1

I would like to clone my OS drive, to a same/larger disk. And I will do this periodically.

On Windows I use AOEMI Partition Assistant to clone disks. The GUI is very good and idiot-proof. However, Linux isn't supported.

I have tried Clonezilla and I didn't find the walkthrough completely obvious/idiot-proof.

dd petrifies me in case I make a mistake.

Is there anything else to recommend? Particularly anything which contains explicit safety checks to ensure the current OS drive is not over-written.

Improve this question
9
  • You probably will have more luck over there. It is a bit broad here and yes, usually you are supposed to know what you are doing AND have made a backup first. There's only so much you can check and protect against without annoying the hell out of those who know exactly what they're after.
    – Eduardo Trápani
    Aug 10 at 20:45
  • 1
    @EduardoTrápani I think I've been doing Linux for about 25 years, at differing levels of professionality. dd and clonezilla really don't count as viable products in terms of UX as cloning tools. This has nothing to do with being inexperienced. Humans make mistakes, and a user interface can be designed to both make mistakes harder to make and the right thing easier and quicker to do. In all honesty, the two aforementioned tools are bad, as tools. I think "Linux on the desktop" would have come quite a distance further if we, as a community, wouldn't knee jerk react to UX criticism. </My 2ct>
    – Marcus Müller
    Aug 10 at 21:13
  • 1
    For example, this post asks for a thoroughly sensible feature - do not overwrite the system installation. Neither impossible to implement nor a sign of not knowing what one is doing, but quite the contrary, a simple analysis, bootloader inspection would instantly allow avoidance of that, and knowing that I'll one day click on the wrong target is exactly what I'd call "being an experienced admin".
    – Marcus Müller
    Aug 10 at 21:16
  • Often better to just do a new install & restore from your normal backup. I use rsync (to multiple places), but many suggest rsync only for files that do not change a lot like media and use rdiff so you have versions and somewhat older deleted files. If you have good backups then mistakes are nor the end of the world.
    – oldfred
    Aug 11 at 2:41
  • Have you tried Macrium Reflect? I’ve definitely backed up Linux partitions with the rescue disk. Can’t say I’ve ever restored from that backup but I’ve no reason to think it will not work. Could be worth testing, it’s certainly a friendly foolproof UI
    – PonJar
    Aug 11 at 9:55

0

Reset to default

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .