Question

Steps to turn a ghost image into a VMplayer-able?

Asked by: unrealone1

I have a ghost image (.gho) of a server which we no longer have.

I would really like to get this running virtually on another server we have. Using vmplayer, best option?

I've read that I must use vmconverter. Can someone talk me through the steps for converting my .gho image into a vmplayer-able image?

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-08-10 at 16:12:01ID24641694
Topics

Virtualization

,

VMware

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
18

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Ghosting NTFS
    I have a scenario and i'll try to explain my best. I used to ghost win98 and win me system in dos using norton ghost, and i had no problem. I also tried the same thing with win2k on FAT32, had no problem. When i converted FAT23 to NTFS, I couldn't access DOS therefore ghos...
  2. Ghost image
    1. Could you please explain the difference between a ghost image and a system backup. 2. Is a ghost image unique,that is, is there any way other than Ghost software to obtain such an image.
  3. Converting Ghost image to Virtual Server image.
    How can I convert a Norton Ghost 9.0 image (.v2i) to a Virtual Server 2005 R2 image (.vhd)? I haven't been able to find anything online.
  4. Converting an ISO image to a Ghost image?
    I was given an ISO image used for several PCs in the office. Unfortunately, due to the configuration of these systems and the size of the ISO image, I can not image the hard drives without removing them. Is there a way I can convert my ISO image to a Ghost image so I can relo...
  5. Convert Ghost image to Altiris
    Is there a way of converting a Ghost image to an Altiris one?

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: ryder0707Posted on 2009-08-10 at 17:30:04ID: 25065364

Have you installed your standalone converter? It is pretty much wizard driven, very easy to use.
In your case select backup image/3rd party vm from the select source page, browse for the source vm/image then specify destination

 

by: za_mkhPosted on 2009-08-11 at 00:30:31ID: 25066783

Depends on what version of Ghost created the image. If it is after 10 or later, vmware converter understands it.

If the image is ghost 8 or something, another way you can do this, is to create a VM with the requisite hard disks/ settings. So if your original server had 1 disk, do the same on your VM. Make sure it is connected to the network. Boot this VM off a CD/floppy that has Ghost on it and make sure it is talking to the network.

In the VM, then map to the network drive that has your ghost images, and use Ghost to clone the image onto your local drive.

Once this is done, use VMWare Converter to fix the VM (it will configure the virtual hard disk so that it injects the requisite SCSI drivers).

I normally use a bartPE CD with Ghost on it ... it's worked like a charm for the last 3 years!

 

by: za_mkhPosted on 2009-08-11 at 00:32:03ID: 25066787

Oh, to clarify

"In the VM, then map to the network drive that has your ghost images, and use Ghost to clone the image onto your local drive."

The local drive is of course the virtual hard disk that this VM was configured to use.

 

by: unrealone1Posted on 2009-08-11 at 01:51:16ID: 25067117

@ryder0707
I select image/3rd party, but it doesn't see my .gho image, is .gho supported?

I used ghost 11.5

@za_mkh
What software should I use to create this VM?

 

by: ryder0707Posted on 2009-08-11 at 02:25:12ID: 25067257

 

by: unrealone1Posted on 2009-08-11 at 02:47:33ID: 25067366

I opened the vmware converter selected third party image then noticed it said.
"Supported backup images or third-party virtual machines are:"

Norton Ghost versions from 9 to 14 (Windows Converter Standalone server only)

Is there a vmware converter server release as well? As I am pretty sure .gho are not supported on the version I have.

 

by: unrealone1Posted on 2009-08-11 at 06:10:38ID: 25068550

ANy suggestions..?

 

by: ryder0707Posted on 2009-08-11 at 06:18:03ID: 25068627

what's wrong if you use standalone ver?

 

by: unrealone1Posted on 2009-08-11 at 08:20:41ID: 25070074

It wont convert the .gho image.

 

by: unrealone1Posted on 2009-08-14 at 01:34:52ID: 25096107

Any ideas?

 

by: unrealone1Posted on 2009-08-19 at 05:02:50ID: 25131614

:)

 

by: unrealone1Posted on 2009-09-20 at 11:24:51ID: 25378337

ok

 

by: ryder0707Posted on 2009-09-20 at 18:19:41ID: 25379750

Can i offer you my last suggestion
If you cant convert it directly, try restoring the .gho image to a VM directly, it may crash after you start it but this is only due to different hardware as the VM is using virtual hardware, then boot from Windows iso to try to repair it

 

by: ryder0707Posted on 2009-09-20 at 18:20:44ID: 25379754

I mean try to restore to a VM in vmware workstation or server

 

by: MaffooClockPosted on 2009-09-20 at 18:28:39ID: 25379774

Support for .GHO files was a mistake in the documentation and VMware is aware of this. GHO files are not supported.  You'll need to use Ghost to export the GHO into the virtual disk format (sv2i or v2i).

See this:  http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003228/

 

by: unrealone1Posted on 2009-09-24 at 12:51:42ID: 25417115

@Maffooclock

I have my .GHO Image, what process do I have to go through to export it as a sv2i or v2i image?

 

by: MaffooClockPosted on 2009-09-24 at 13:54:05ID: 25417767

I don't know that you can convert a .gho, but you should explore the options you have in Ghost for exporting.  I haven't used Ghost in years, and I'm sure it has changed quite a bit since then, so I really can't tell you much more than that.

I tried looking for a Ghost v11 manual.  Turns out that v11 was actually part of Norton Save & Restore v1 and is functionally similar to Ghost v10.  Here's a link to the Norton Save & Restore v2 manual.

According to the Norton Save & Restore v2 manual and the Ghost v10 manual, it appears that a .sv2i is a recovery point (but it isn't clear).

Is the original machine from which the .gho was created available?  If so, you can use VMware convertor to create a VMDK directly from that machine.  Or, restore the .gho, then install the VMware Convertor.  If the original machine is not available, then the next best thing would be ryder0707's suggestion and create a VM, restore the .gho to the VM, and then run the Windows setup to repair it so it will boot.

 

by: unrealone1Posted on 2009-10-09 at 14:10:14ID: 31613980

ok

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...