Ghost Restore Checklist

September 15, 2007

Ghost restore of the operating system partition is by definition a "destructive process" as it replaces the current o.s., applications, settings, logs, etc. with what was preserved in a time capsule.

Before proceeding w/ Restoration, preserve these critical items:

• event viewer logs
• backup logs
• firewall rules & settings
• Outlook/Exchange cache OSTs
• Outlook PSTs
• new email accounts
• Windows address book (Outlook Express contacts)
• stray data files (mistakenly saved to C drive)
• desktop items
• Internet Explorer favorites
• newly downloaded software install files & product keys/licenses

In addition, be prepared to look up from records and re-enter the following:

• cached network passwords
• Internet site passwords (auto-complete)
• cached Wireless Access Point keys

Finally, if you're relying on Windows based ghost program to trigger the restore, consider pro-actively preparing a DOS-based emergency boot/recovery disc as a fall-back option. Once the Windows-based process is initiated and failed, you wouldn't have the ability to create such a disc at that point, unless you have access to another system!