I am trying to save a hard drive image of an old laptop.
The laptop has one USB 1.1 port.
The laptop's floppy drive does not work.
The laptop's CDROM drive works but only read pressed CD .
Does anyone have any idea if there is a retail CD I can buy, which is bootable and loads DOS USB driver?
Is retail Norton Ghost CD bootable?
Thanks.
Why are you trying to do this with old technology? Why not just remove the HDD from the laptop and attach to a modern PC? Then use your favorite imaging software (Macrium, AOMEI, etc) to image it.
The varieties of "doesn't read burned CD" are usually, doesn't read multisession, only DAO burned CDs, doesn't like the dye colors of particular blanks. Typically, gold or silver colored blanks work best in old drives, and highest success is meant to be from using CD-RW media burned disk at once. I haven't had edge cases that hate my CD-Rs enough to confirm that last though.
Bootable pressed CDs for that age of hardware are few and far between though. I think maybe Windows 98SE will boot you, but you'd have to know what you were doing to navigate out of the setup and use command line to do anything.
edit: forgot to mention the other issue, CD booting might not be supported at all. Always a possibility on stuff built before 2000.
Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.
ldeveraux wrote on 2023-07-24, 12:33:Why are you trying to do this with old technology? Why not just remove the HDD from the laptop and attach to a modern PC? Then use your favorite imaging software (Macrium, AOMEI, etc) to image it.
It's a NEC Versa which I don't know how to remove the hard drive, it doesn't have a hard drive caddy.
BitWrangler wrote on 2023-07-24, 14:32:The varieties of "doesn't read burned CD" are usually, doesn't read multisession, only DAO burned CDs, doesn't like the dye colors of particular blanks. Typically, gold or silver colored blanks work best in old drives, and highest success is meant to be from using CD-RW media burned disk at once. I haven't had edge cases that hate my CD-Rs enough to confirm that last though.
Bootable pressed CDs for that age of hardware are few and far between though. I think maybe Windows 98SE will boot you, but you'd have to know what you were doing to navigate out of the setup and use command line to do anything.
edit: forgot to mention the other issue, CD booting might not be supported at all. Always a possibility on stuff built before 2000.
It's possible the laser diode is aged and cannot read CDR. I have an OEM Windows 98SE CD from another system. The laptop can boot from it.
Norton Ghost 10 includes such a DOS image.
I got such a CDROM bundled in a package of Norton Ghost 2003.
Disruptor wrote on 2023-07-24, 15:01:Norton Ghost 10 includes such a DOS image.
I got such a CDROM bundled in a package of Norton Ghost 2003.
Thanks! I just checked eBay, many of them are disc only and have no product key.
I assume booting to DOS image doesn't need a product key? Only if I want to install Ghost program to Windows?
Nah, the bundled old Ghost 10 CD does not need a product key - neither the bootable portion of Ghost 2003 which includes a version of the old Ghost system that runs under Windows (Administrator UAC recommended).
Note that the DOS USB/Firewire drivers may not be compatible with EMM386 - if you ever try to...
For compatiblity reasons I do not recommend to use high compression, if you ever try. I just use fast compression.
Disruptor wrote on 2023-07-24, 16:30:Nah, the bundled old Ghost 10 CD does not need a product key - neither the bootable portion of Ghost 2003 which includes a version of the old Ghost system that runs under Windows (Administrator UAC recommended).
Note that the DOS USB/Firewire drivers may not be compatible with EMM386 - if you ever try to...For compatiblity reasons I do not recommend to use high compression, if you ever try. I just use fast compression.
Many thanks for your help!! I will order a Ghost 2003 CD.
sangokushi wrote on 2023-07-24, 14:45:It's a NEC Versa which I don't know how to remove the hard drive, it doesn't have a hard drive caddy.
I dont get it? Obviously a man designed the laptop that way, and another man put that hard drive in there. Are you saying that means another man cant undesign the laptop to get the hard drive out ? This all sounds like defeatist stuff to me, if it went in there it comes out of there.
sangokushi wrote on 2023-07-24, 17:20:Many thanks for your help!! I will order a Ghost 2003 CD.
Be sure to have both CDs in the package.
Warlord wrote on 2023-07-24, 17:32:sangokushi wrote on 2023-07-24, 14:45:It's a NEC Versa which I don't know how to remove the hard drive, it doesn't have a hard drive caddy.
I dont get it? Obviously a man designed the laptop that way, and another man put that hard drive in there. Are you saying that means another man cant undesign the laptop to get the hard drive out ? This all sounds like defeatist stuff to me, if it went in there it comes out of there.
That was kind of my point. HDDs were simple to remove from older laptops, no reason to make this harder than it needs to be. KISS
