How to Make Images of Partitions of a Hard Drive

Introduction

When it comes to backing up or cloning a hard drive, creating images of partitions is a common practice. Disk imaging allows for an exact copy of the partition to be saved, including all of the data and file structure. This can be useful in situations where you need to restore a partition or transfer it to a different drive.

In this blog post, we will discuss how to make images of partitions using GNU ddrescue on Ubuntu and transfer them to a different drive of a different size. We’ll also cover how to write a raw image created from dd to a partition on a different drive.

Creating Images of Partitions Using GNU ddrescue

GNU ddrescue is a powerful tool that can be used to create images of partitions on a hard drive. It works by copying data from the source partition to the destination partition, making sure to skip any bad sectors. Here’s how to use it:

1. Boot Ubuntu from a USB drive.
2. Open a terminal window.
3. Determine the device name of the source partition using the “fdisk -l” command. For example, if the source partition is /dev/sda1, the device name would be /dev/sda.
4. Create a directory to store the image file.
5. Use the following command to create the image file:

sudo ddrescue -v /dev/sda1 /path/to/image/imagefile.img /path/to/image/imagefile.log

This command will create an image file of the source partition and save it to the specified location. The log file will record any errors that occur during the imaging process.

Transferring Images to a Different Drive

Now that you have created an image of the partition, you may want to transfer it to a different drive. However, if the destination drive is a different size than the source drive, you may run into issues with resizing. Here’s how to transfer the image to a different drive:

1. Determine the device name of the destination drive using the “fdisk -l” command.
2. Use the following command to write the image to the destination drive:

sudo dd if=/path/to/image/imagefile.img of=/dev/sdb1 bs=1M

This command will write the image to the specified partition on the destination drive. The “bs=1M” option sets the block size to 1MB, which can speed up the transfer process.

If the destination drive is a different size than the source drive, you may need to resize the partition after writing the image. This can be done using a tool like GParted.

Converting dd Images to Macrium Images

If you want to use Macrium Reflect to create an image from a dd image, you may run into issues because Macrium Reflect requires a physical disk drive, not just a virtual partition. However, there is a workaround:

1. Use OSFmount to mount the dd image as a virtual partition.
2. Open Macrium Reflect and select “Create a disk image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows”.
3. Select the mounted virtual partition as the source.
4. Select the destination drive and click “Finish” to create the image.

Writing a Raw Image to a Partition on a Different Drive

If you have a raw image created from dd and you want to write it to a partition on a different drive, you can use the following command:

sudo dd if=/path/to/image/imagefile.img of=/dev/sdb1 bs=1M conv=noerror,sync

This command will write the image to the specified partition on the destination drive. The “conv=noerror,sync” option tells dd to continue writing even if there are errors and to pad any incomplete blocks with zeros.

Conclusion

Creating images of partitions is a useful way to back up or clone a hard drive. GNU ddrescue is a powerful tool that can be used to create images of partitions on a hard drive, and transferring these images to a different drive is relatively simple. By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can ensure that your data is safe and secure.

To write a raw image made with dd to a partition on another drive, you can use the dd command again. Here’s the general syntax:

dd if=path/to/input.img of=path/to/output.img bs=512

Replace path/to/input.img with the path to the input image file (the file you created with dd), and path/to/output.img with the path to the output image file (the file you want to create on the destination drive). The bs parameter stands for “block size” and specifies the size of the blocks that dd reads and writes. A block size of 512 is a safe choice for most purposes.

To write the image to a partition on the destination drive, replace path/to/output.img with the device name of the partition on the destination drive, preceded by a /dev/ prefix. For example, if the destination partition is /dev/sdb1, you would use the following command:

dd if=path/to/input.img of=/dev/sdb1 bs=512

Note that this will overwrite any data on the destination partition, so make sure you have a backup of any important data on that partition before proceeding.

If you want to convert the image to a Macrium Reflect image, you can use the macrium reflect command-line utility to create a new image file from the raw image file. Here’s the general syntax:

macrium reflect image -f input.img -o output.mrimg

Replace input.img with the path to the input image file (the file you created with dd), and output.mrimg with the path to the output image file (the file you want to create in Macrium Reflect format).

You can then use the Macrium Reflect GUI to restore the image file to a partition on the destination drive.

It’s always a good idea to make sure you have backups of your important data before performing any potentially destructive operations, such as overwriting a partition with a raw image file. It’s also a good idea to verify the integrity of the image file before writing it to the destination partition, to ensure that it was created correctly and is not corrupted.

Additionally, you may want to consider using a tool that is specifically designed for creating and restoring disk images, such as Clonezilla or Acronis True Image, as these tools may offer additional features and options that can make the process more convenient and reliable.

Finally, it’s a good idea to be familiar with the dd command and its options, as it is a powerful and versatile tool that can be used for a wide range of tasks, including creating and restoring disk images, copying and converting data, and more. However, it is also a low-level tool that requires careful usage, as it can be destructive if used improperly.