How to Clone a Hard Drive With Bad Sectors Using ddrescue

[jol]

I would say, depends on the condition of the drive
if the the drive is not in the best shape (and thats the reason for using ddrescue)
since the first 150GB +- has been cloned already
I would divide it in 2 parts
first clone 'from" 150GB - up to the end
and only then I would do from the beginning - up to 150GB

again depends on the drives conditions

 

[Jared]

I would say, depends on the condition of the drive
if the the drive is not in the best shape (and thats the reason for using ddrescue)
since the first 150GB +- has been cloned already
I would divide it in 2 parts
first clone 'from" 150GB - up to the end
and only then I would do from the beginning - up to 150GB

again depends on the drives conditions

Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Clone the latter section of the drive first, before beating it up trimming the beginning again.

 

[horfa]

1: What is the difference between creating an img file versus cloning the bad drive as you have instructed here? Is one more likely to recover data from than the other or would they have similar results?
2: I followed a different set of ddrescue instructions before coming across your website and it's already about half done, should I stop the img process and restart with cloning or just let it finish?
3: The drive with the bad/failing sectors that I am trying to create the img from is ~1TB inside a 2TB drive, will the final file size be ~1TB or 2TB?
4: How much damage is done if the retry 3 times command is used in the initial run?
Thanks for your time.

 

[pclab]

1: the difference is that with a img file, you can have several per HDD, while cloning to a drive you will have a exact copy only on that drive. The recover will produce the same results.
2: let it go until finishes.
3: if you are doing a 1TB img file, you will get a final 1TB file too.
4: you should only do a first read without the retry on bad sectors to avoid that head can be killed while trying to read them. You should go to those bad sectors after the first pass and do retries to try to read them the more as you can to avoid corruption of files.

 

[viking]

Sorry for being a total novice at Linux, and maybe this is not the best forum to ask this first question...

I installed Knoppix (v8.1) on a USB key using LiLi USB Creator. I then started GRUB in a virtual box in windows (using Virtualize_This_Key.exe; just to familiarize myself with Linux).

How do I start Linux from GRUB? I typed "Knoppix" but I get an error (Error 27: Unrecognized command)

 

[Jared]

You don't need GRUB to boot a live build. GRUB is a bootloader for launching multiple OSs installed on the same disk. A live build installs nothing, it runs entirely off the USB thumb drive.

Also, you can't use ddrescue effectively via VirtualBox or any other VM platform. It needs bare metal access to the HDD controller. Just stick the USB in the computer, reboot and select it as the boot device. Done!

 

[viking]

Thanks for the quick response!
I understand that I need to boot directly into Knoppix to do the rescue. However, I wanted to familiarize myself with Knoppix first by running it in a VM in windows.
Anyway, I also tried to boot from the thumb drive, and it also "booted" into GRUB. How do I get from GRUB into Knoppix?
(I wish that they had a forum at Linux Live USB Creator so that I could ask there).

 

[pclab]

I don't know if Knoppix have that option, but other distros have: why don't you use a LIVE DVD to boot?
It has all the configurations done for boot and work from the DVD.

 

[Rickytherockstar]

Hey there, new here, and extremely new to trying to recover data from a failing hard drive.
I was hoping there was someone still around that wouldn’t mind answering some, maybe stupid, questions that I have?
I just used ddrescue to clone my bad hard drive onto an external hard drive, the test says it’s finished running, but I’m not sure what to do at this point, do I just shut down my computer? Unplug the external and usb? Are there any commands I need to input before I shut down or anything?
(I attached a picture of what is currently on my screen)


Any help would be really appreciated

And then I guess after that, what exactly do I do? Hook up the external to a different running laptop, and try a recovery program? Is that how it works?

 

[pclab]

The drive is cloned so now you plug it with a USB adapter for instance and see if you have access to data. If not, run a recovery software.

By the way: what was wrong with the original drive? 3 errors it's a very big problem...

EDIT: I meant to say IS NOT a very big problem