Free Drive Imaging Program for Win 7?

[Justin]

Howdy.
Right now I either boot to a Linux LiveCD and run the dd command to an
external drive. For example
dd if=/dev/sd1/ of=/media/Iomega_320GB/D531Win7U64.iso
to make an iso file on an external drive.
Or I'll do something similar on my Mac by pulling the drive.

Is there an easier way? I checked out CloneZilla and it doesn't seem to
support external USB drives. When I use the linux method the external
drive is formatted to ext3, and when I use the Mac method it's formatted
either to HFS+ or exFAT, or I just keep the image on the local drive in
my home dir.

 

[wilby]

Howdy.
Right now I either boot to a Linux LiveCD and run the dd command to an
external drive. For example
dd if=/dev/sd1/ of=/media/Iomega_320GB/D531Win7U64.iso
to make an iso file on an external drive.
Or I'll do something similar on my Mac by pulling the drive.

Is there an easier way? I checked out CloneZilla and it doesn't seem to
support external USB drives. When I use the linux method the external
drive is formatted to ext3, and when I use the Mac method it's formatted
either to HFS+ or exFAT, or I just keep the image on the local drive in
my home dir.

The best free drive/partition imaging software (for Windows 7) is
Macrium Reflect free version.

I've used it several times and the image has always been able to create
a new hard drive that boots perfectly.

If your W-7 drive has the very small partition (reserved), be sure to
image it and when restoring, make it the active partition.

Wilby

 

[Justin]

The best free drive/partition imaging software (for Windows 7) is
Macrium Reflect free version.

I've used it several times and the image has always been able to create
a new hard drive that boots perfectly.

If your W-7 drive has the very small partition (reserved), be sure to
image it and when restoring, make it the active partition.

Wilby

That's one thing I like about using dd on Linux. All I have to do is
specify the device - it copies everything including partition
information into the ISO file. The problem is, it does the entire
drive. So an 80GB drive produces an 80GB file.
I'll definitely try Macrium Free.

 

[Paul]

That's one thing I like about using dd on Linux. All I have to do is
specify the device - it copies everything including partition
information into the ISO file. The problem is, it does the entire
drive. So an 80GB drive produces an 80GB file.
I'll definitely try Macrium Free.

With "dd" you can copy just one partition. It doesn't have to be the
whole disk. For example, if I need to do an experiment with my C:
drive, and I want to be absolutely sure there are no side effects,
I just back up one partition.

This backs up the whole disk. (250GB on my current disk)

dd if=/dev/sda of=mybackupfile.dd

This backs up the third partition. (70GB on my current disk)

dd if=/dev/sda3 if=mybackupfile.dd

This backs up the MBR (first sector of disk, primary partition table).
The resulting file size is 512 bytes.

dd if=/dev/sda of=mbr.dd bs=512 count=1

And Windows does have a port of "dd", but you need two Windows OSes,
so you can make one C: partition "not busy" so you can use it. I
have WinXP and Win2K on my current computer for that purpose. I boot
Win2K when I want to "dd" the WinXP C: partition.

http://www.chrysocome.net/dd

One thing to note about that "dd" port. First, you list the partitions,
with "dd --list". If details are missing for a partition, it generally
means you don't have the necessary permissions to back it up. So while
that port has been very useful to me, it does have caveats. If I boot
Linux, then I'm generally guaranteed of being able to do anything
I might want. The Windows version is a bit more arbitrary, and
so your first step, of using "dd --list", tells you whether there
is any point in continuing or not.

Paul

 

[Asger-P]

Hi Justin

Howdy.
Right now I either boot to a Linux LiveCD and run the dd command to an
external drive. For example
dd if=/dev/sd1/ of=/media/Iomega_320GB/D531Win7U64.iso
to make an iso file on an external drive.
Or I'll do something similar on my Mac by pulling the drive.

I think Win7 comes with its own ImageTool if You look at:

Control Panel -> System and Security ->
Backup or restore your files -> Create system image


the above is a translation from Danish so I'm not sure it is
correct, but should be close.;-)

I haven't tried it yet so I cant say how it works.


Best regards
Asger-P

 

[Jeff Layman]

Howdy.
Right now I either boot to a Linux LiveCD and run the dd command to an
external drive. For example
dd if=/dev/sd1/ of=/media/Iomega_320GB/D531Win7U64.iso
to make an iso file on an external drive.
Or I'll do something similar on my Mac by pulling the drive.

Is there an easier way? I checked out CloneZilla and it doesn't seem to
support external USB drives. When I use the linux method the external
drive is formatted to ext3, and when I use the Mac method it's formatted
either to HFS+ or exFAT, or I just keep the image on the local drive in
my home dir.

http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm

 

[wilby]

http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm

Hi Jeff:

I did use TODO with Windows XP and it worked great however I was never
able to get TODO to successfully image, and also successfully restore,
to my Windows 7-64 computer. They may have a newer version available now.


Also, a comment about Macrium Reflect. It can image an entire drive or
only selected partition(s).


Another comment, Windows 7 does have a built-in imaging system however I
found it to be rather painful to use. I probably didn't work with it
long enough to fully understand it.

I also have a paid for version of Acronis True Image that also works
well. It is a bit more complicated to use and not all of my restores
worked the first time.

I guess the bottom line is to use the program that works for you, every
time.

Wilby

 

[Dave-UK]

Another comment, Windows 7 does have a built-in imaging system however I
found it to be rather painful to use. I probably didn't work with it
long enough to fully understand it.


Wilby

It's best used with a second hard disk.
Here's how it works for me:
http://www.admin1.myzen.co.uk/Win7Backup.html

 

[Thip]

The best free drive/partition imaging software (for Windows 7) is Macrium
Reflect free version.

I've used it several times and the image has always been able to create a
new hard drive that boots perfectly.

If your W-7 drive has the very small partition (reserved), be sure to
image it and when restoring, make it the active partition.

Wilby

+1 on that. It's been simple and easy-breezy.