Norton Ghost 10

Disk imaging, a process that creates an exact copy of a hard disk's contents, used to be the exclusive domain of system administrators, programmers, and other techie types. However, with the advent of large, inexpensive, high-speed external hard drives, it's become an ideal way to create robust backups that can get you up and running quickly if disaster strikes. Realizing this, Symantec has transformed Norton Ghost 10 from a mere disk utility into a general-purpose backup solution, clearly distinguishing it from Acronis True Image 9. Norton Ghost 10's usability and feature enhancements include data encryption and better tools for managing backed-up data. These make it a unique and powerful backup application, even for novice users. Users of Ghost 9 will definitely want to upgrade to version 10.

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.