Imaging with Ghost
The University of Findlay's College of Education

Imaging From A Second Partition

As computer processors have gotten faster, hard drives have also gotten bigger. It is not uncommon for a new computer to have a 20 GB or 30 GB hard drive. A school computer can typically be configured so that much less than 10 GB of hard drive space is used. Infact, only in rare occasions will more than 5 GB be needed for all the operating and program files. Much of the hard drive space is used for user files, which will be lost when the hard drive is imaged. If the hard drive is partitioned in such a way that all program files are located on one partition, and all user data is saved on a separate partition, the operating system (and program files) partition can be re-imaged without disturbing the user data.

Using the large empty area of the hard drive, an image can be stored right on the same hard disk as the working partition.

Create the image in the usual way, and save the image onto a file server. Once the image is on the file server, copy the image to an empty partition on each computer that will use that image. In addition to the image, place a copy of the imaging software client on the second partition.

If the computer needs to be re-imaged, boot from a floppy and go the second partition. Run the imaging client software that is stored with the image. When the image is started, make sure that only the first partition is copied over with the image. With this scenario you should never have to worry about booting to the LAN or fitting a huge image onto a CD.

A potential problem with using this type of imaging is that a person can at any time (either intentionally or inadvertently) delete the image that is copied to the second partition.

Ideally, users should not be permitted to see the second partition. It is possible to hide the second partition using a utility like Partition Magic or GDISK (part of the Ghost software). This will add an extra step to the imaging process, but it might prove worth the effort.

Hiding/Un-hiding a Partition

Partition Magic comes with a DOS version. Copy this program to a floppy (it just fits). Once your computer model is setup and ready to go, create an image of the first partition onto the second partition.

Boot from a floppy. Run Partition Magic from the floppy and hide the second partition. Once you reboot, the only drive letter will be the main partition's drive letter. There will be no way to see or get to the second partition.

If you need to re-image the computer, do the reverse process. Run Partition Magic from the floppy and un-hide the second partition. Re-image the computer from the second partition. Once the re-imaging process is complete, hide the second partition again to protect it from user manipulation.