Feature Set:  

Norton lets you limit the number of backups saved for each drive, and you can choose to copy only the clusters and sectors that contain data or the entire drive. Once you've used Norton Ghost to create an image, you can do a hot backup in Windows-this was convenient.

Norton has recently added some interesting features, such as it can now back up to an FTP site folder or to a designated network connected storage device. It now also has Symantec ThreatCon integration, which means it can be set to perform an incremental back up when Internet security threats are particularly high. Norton actually offers quite a few remote type tools, which is extremely useful. For example, backing up to an FTP can protect your data if your computer is stolen or irreversibly damaged.

While Norton has some impressive abilities, we were disappointed that the software is limited when it comes to creating, formatting, or deleting a partition or drive. You'll have to purchase a separate program to get that functionality.

Ease of Use:  

Each function of the control panel has a brief description, and Norton Ghost has a simple, wizard-based control panel to help beginners find their way around. Those with disk imaging experience can get up to speed quickly on Norton's offerings with the advanced view, which reveals more detail. The program also has tabbed views of backup history and other events for easy reference.

Backup/Restore Process:  

Norton Ghost does a fine job creating a disk image and did particularly well imaging to CD, where other disk imaging products stumbled. We created a backup to about a dozen CDs in 43 minutes and a backup to a network drive in 19 minutes.

Norton Ghost estimates the time remaining for the backup, but does not break down the backup or offer more in-depth information during the process like some disk imaging programs do.

Restoring the backup using Norton is more tedious than with most disk imaging software. The system restore disk is slow and we had trouble restoring an image from a network drive. The program required a user name and password, yet had not provided a screen for us to enter these earlier. We did, however, like the convenience of restoring individual files or folders directly from Windows-restoring the entire image isn't required.

Help/Support:  

Norton Ghost has some excellent recourse files. The program offers a startup tutorial upon installation, and control panel links that explain topics like backing up your drive, restoring files and more. From the Norton website, you can check the extensive knowledge base, fill out a free online customer support form and check for free updates.

Norton offers a separate email support address, but this is difficult to find. Also, Norton charges a pricy fee for telephone customer support.

Norton Ghost is an excellent disk imaging program. When it comes to thinking about their customers, Norton Ghost makes finding answers about their disk imaging process simple and easy. Norton can save you time and resources by allowing incremental backups, and the program is quite versatile.