Method used for imaging

HD Clone Professional. Very easy and straightforward without a bunch of eye candy or other crap in your way. Runs natively under Windows and it also has a bootable version.
 
We use Serva PXE server and PXE boot Clonezilla (amongst other things) from the network, or just use the live Clonezilla DVD. We save the images on a network share. Not too concerned with being able to extract individual files because the backup is so rarely needed and it would only take 15 minutes to restore the whole disk to a virtual hard drive in Hyper-V.

You can go for a couple of advanced options too to ignore the NTFS dirty shutdown problem and to retry then skip bad sectors.
 
Another thumbs up for Macrium Reflect. Plus it comes with a handy Windows PE Boot Disk, making it UEFI-friendly.
 
ohio_grad_06 said:
Don't forget ddrescue as well for failing drives. Can be a dirtier method so to speak, but decent. Also, anyone have issues with parted magic not wanting to read file systems on the newer uefi machines? I've got a parted magic iso from I think november that I bought and it boots the machine fine, but sometimes won't mount the partitions if I'm trying to recover data.
Click to expand...

I have used DDrescue on stubborn drives to perform a pseudo "data recovery". Sometimes if our data recovery software won't go as a last ditch effort I image it to a bench drive and then can copy the data from there.
 
Yeah, DDRescue is good. You may not always get a bootable drive, but you may likely get one where you can at least retrieve files etc.
 
Devin Hamilton said:
I have used DDrescue on stubborn drives to perform a pseudo "data recovery". Sometimes if our data recovery software won't go as a last ditch effort I image it to a bench drive and then can copy the data from there.
Click to expand...
Imaging the drive should be your first move, not a last ditch effort. You have probably been causing yourself more problems than you otherwise would have, and have been losing more customer data than you otherwise would have.
 
Krynn72 said:
Imaging the drive should be your first move, not a last ditch effort. You have probably been causing yourself more problems than you otherwise would have, and have been losing more customer data than you otherwise would have.
Click to expand...

I have data recovery software that works well enough.
 
I'm a big fan of ShadowProtect. Aside from the imaging aspect, it's a lifesaver for all sorts of disaster recovery scenarios. Everything from a single file to the whole kit and kaboodle.
 
Trying out netjapan IT technician edition currently. Like storagecraft only cheaper and portable. Worth a trial
 
mrapoc, thanks for highlighting this product! Definitely something to try. Trial downloads are a heaven send. Two things after a quick sticky beak of their site (https://www.netjapan.com/us). 1. The pricing is not too far off from StorageCraft's ShadowProtect for desktop and server products. The 'ActiveImage Protector IT Pro Edition' must be spectacular with a price tag of $3500 US. 2. No local support in the land of Oz.
 
I'm in touch with the european rep - they are working their way through it but they've just started an MSP offering with no minimum order. Never actually looked at their site :)
 
Devin Hamilton said:
I have data recovery software that works well enough.
Click to expand...
This is not meant to be an attack on you, but what do you consider, "well enough?"

My antivirus program removed most of the viruses from your computer, is that "well enough?"
I fixed your computer so it only crashes once a day instead of once an hour, is that "well enough?"

I believe that this forum is here to help all of us do a better job servicing our clients. Why would you so quickly disregard the advice of @Krynn72 and basically say that you are okay with providing less than par service? I can assure you that his advice to always image the drive first is solid.
 
lcoughey said:
This is not meant to be an attack on you, but what do you consider, "well enough?"

My antivirus program removed most of the viruses from your computer, is that "well enough?"
I fixed your computer so it only crashes once a day instead of once an hour, is that "well enough?"

I believe that this forum is here to help all of us do a better job servicing our clients. Why would you so quickly disregard the advice of @Krynn72 and basically say that you are okay with providing less than par service? I can assure you that his advice to always image the drive first is solid.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't mean to disregard his post.

In my first post I originally stated that I was using DDrescue. I also try to image the drive with Acronis and Ghost. Sometimes however I have had Acronis fail right when you start the clone or when you hit a bad block it fails without retrying. For these kinds of drives I then use DDrescue.

As for the data recovery software, I use it on drives that show up as "need to be formatted" or issues like that. Of course, I don't recover the data to that drive, as drives are cheap and I don't 100% trust them.

Again, didn't mean to attack or belittle anyone. It has been on of those weeks. Besides, we are all fighting the good fight! :)
 
Devin Hamilton said:
As for the data recovery software, I use it on drives that show up as "need to be formatted" or issues like that. Of course, I don't recover the data to that drive, as drives are cheap and I don't 100% trust them.
Click to expand...
It is for these cases that it is just as important to image the drive first. Most of the time, these issues are caused because the drive is unable to read the BS (boot sector) or the MFT. The root cause for this could be minor PCB damage, firmware issues, bad sectors, weak and/or crashing heads.

One of many reasons why you want to be able to get a sector-level clone of a drive with bad sectors, rather than try to recover it directly with data recovery programs is the amount of data you are losing with each bad sector you encounter. This video by RapidSpar is a good illustration of how much you are missing:


Basically, if you do care about your clients and their data, as you certainly sound like you do, please, please, please start every data recovery process by cloning the drive and then run your data recovery programs against the clone.
 
I'm going to give it a try once I get a chance, it's a pretty hefty download for the setup (533MB) - glad I didn't start it while tethered.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Appletax
[WARNING] PSA: Lenovo USB-C Port Failures – A Serious Ongoing Issue
2
Replies
37
Views
2K
Appletax
Appletax
Appletax
[SOLVED] Need BIOS/UEFI Unlocked for Toughbook CF-33
Replies
4
Views
392
Appletax
Appletax
Appletax
[REQUEST] Battery drained from 92% to 7% instantly after 7 mins on
Replies
18
Views
973
Diggs
Diggs
Appletax
[SOLVED] What's the best laptop hinge lubricant?
Replies
12
Views
1K
GTP
GTP
GTP
Me and ChatGPT...
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
GTP
GTP
Back
Top