Question Disk Imaging Software ?

[PaulDesmond]

Hi. Is there any good disk imaging software. I am a home user and found out that Macrium (no longer free) is a subscription based at about £2.50 a month. As I would hardly use this it is not really worth me paying a monthly subscription. Are there any that are a simple, straightforward download ?

TA

Desmond.

 

[Ralston18]

Perhaps:


https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/image-backup-windows

or

Disk Image

 

[USAFRet]

Hi. Is there any good disk imaging software. I am a home user and found out that Macrium (no longer free) is a subscription based at about £2.50 a month. As I would hardly use this it is not really worth me paying a monthly subscription. Are there any that are a simple, straightforward download ?

TA

Desmond.

There is also a one time purchase for Macrium, $80.

There is also Acronis TrueImage as an alternative.

 

[Grobe]

Clonezilla is free (as in Open source). Most of what Macrium and TrueImage can do can also be done with Clonezilla.

 

[USAFRet]

Clonezilla is free (as in Open source). Most of what Macrium and TrueImage can do can also be done with Clonezilla.

Has CloneZilla included the option to clone to a smaller drive?

I know when I used to use it, only the same size or larger.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Has CloneZilla included the option to clone to a smaller drive?

I know when I used to use it, only the same size or larger.

Nope. Still somewhat limited:

Limitations:​

• The destination partition must be equal or larger than the source one.
• Differential/incremental backup is not implemented yet.
• Online imaging/cloning is not implemented yet. The partition to be imaged or cloned has to be unmounted.
• Due to the image format limitation, the image can not be explored or mounted. You can _NOT_ recovery single file from the image. However, you still have workaround to make it, read this.
• Recovery Clonezilla live with multiple CDs or DVDs is not implemented yet. Now all the files have to be in one CD or DVD if you choose to create the recovery iso file.

 

[USAFRet]

All those "limitations" are easily handled in Macrium.

 

[Grobe]

Nope. Still somewhat limited:

Yes of course, it's open source and doesn't have the founding from a commercial corporation.

The destination partition must be equal or larger than the source one.

Yes true. A workaround would be using another tool - e.g. Gparted to shrink the partition in question before cloning it (not mention the good practice of making backup of the source partition before shrinking).

Recovery Clonezilla live with multiple CDs or DVDs is not implemented yet. Now all the files have to be in one CD or DVD if you choose to create the recovery iso file.

As a workaround, there is an option to split the image file into smaller chunks.

And since we now have discussed all the back-draws, let me now take on some positive aspects of this Clonezilla tool:

• Free and open source, you don't have to pay anything for it.
• Support all major file systems that normally is supported by Linux
• Support for older systems - i.e. You have a 32 bit system laying around and in need for backup, no problem.
• Can clone between two computers in the same network (I admit this is one of the tasks I haven't done yet)
• In addition to the image file itself, Clonezilla makes comprehensive list of hardware info, storage devices s.m.a.r.t. info (usb devices not included) and also backup of bios. Now you also know what hardware was used when cloning was taking place (if you miss out on renaming and suddenly doesn't know what computer the image file belongs to, this can be a life saver)

This being said, no question the programs that are made by corporations are easier to use and more specifically geared towards windows users. It's always more comfortable having a gui than a text interface. I almost was about to put in a point on use the Linux shell and the tools in the list, but I also know that I'd most likely also use a gui - like Linux Mint - for file copying offline.

In the end, it's the user's choice of either pay for a commercial licensed software or spend some time learning how to use a program such as Clonezilla.

 

[USAFRet]

For me, CloneZilla fell out of my favor due to the drive/partition size thing.
Can't clone from a 1TB HDD to a 500GB SSD. Well, you can, but then you're faffing about with partitions.

That, and no Differential/Incremental.

Given the right conditions, for a straight clone, CloneZilla can be good.


"Can clone between two computers on the same network" - I've done exactly this with Macrium. Both the OS drive and a secondary drive.
Direct from the folder tree in my NAS to the PC.

 

[mdd1963]

I've seen a Youtube demo of where Clonezilla *could* actually clone to a smaller drive (assuming adequate space remaining, of course, for the smaller drive) *if* one used expert mode (vice default 'beginner'), and disabled a 'check pre-clone drive size comparison' option, or something similar to that in the plethora of options. I will see if I can find the YT video in question, I know the narrator did a 1 TB to 500 GB clone, and I was surprised to see it go without a hitch, and, without needing to tinker with partition sizes or juggle free space or recovery partitions afterward...

Tomorrow when I have time, I will fire up clonezilla and see if I can find the option in expert mode, and perhaps even give it a try, as I now have a 2 TB SSD, with 350 GB used, and will try to image (or clone) to a 500 GB drive....

 

[mdd1963]

On a different note, shrinking the main partition within Windows Computer Mngmt/Storage/Disk Mngmt is quite easy, and then cloning or imaging in Rescuezilla normally is dirt simple with it's GUI..(RescueZilla includes Parted Magic on desktop for tinkering with partitions to utilize all available space after the clone, if needed....)