jdd composed on 2015-05-26 15:09 (UTC+0200):
My main computer have now two drives: one SSD for system (openSUSE 13.2) and the original Hard drive 1Tb, for Windows 7 system and data.
This computer is now 4 years old and I would like to have a replacement hard drive at hand in case the old one break. I already have the drive (same size).
I have backup for all the data. I don't really mind to backup the linux systems I still have on this old disk (too old), so the main problem is backing up windows to get a bootable result. Of course I don't want to use any windows utility, not boot windows if not obliged to :-). I just keep windows because I need it sometime.
The cloning tools (clonezilla, redo backup) needs booting a live cd, so making the computer unusable for the backup time, and redo is from 2012 (http://redobackup.org/), so I'm unsure if it works with windows 7.
I guess I will have to use dd, but I know it for being dauntingly slow and wonder if there is not a best way.
To clone a whole disk there probably is no faster way than dd, which doesn't have to wade through any filesystems to do its job, but simply copy sectors sequentially. I don't often use dd myself, preferring to use the non-free tool I use for partitioning instead[1]. To clone one HD to another HD that contains no part of a booted Linux operating system, no "live media" boot is required, though logistically for some people it might be preferred. Just attach the extra HD, umount any filesystems on the source HD, and dd from old to new. The only absolute requirement is to not boot Windows whilst both old and new are connected, but you won't want to reboot Linux with both attached either unless you take into account any adjustments that might be necessary to fstab on account of duplicated UUIDs or volume labels. If fstab has references to filesystems for such a case, and reboot is required with both attached at boot time, I typically will have new UUIDs generated, and volume labels tweaked, for whatever source partitions are in fstab, possibly by commenting them such out of fstab until the work is done. To test that the new works when the copy is done, substitute the new for the old and try to boot it. The worst that could happen with the original removed is the new somehow fails to boot. The undisturbed original is the backup in that case. [1] http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee/ -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org