How can I run Ghost from a bootable USB key drive?

I have a laptop that does not have a cd-rom or floppy drive. It is able to boot from USB though.

I have a disk image (ghost) of the disk that I need to restore back onto the laptop. I can't find a way to actually run the Ghost utility from a USB key though.

I believe the ghost.exe should run from within DOS just fine but I can't seem to create a bootable USB key with DOS on it that allows me to run an EXE.

Edit: I managed to find a Ghost utility that I could load from a bootable USB drive. Unfortunately, when I plug in my NTFS external drive (USB), it is not detected.

Solution 1:

You can use Hirens Boot CD. Newer versions have a free alternative to Norton Ghost, older versions have the real Norton Ghost (though it is shareware). Directions on their site how to make the "boot cd" a bootable usb stick. Very simple, only takes a few clicks with the right software (all explained in the link).

Update:

Newer versions of Hirens Boot CD contain Parted Magic, which has many disk management tools, including Clonezilla, a free alternative to Ghost. All in all I think Parted Magic is the best disk management utility I have ever used. Clonezilla doesn't have a polished GUI like Ghost (maybe it will someday?), but it still gets the job done.

Solution 2:

We use Symantec Ghost Boot Wizard here. I am unsure what Symantec program suites it is included in.