Computer Bytes - No. 68 Bookmark this page !       Send this page to a friend!  " Ghosts aren't just at Halloween. Your computer can have year-round ghosts or be ghosted. Not to worry, they can't hurt anything. What does it mean if your computer has a ghost? This might be a situation where you have removed a program from the C Drive but you are still seeing it shown in the list of programs. The removal of an unused program should be done by using the add/remove function rather than simply 'deleting' the program. Names that remain in the program list can be removed by making changes to the Register; however, I do NOT recommend this. Unless you are totally knowledgeable about computers and their operating systems, making any changes to the Register can cause major problems. Another computer ghost may haunt your monitor, particularly if you are using an older model. These ghost images faintly appear to be doubled. Or, sometimes images will remain for a brief period after you have moved on to another page. Not a problem, but if you find it bothersome, you may want to consider buying a new monitor. Ghosting a computer creates a clone of the computer so that the contents can be moved to another computer or laptop as an image. Ghosting is not the same thing as copying. The ghosting of a computer will take everything on the hard drive - including settings, applications and configurations - and then store this information as an image on either a server, another hard drive or by burning to a CD. When this information is needed, ghosting software will convert the image back into the original form making it useable. Ghosting your computer can also be used as a method of back-up. However, I don't recommend it as a primary back-up. Ghosting can also be used by companies needing to configure multiple computers in the same format. Having the configurations, applications and programs on a server will allow the Tech to use ghosting software - usually stored on a floppy - to retrieve the ghost image from the server. He can then convert the image to its original format and copy onto the 'new' computer. This eliminates the need to reinstall software and files. All of these ghosts are pretty harmless, but if you want to read some real ghost stories visit www.yourghoststories.com for ghost videos, articles and actual ghost stories. Computer Bytes Index Send Us an Email | Home Page Copyright 2007-2008. All rights reserved. Computer Bytes articles may not be reprinted, published, quoted, copied, or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of David Moncrief.