Corrupt Archive -- Misleading Error Message -- USB Drives -- 3 Suggestions
Oh yes ... it's true. I have the same dreaded problem as dozens (if not hundreds) of other users.
And what a pleasure it was to be provided with a misleading error message that indicated that my archive was corrupt. Nice programming -- that really made me feel good -- and it really instilled confidence in your product. [/sarcasm]
Fortunately, I wasted 30 minutes reading every one else's posts -- and determined that my biggest risk factor was probably USB.
After moving my drives to my internal SATA bus -- I vastly reduced (but not completely eliminated) my problem. I occasionally still have a conflicting messages at the end of the process that indicates the restore has completed successfully -- but at the same time telling me that the program cannot read several tracks of the target drive. Redoing the restore almost always solves the problem.
You guys really need to do three things -- and you should do them sooner rather than later:
1. Change your error message to include more possibilities. For example
"The restore process has encountered a problem. It is possible your archive may be corrupt. However, it is also possible your computer has a memory issue -- or your use of external USB drives is the cause of the problem. Please see our website [webaddress] for more details."
2. Change your documentation -- or add a big sticky to this forum -- telling users that the use of external USB drives is at their own peril. I mean, let's get real -- this is a big and well-documented problem. And it's a problem a company like yours cannot afford to have. There's simply no point in sticking our heads in the sand.
3. Fix whatever problem is causing this once and for all. I have used multiple and simultaneous USB drives along with Ghost for over 10 years, with hundreds of images and backups -- without incident. Now, to be honest, Ghost has its own set of problems -- and I wouldn't be here if I was willing to deal with them -- but USB happens not to be one of them.
You have a nice, simple and fairly-priced program -- that is ALMOST great. You should change your error message to prevent unnecessary heart attacks, consider warning or forbidding users from using USB drives -- and address the fundamental issues that are causing the USB-related corrupt error messages.
Just my $0.02. Thanks for listening.