How do I Recover 'Ghosted' (or 'imaged') hard disk drives?

Explanation: Imaging (or 'Ghost') programs such as Symantec Ghost are often used to make identical or near identical copies of a hard disk. This copy can then be used as a backup or to transfer a system onto another hard drive etc.

Incorrect operation & use of Ghosting programs can have very serious consequences, as the data previously held on the hard disk that is to receive the image will often be completely overwritten. This is not always the case though, as sometimes the disk receiving the image may be considerably larger than the original disk. Ghosting to a disk of this type will almost certainly destroy the file system and root directory structure but some of the data that was previously on the hard disk may still be recoverable. Other problems exist too, such as Ghosting in the wrong direction, unexpected program termination or system crash due to program defects or problems on one or more of the hard disks (e.g. due to bad sectors etc.)

If you want to recover files due to deletion, format, partition lost or damage, system crash, etc. especially under Windows Vista/2008/Windows 7, our free data recovery software - Data Recovery Wizard Free Edition is recommended. It works well with hardware RAID and hard drives, SD and Memory Cards, etc.

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See also: How to recover 'Ghosted' (or 'Imaged') hard disk drives?

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