basically all the files on the bootable floppy that ghost made.) easiest way is to put the floppy in and copy and paste. if you get confused you can email me and i'll send ya a sample of what my CD's look like. But you solved it with the Flash drives so not sure if you still want them on CD. but this is how i made them.


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