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How to backup/recover full disk/partition?

X

XTF

Gawd
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
591
What's the best tool to backup, recover and duplicate full disks/partitions? Preferably free / open source, with network support and bootable from CD or USB stick.

I remember Norton Ghost from way back, but I don't like Norton bloat/software.
 
I believe dd / ddrescue available on most linux livecds including sysreccuecd.

However I have been a linux and windows admin for over a decade (windows over 15 years) and a programmer for 30 years.

For those less experienced with linux i recommend the following free tools:
CloneZilla
PartedMagic
DriveImageXML (windows only) - can be had on an ultimate boot cd
partimage / sysrescuecd

And non free tool:
Acronis True Image
 
The Windows Backup/Restore also works well, if you are using WIndows (specifically Win 7)
 
I like the GParted LiveCD, can image at filesystem, partition or disk level and has almost all the utilities you might need for partition and disk management.
 
I've neither. What makes it free it you would have those though?
 
XTF said:
I've neither. What makes it free it you would have those though?
Click to expand...

There are free acronis downloads on WDC, Seagate ... that check for a drive (from their company) before they install on your machine. After you get them installed I believe you create an iso that you can burn to a cd. This version is a little limited compared to the version you can purchase however it does work.
 
I've got a (bad) Samsung HDD. I prefer free / open source solutions over crippled options, so I'm going to give clonezilla a try.
 
Clonezilla shows little details when selecting a target disk. Would've been nice to see partitions etc before overwriting something by accident.
 
Would've been nice to see partitions etc before overwriting something by accident.
Click to expand...

I have to admit that is common on a lot of open source tools. My favorite dd/ddrescue will not complain at all if you accidentally try to copy a blank disk to your disk that has valuable data. For me I check every thing several times before I let the program run. I usually do this with tools like fdisk ... that are always on the same livecd with dd/ddrescue and maybe even clonezilla (I do not have a disk handy at the moment).

Edit:
Although part of the reason why I use these tools (dd / ddrescue) most is that they do not check anything. And what I mean by that is if you have a disk that is going bad ddrescue will copy as much of the good data from the disk bit for bit to a new disk of the same or larger size as fast as possible trying to recover as much of the good data as possible. It does not bother wasting valuable time (drive dying soon) to check if the source filesystem is corrupt and fail if it finds any problems like other tools do. It just mirrors the bad disk to the good copying as much of the good data as possible.
 
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Where in Windows can one found the serial number of a drive? It's the only thing that Clonezilla shows.
 
XTF said:
How do you clone a disk with it?
Can it run from CD or USB stick (for restore)?
Click to expand...

It doesnt' clone directly, although you can do a full system image to a third drive and then restore it to the new drive. It does run from CD, which you can make as part of the imaging process. But if you want direct cloning, there are other free tools available.
 
Clonezilla appears to have done the trick. It does ask an awful lot of questions for a simple disk 2 disk clone though.
 
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