Hard Disk Cloning/imaging

[Sidewinder]

Well,

I need to create an image file (for storage on clients server) & clone a hard disk from a couple of client machines. not PC's per se.

Now I have never cloned or imaged an external disk.

I can't clone them via the machine tool, as I can't install any software on the machine, also they have no CD/DVD drives, nor usb ports!

The disk has to be removed from the machine & cloned say via a usb adaptor, I've already had the disk out & I can read it, it is FAT32.

(OS is in Italian!)

i.e. I need to go from external disk to external disk down & up usb, or from external disk to image file on hdd, then from image file up usb to external disk.

Can use XPPro, & Pro or Ubuntu, I think Ubuntu?

However, an suggestions for tools to use?

Free obviously!!!

TIA.

 

[steptoe]

ubuntu can do it via many methods, do you want to make an image? .iso

brassero can do that, not sure if it has a file limit size though.

there are better tools though, but brassero can read any external drive

 

[Sidewinder]

Thanks Steps, it does not need to be an iso image, a proprietary file format will be OK as long as we can recover it later, may be useful to create an iso, it is only about 2Gb.

I'll look at brassero.

 

[steptoe]

brassero can do a DVD, so it will make an image of 2G no probs, Im fairly sure thats how i done acca dacca

just read your OP, have you got your USB- [?] adapter working in ubuntu?

sometimes they can be awkward.

 

[Sidewinder]

Yes I read the disk today via Ubuntu it was just pnp!

 

[steptoe]

does MAC stand for

My

Apple

Copy

?

 

[Sidewinder]

Buy a MAC :slap

Plug in external HDD to caddy / esata / sata device - clone with CCCloner or SuperDuper

Jobs a goodun

You can try it with Clonezilla - I use it a fair bit but havent tried it external to external - clonezilla boots from cd

Fails on 2 counts then, Not Win or Ubuntu, & NOT FREE!

 

[Sidewinder]

A MAC like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-MacBook-Pro-17-Laptop-/221180408929?pt=UK_Computing_Apple_Laptops_ET&hash=item337f613461

Got a copy of Clonezilla, not had chance to burn it yet, did not get in from work till 21:45!

 

[Sharpend]

No a Mac like this

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=261031996885&index=21&nav=SEARCH&nid=69900820099

 

[Andy™]

No a Mac like this

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=261031996885&index=21&nav=SEARCH&nid=69900820099

probably more useful

 

[philbas]

Why bother with programs Unix/Linux can do it from the command line.

Get them both in the same box and use the DD command from the shell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd_%28Unix%29

Job sorted, just make sure you get to and from in the correct order.

eg: dd if=/dev/ad0 of=/dev/ad1 bs=1M conv=noerror 

  Clone a hard disk "ad0" to "ad1".

 

[philbas]

DD actually   stands for Convert and  Copy, but CC  had been used for Compile C, so  it got renamed.

If anyone uses Unix/Linux   without looking at the   shell they are missing a lot, that is where the power  is,

 

[Sidewinder]

I realise that the command line shell is very powerful.

However, I can't put the disk in another "box" it has to be done along side the machine via usb interface.

Long story, short of building a desktop & lugging that to site with a screen etc. then I have to power this via 230V, not popular!

 

[Sidewinder]

That's what I mean to do, but, it seemed that Philbas was suggesting putting the disk in a desktop machine, which I can't do.

I need to know more about Mac specs too I think.

As they are RISC machines IIRC, mind some are now Intel I believe, I have no idea how this compares with the spec of Windoze boxes due to the differing OS requirements.

Is the Mac OS as lean as Ubuntu?

 

[steptoe]

Course you can canoe,

They are after all copies of Linux, just not as advanced

I suggested Brassero for 2 reasons,

GUI

And very very hard to get it wrong, virtually impossible to destroy any data,

I dont think its even possible to overwrite anything on your parent machine,

is simply puts an image wherever you tell it, ie, save to your desktop then write to another disk, and the original .iso is still on the parent, with the original disk still having the original data intact.

 

[philbas]

OK Mac  was not mentioned before but it  still works, DD will copy anything, in simple format  it just does a block by block copy, its not interested in the operating   system

 

[Sidewinder]

The only issue may be with the Siemens S5 licence on the machine?

I can't move it to a disk it needs to be cloned with the HDD.

Another issue is the target machine is all in Italian!

Will probably have a go next week at this with Linux.