>>>>>I recently purchased Norton Ghost. I need to install it on my notebook so that I can copy the content of the drive to an external drive. Then I will copy everything to a new computer. I think that Ghost will require me to activate it via Internet. Will I be able to use the same copy of Ghost on the new notebook? I don't know if Norton will check that one copy has been installed on the old computer and will deny the installation on the new notebook.
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>>>>>If someone knows how Ghost works, in terms of activation and license, please let me know.
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>>>>Here is what I have done in the past:
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>>>>Install Ghost on the first notebook and do a good image backup to an external drive. Using the first notebook, create the Ghost emergency boot disk that you will use to restore the image from the external drive to the 2nd notebook. No Ghost installation on the 2nd notebook is necessary. It will be installed though as a part of the image itself.
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>>>But I wanted to continue backing up my new notebook using the same Ghost. Therefore I will need to install a copy of it on the new PC.
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>>>>***Warnings***: not all hardware drivers are transferrable from one notebook to another. Research that first. That is a necessity. Also, verify from the Symnantec website that the OS and both notebooks and their hardware are supported by Ghost before proceeding!
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>>>Yes, I will check the drivers. In your experience, even if some drivers are not transferable, will Ghost still help?
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>>>Thank you for your help.
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>>Make sure both notebook manufacturer and model #s are supported by Ghost. That includes the harddrive and drivers, etc. Also, there are different types of image backups so make sure you choose the correct one for what you are trying to do.
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>>If you restore an image which has drivers installed in the OS of the 1st machine that are not correct for the 2nd machine , typically windows will try to install the correct drivers when the 2nd machine boots after the image has been restored. Sometimes it fails though. that is why research with Symnantec before you attempt it is so important.
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>>Also, there is also the windows licensing issue which you need to check with Symantic on how to transfer or change it after the restore. You cannot have the same windows OS license on both machines. I didn't realize you wanted to have two identical machines at all times, but companies do similar things with 'default image installs' all the time but that is with identical machines (same manufacturer and model). You need to check all that out first before you attempt it.
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>I probably didn't explain myself clearly. I didn't want to have two identical machines at all times. Once I move the content of the hard drive from the old notebook to the new one, the old one will be mothballed. So, from that point on, I will only need to maintain back up of the new notebook (using Ghost).
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>Your input is very helpful. I will make a list and check everything before proceeding. And maybe Ghost will allow me to install it on the new PC. After all, what happens if you buy a software and the computer crashes and you have to reinstall it again. This is kind of the same case.

Is the new machine by any chance a Dell? They come with a Welcome Center preinstalled and one of the options there is to transfer files and settings from an old machine to a new machine.

You can install one copy of Ghost (version 12) onto multiple machines and use it fine on each of them. I have done that to Ghost images of 3 different PCs here onto an external hard drive. One of them gets backed up that way twice a week on a schedule and the other two, less important ones, when I feel like unplugging the external drive and connecting it via USB to one of the other machines. That is strictly for backup purposes, not to transfer the drive on one machine to a drive on a different machine. I would expect a lot of driver headaches that way.