Backup: Partition Image Creation - CloneZilla. Backup: Creating a Partition Image - CloneZilla Compare Wondershare Disk Manager with Acronis Disk Director

A free program for managing hard disk logical partitions.

Previously, when the capacity of hard drives was measured in megabytes, in order to accumulate any decent space, you had to connect several drives to your computer.

The operating system recognized them and named them alternately with letters of the Latin alphabet. Everything was simple: how many hard drives cost - so many drive letters are displayed.

However, with the advent of capacious media, the situation began to change dramatically. Now, in almost every modern PC, there is only one real hard drive, but the system detects it as two or more!

The thing is that modern hard drives can be “split” into several sections, each of which is assigned a separate letter, and with which you can work separately without affecting the file system of sectors of neighboring logical disks.

As you may have guessed, today we will talk about a program that allows you to manage hard disk partitions. And she's called Wondershare Disk Manager.

This small application for Windows allows you to create, delete, move, resize and copy (albeit with this tighter ...) hard disk partitions. It contains all the most necessary tools that are in paid packages, so Wondershare Disk Manager can be compared with the Windows version of Acronis Disk Director:

Comparison of Wondershare Disk Manager with paid analogue Acronis Disk Director

All in all, Wondershare Disk Manager is a fairly simple and user-friendly hard drive manager. Of the shortcomings, it is worth noting the lack of support for alternative file systems, as well as a slightly inconvenient backup mechanism.

Otherwise, the program is quite worthwhile and, most importantly, even a person who has never dealt with the hard disk partitioning process can deal with it.

Install Wondershare Disk Manager

In order to install Wondershare Disk Manager, just run the installer, which you download in the archive from our website, and follow the wizard's prompts (in fact, constantly press the "Next" button;)). After the installation is completed, the program registration window will open.

To receive an activation code, you should go through the free registration procedure on the website of the program manufacturer. To go to the site, just click the "Get Keycode" button.

In the registration form, you will only need to specify your name and e-mail address, to which the activation code will be sent. If everything is done correctly, then go to your mailbox, copy the received serial number from there and paste it into the "Registration code" field. Above, enter your e-mail and finally press the "Register" button.

Wondershare Disk Manager Interface

If everything is done correctly, then the main Wondershare Disk Manager window will open in front of you:

Despite the fact that the program interface is English, everything is quite clear here, so there should be no problems with work. At the very top of the window there is a menu bar, which we will practically not touch, since all functions are placed on the toolbar (below) in the form of colorful buttons.

Under the toolbar, we see the immediate workspace, divided into three parts: on the left is the event panel, on the top right is a list of hard drives with detailed information about them, and at the bottom is a schematic image of the disk space. At the very bottom of the window there is a status line with generalized information about hard disk partitions.

Disk handling

To start working with sections, just select one of them in the list or on the diagram:

After that, a list of all possible actions with this volume will be displayed on the operations panel on the left, and the partition size control bars will be activated on the diagram.

What I really liked about Wondershare Disk Manager was the ability to resize partitions with a simple drag and drop of the mouse without having to open additional dialog boxes.

Here's a simple example for you: as you can see, drive D has 8 megabytes of unallocated space. To add it to the main section, simply select it and drag the right size control bar all the way.

After that, a record of our action will appear in the list of operations, and three buttons will be activated on the toolbar, allowing you to cancel, delete or confirm this action.

In our case, to confirm, you need to click the "Apply" button. A confirmation window will appear, in which we will be asked for the last time whether we really confirm our action :). Click "Apply" again and wait for the partition resizing procedure to complete.

It is worth noting that if you need to set the exact size of the partition, then use the wizard to resize it, which is called by pressing the "Resize" button on the toolbar.

Create a new logical drive

In the previous example, we attached the unallocated space to the main partition, but we could do it differently: take a couple of gigabytes from the main volume and create a new logical disk on the resulting empty area!

To do this, select an unallocated area and call the partition creation wizard by clicking the "Create" button. In the first window of the wizard, we can accurately reduce the size of the new volume, after which we will need to go to the next window by clicking the "Next" button:

Here you can select a file system for the new logical drive, give it a name, letter, type and size of clusters (you can leave the default settings unchanged). After that, it will be enough to click the "Create" button and we will get a new section (though, after the confirmation procedure described above).

Removing unnecessary partitions

Sometimes there are cases when we no longer need a particular partition and need to be deleted (for example, to increase space on the main volume). In this case, we can use the Wondershare Disk Manager Partition Removal Wizard:

Select the section to be deleted and click the "Delete" button on the toolbar. A window will open in which we can select the type of volume deletion. And there are two of them: without destroying files and with their complete erasure (the latter mode requires a reboot).

In the first case, in the future, if desired, we can easily restore almost all files stored on the partition before it was deleted using the “Recover” function.

The second option allows you to completely clear the contents of the selected partition without the possibility of restoring it. In the "Shred files" mode, we can set the number of data overwriting passes on the selected partition from 3 (Primary) to 35 (Advanced).

After choosing the type of partition deletion, it will be enough to click the "Delete" button and confirm your action.

Partition Recovery

Wondershare Disk Manager's next tool is Partition Recovery Wizard:

It is called by pressing the "Recover" button. In the first window of the wizard, we can choose to automatically or manually scan the hard disk (I recommend automatic). In the next window, the program, after scanning the hard drive space, will display a list of volumes available for recovery.

Select one of them and click "Next". After confirming the action, we will receive a complete copy of the previously deleted hard disk partition with all the files stored on it (unless, of course, you erased them when deleting the volume).

Partition copying

The last tool worth mentioning is Partition Copy. Ideally, we should be able to copy any selected volume to any media that has enough free space.

However, in reality, Wondershare Disk Manager only allows you to store a copy on the same physical media as the original. At least I could not force the program to copy the partition from drive C to drive D (two separate hard drives) :(. Therefore, the benefits of such copying are rather doubtful ...

Working through the context menu

All the main and advanced features of Wondershare Disk Manager can be accessed in multiple ways. We have already worked with the toolbar and considered the event panel, however, as in many other applications, sometimes a very convenient way to control is the context menu:

Here, as well as on the event panel, all possible actions on the selected section that are not on the toolbar are collected. For example, the “Explore” item allows you to quickly open the root directory of the selected logical drive, and the “Advanced” section contains additional tools for working with the partition:

These tools include Change Drive Name, Change Drive Letter, Convert File System, Set Activity, Check Disk Integrity, and Hide Partition.

As for me, the interface of Wondershare Disk Manager is more than simple, however, if you are afraid of a large amount of various information and menus, then there is a special wizard mode especially for you, which you can switch to by pressing the "Wizard Mode" button (the rightmost button on toolbar):

In this mode, we have access only to the most basic tools for working with partitions (resize, create, delete, copy and restore volumes). They are presented as buttons with a small explanation, pressing which calls the corresponding wizard described above.

An experienced system administrator may be twisting his finger at his temple if I advise him Wondershare Disk Manager, but a simple user does not need much. And with all the most basic functions (except for copying), the program copes perfectly!

conclusions

If you are the owner of a modern capacious hard drive and want to allocate separate logical partitions for a collection of music, movies, books, etc., then Wondershare Disk Manager will help you easily and quickly create the required number of volumes for your content and subsequently manage them very flexibly;).

P.S. It is allowed to freely copy and quote this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.

Be aware of new products that replace paid programs, and do their job at least as well.

Clonezilla - FREE analogue of Particion magic, Acronis, Norton Ghost, etc.
When creating an image of a partition/disk, only occupied data blocks are copied, the possibility of compressing the image is allowed. The resulting image can be written both locally and to a remote server (ssh, smb, nfs).
Unlike just copying with the dd command, which also copies the free space, Clonezilla includes several utilities that process the data stream before the dd utility, completely ignoring the free blocks.
Therefore, only data will be included in the image.

Also, do not forget that the resulting image is an image created using the dd utility, and an archiver (optional) with which you can work on any UNIX system, and you are not tied to one distribution kit (product).

Clonezilla ...what is it?
You"re probably familiar with the popular proprietary commercial package Norton Ghost®, and its OpenSource counterpart, Partition Image. The problem with these software packages is that it takes a lot of time to massively clone systems to many computers. You"ve probably also heard of Symantec's solution to this problem, Symantec Ghost Corporate Edition® with multicasting. Well, now there is an OpenSource clone system (OCS) solution called Clonezilla with unicasting and multicasting!

excerpt from off site:
* Free (GPL) Software.
* Filesystem supported: ext2, ext3, reiserfs, xfs, jfs of GNU/Linux, FAT, NTFS of MS Windows, and HFS+ of Mac OS (testing feature provided by partclone). Therefore you can clone GNU/Linux, MS windows and Intel-based Mac OS. For these file systems, only used blocks in partition are saved and restored. For unsupported file system, sector-to-sector copy is done by dd in Clonezilla.
* LVM2 (LVM version 1 is not) under GNU/Linux is supported.
* Multicast is supported in Clonezilla SE, which is suitable for massively clone. You can also remotely use it to save or restore a bunch of computers if PXE and Wake-on-LAN are supported in your clients.
* Based on Partimage, ntfsclone, partclone, and dd to clone partition. However, clonezilla, containing some other programs, can save and restore not only partitions, but also a whole disk.
* By using another free software drbl-winroll, which is also developed by us, the hostname, group, and SID of cloned MS windows machine can be automatically changed.

As you can see from the excerpt from the off site, the program supports most file systems!

Also, in addition to LiveCD, there is a server version.
clonezilla supports PXE installation of images. I will not consider this option. Anyone interested can read about it.

Let's get started:

1) Go to Clonezilla.org and from there download the latest Stable Live CD
We write it on a CD or, in the case of using Grub4DOS, do the following:
Mounting the image:

mkdir -p /mnt/iso
mount -o loop /tmp/clonezilla-live-1.2.1-23.iso /mnt/iso

2) Mount the Flash partition to which we will copy the Clonezilla files

mkdir -p /mnt/flash
mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/flash # sdb is my Flash and sdb1 is my 1st Flash partition with Grub4DOS
cp -r /mnt/iso/live /mnt/flash # copy the live folder from the iso image that contains the Clonezilla files

3) In the menu.lst file, enter:

title Clonezilla
root(hd0,0)
kernel /live/vmlinuz1 boot=live union=aufs ocs_live_run=”ocs-live-general” ocs_live_extra_param=”" ocs_live_keymap=”" ocs_live_batch=”no” ocs_lang=”" vga=791 ip=frommedia nolocales
initrd=/live/initrd1.img

4) Save, congratulations, you now have a Live Flash version of Clonezilla loaded via Grub4DOS

Now it remains to follow the instructions of the Clonezilla wizard.
If suddenly you went to the command line and do not know how to start the wizard, run:

sudo -i # become root and you can e.g. mount disks, etc
clonezilla # start wizard

Upon completion of cloning, you will receive an image that can be easily restored using Clonezilla or any other Live Linux distribution.
If you need separate files or images, you can simply copy them from the image, linking it to the virtual device.

Greetings, dear friends, acquaintances, bystanders, vermin and other individuals who read this material. Today we will again raise the topic of backup, namely, we will talk about how to create copies of hard disk partitions. Surely you remember that this issue has already been raised in an article called "" ..

And in general, the topic itself is not new, because a certain number of articles on this project have already been devoted to it. Including there were articles about creating backups, for example, using 'bat nicknames, -, - which help to create backup copies of the necessary data almost manually, and later I talked about an automatic backup program, - namely, - in the article -

But, given that the long-suffering Acronis has strongly slipped onto a commercial footing, and not all software can still make and restore copies of partitions outside a loaded system, and just as part of broadening my horizons, today I want to tell you about this .. mmm .. a software package like CloneZillabased on linux "e. It will be a little more difficult to work with this, so to speak, program than with Acronis, but, in the end, free and extra experience in working with such software should still outweigh all the difficulties.

Globally, it is important to simply follow my instructions and be extremely careful - then everything will work out. I apologize in advance for the very dubious quality of the .. er .. "screenshots". It happened:(

How to take a snapshot of a Linux and Windows partition or disk

First, we need to download the distribution of the program, namely, its image for burning to disk. It can be done. Next, we need to burn the downloaded, in fact, to disk. You can do this using the SCD Writer program, which you can download.

After downloading, unzip the archive and run the program, it's easy:

As a result of this process, you will have a finished disk with the program. To do this, you need to go into the BIOS (the DEL button or one of the F2-F12 row at the VERY early stage of booting the computer). Actually, if a sort of blue or blue-gray screen appears, then you, as they say, got into this most terrible BIOS.

“Welcome to the bios” or “Where did I find myself?”
We've hit... well... the heart of the computer. In order not to break something, we go through the sections carefully. We are only interested in one option - boot priority. Next, I will tell you where and what you need to click to boot from our disk. Many computers have different BIOS, so the settings of one BIOS manufacturer can be completely different from another. But it's still half the trouble. Even different versions of the same BIOS manufacturer have different settings. Therefore, I will only describe the most common options.

If you see the “Boot“ tab, then go into it and look at 3 fields there (they go in a row) first, second, third boot device respectively. We put CD in the first field, HDD in the second, and we are not interested in the third. We go back and exit the BIOS (f10). Don't forget to save your changes. After that, the computer will restart.

We go to Advanced BIOS features (if there is none, then BIOS features) and look for either the Boot Sequence field or 3 fields (they go in a row) First, Second, Third boot device respectively. If we have Boot Sequence, then set it like this: CD, HDD, floppy (or by disk labels, for example D, C, A). If we have three fields boot device , then set as in the previous paragraph. We go back and exit the BIOS (f10). Don't forget to save your changes. After that, the computer will restart.

If you did everything correctly at the stage above, then after saving the settings and exiting the . When it happens, you will see something like the following window (I apologize for the quality of the photos, it was not possible to do better):

Next, in fact, we need to decide on the launch parameters. If you have a small amount of RAM (up to 1Gb), then it makes sense to use the first line, namely “ CloneZilla live (Default settings, VGA 800x600)”, if there is enough memory, then select “ Others modes of Clonezilla live”, and there the third line, namely “Clonezilla live (To RAM ..)”, which will allow the program to load into memory and not depend on the CD / DVD ROM, i.e. work faster.

After downloading, you will need to select the language of the program. I think that Russian will suit us :) On the next tab, they will offer to change the layout. In most cases, this is not required, so feel free to select the item “ Don't touch the layout”, And on the next tab, select the item “ Launch Clonezilla".

Write / restore partitions / disks from an image
Write/Restore Disk to Disk, Partition to Partition

In this example, we will consider the first option, because it is more complicated, more interesting, and also because the second involves cloning a partition / disk, i.e., if you, say, want to create a backup copy of the disk with the system on another physical disk, then the data on the other disk, they will overwrite, and it will become a complete copy of the first one, i.e., in order to consider this option, you will need a blank hard disk or partition, and therefore for now we will consider the first point. On the second, you can practice on your own. Select " device-image work with disks or partitions using images”.

I am

On the next tab, you will need to select the image repository, i.e. the disk ON WHICH we will save the image of a particular partition / disk. I chose the largest individual, i.e. physical, from all disks available to me now. You can choose on your own both external and any other disk, as long as there is enough space on it for the image of the disk / partition that you are going to copy.

On the next tab, you will be asked in which folder we want to save the image. I chose the root of the disk, i.e. / . You can choose a folder convenient for you.

Next, we will need to decide how much we want to customize. In fact, the expert level is needed only in case of problems, and the initial, which is also automatic, is suitable for most people and cases. For now, choose the first one, i.e. “ Beginner: Beginner level". In case of problems with creating a backup, write to me and we will use the second option. If desired, it is also very welcome after the end of the lesson to “play” with expert settings on your own, but only carefully and reading all the tips.

Next, you need to choose whether we want to copy the entire disk or one / several of its partitions. Choose what is closer to you. I, within the framework of the article, used the second paragraph, i.e. “ Save_local_partitions_as_image”.

On the next tab, give the image a name. I leave it as is, because the date is indicated there, which is convenient.

Now the most important thing is to select the disk or partition (in my example, the partition) that we will copy. You can select multiple. The choice is made by pressing the SPACEBAR, by pressing which the * symbol appears opposite the disk or partition, which means that the disk/partition is selected. Click OK when you have made your selection.

The next two tabs will ask about the need to check and restore the file system, as well as the final created image. I used to refuse, so as not to waste time, i.e. choose " Skip checking/repairing source file system” and, further, “ No, skip checking the saved image”.

After all this, a process will start that mounts the devices and does other things that the program needs. Here you will need to make sure that the correct disk or partition is indicated in yellow, enter y on the keyboard and press the button Enter, after which the copying process will start.

It remains only to press, as requested, Enter, then enter 1 and again Enter. The computer will need to restart. Don't forget to set it to boot from the hard drive, as we previously set it to boot from the CD/DVD drive.

Everything, the backup copy is ready. You can rejoice.
Now it remains to learn how to recover from the image.

Restoring from a backup image

Actually, recovering from the image is much easier.

We boot from the disk with the program again, only this time we select the item “ Restore image to local drive" or " Restore image to local partitions”, depending on whether you saved a partition or a disc.

Next, select the image file to restore and VERY carefully specify the drive/partition where you will restore the contents of this image. Be careful because all information on the disk or partition (depending on what you are restoring) will be replaced by the contents of the image.

After checking everything three times, put y and click OK. Then do it again, because. you will be asked again and once again you will have to put y and press OK.

We are waiting for the end and - voila - everything is ready!

That's it, the backup was restored from the image.
Something like this:)

Afterword

Here are the pies. Be sure to be careful and careful, especially the first time. Not Acronis, of course, with its interface, but also quite a powerful thing, especially if you learn how to use all the features of this CloneZilla. And no failures and almost will not be scary - you can always recover from a backup.

I hope that the information was useful for you. As always, write comments with questions, wishes and everything else.

Stay with the project - you are always welcome here;)