How to make a clone of a flash card. How to transfer the contents of one bootable USB flash drive to another if there is no original ISO file. How to backup a flash drive to another location

17.10.2020

We recently received the following question:

“Hello, Maxim! Actually the question is this. A friend of mine has a bootable flash drive, how can I make an image of his flash drive and write it to mine?”

I decided to write a short note on how this can be done.

Here I will describe one of the methods that I tested.

First, I downloaded a program (link to the version with a Russian-language interface), which allows you to create and burn disk images.

For the option of copying a flash drive once, even a trial version is suitable.

Download the program, install it, run it with administrator rights. In the welcome window, select the button « Trial period» , and we see this window:

1 – this is the folder list area of the new image project, the default project name is set from current date and time. The project can be renamed using the context menu command.

2 – This is the content area of the new project folders.

3 – PC disk list area.

4 – area of the contents of PC disks.

The original flash drive is drive S, it contains a boot image of the Ubuntu OS.

Move the mouse pointer to drive S, and drag it to area 2.

A confirmation window for transferring the list of files appears. The program interface is not translated entirely correctly, but this is not critical.

If it is not necessary to rewrite the entire source disk, then the necessary files for the image are simply selected.

It turns out like this new project image:

If you need to configure any other project properties, they can be found through the menu “File” - “Properties”.

A standard file saving window appears, where you can also select the image file type. Then the file is saved:

After this, the resulting file can be transferred to another PC or recorded later on another medium.

To record the image, insert a new flash drive. If the image was created earlier, then it is necessary through the menu “File” - “Open” select the image file and open it.

- "Burn hard disk image":

In the new window you can immediately see that some inscriptions are not translated at all.

Near the inscription "Disk Drive" There is a drop-down list from which you need to select the desired flash drive.

I choose drive R– this is my new flash drive.

In line "Image file" You can check again that you have selected for recording required file. Recording method - I chose "USB-HDD", and for a flash drive there are options “USB-HDD+” and “USB-HDD+ v2”.

I tried all the options, but didn't see any difference. The built-in help in the program, judging by the copyright, was last updated in 2009, and there is nothing there about recording to flash drives or external HDDs. Perhaps these settings are needed for some specific image options, and information about them can be found on the software developers forum.

If necessary, the flash drive can be formatted immediately before recording - there is a button for this "Format".

When everything has been selected, press the button "Record".

A warning window appears indicating that all data will be erased so the user can double-check that they are recording the image to the correct media.

Click "Yes" and watch the recording process:

When the message appears “Recording complete!”, you can close all windows and check the flash drive to see if it is possible to start the PC from it.

This is how you can copy a bootable USB flash drive, and also make another similar flash drive later, or optical disk, or even an external hard drive.

This program also allows you to record images created in other programs.

Hello admin! My friend has a cool one 16 GB multiboot flash drive USB interface 2.0 with five operating systems, several useful LiveCDs and a bunch more useful programs, and I have a blank 32 GB USB 3.0 flash drive. The question is how to transfer all the information from his bootable flash drive 16 GB on my 32 GB and so that my flash drive automatically becomes bootable? That is, I want to make an exact copy of his flash drive on my own, but I have no idea how this can be done.

Hello friends! The situation is basically clear. In simple words, our reader has a 16 GB bootable flash drive with operating systems and some useful software on it, and he wants to make an exact copy of this flash drive on another a larger flash drive, for example 32 GB. And in clever words, we need to produce flash drive cloning.

Note: The same is possible.

So, we connect two flash drives to our computer.

The first flash drive is 16 GB, it is bootable and contains several operating systems, plus a LiveCD, user files and program installers.

The second 32 GB flash drive is clean.

Disk management.

Let's launch a free program.

Choose Master-->Disc Copy Wizard.

Select the source flash drive - the bootable flash drive from which we want to copy the contents.

Left-click on the selected flash drive and click “Next”.

We select the target flash drive, that is, the one to which we want to copy the contents of the bootable flash drive.

This window shows what the flash drive will look like after cloning. We don’t need two partitions on the bootable flash drive, so check the “Fit partitions of the entire disk” checkbox

"End"

"Apply"

Backup to USB device, as well as backup data from flash drives ( USB drives) c Handy Backup is done easily and quickly through the Computer plugin. Using the program you can configure automatic copy on USB devices.

Basic functions of automatic backup to USB device

Backing up data to USB

The main function of a flash drive is data storage, so it is convenient to use a flash drive as a USB backup drive. Handy Backup allows you to use any USB storage device for backup as an external drive.

Backing up a USB device

On the contrary, sometimes you need to move backup copy data on a USB device to another location (for example, make a backup copy of a flash drive to a computer). In this case, Handy Backup allows you to backup a USB device as a regular local data source.

A USB backup copy of your data only makes sense if it can be restored at any time. Handy Backup offers tools to automatically restore and even clone USB from backup, as well as manually copy unencrypted USB backups.

Backing up Windows 10 data to a USB flash drive

A problem different from all previous ones is solved by all professional versions of Handy Backup or the included HBDR utility, which allows you to create a backup of Windows 10 (Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Linux...) onto a flash drive as an image boot disk VHD.

To solve the problems described above, Handy Backup provides the user with a number of effective tools that allow you to conveniently and quickly organize automatic backups to USB flash drive and data recovery. Such tools include:

Video tutorial: How to create an automatic backup when connecting a USB device

This video tutorial shows step-by-step instruction to create an automatic backup to a flash drive when you connect this USB device to a computer.

Attention: This video assumes that your machine already has Handy Backup installed. Otherwise, please download Handy Backup and install it on your computer.

Automatic copying to a USB flash drive with Handy Backup is a convenient and simple data storage tool. Try it now by downloading and installing a 30-day free, fully functional trial!

Bootable flash drives are different from regular ones - you can’t just copy the contents of a boot USB to a computer or other drive. Today we will introduce you to options for solving this problem.

As already mentioned, simply copying files from a bootable storage device to another will not bring results, since bootable flash drives use their own file system and memory partition layout. And yet, it is possible to transfer an image of an OS recorded on a flash drive - this is a complete cloning of memory while preserving all the features. To do this, you should use special software.

Method 1: USB Image Tool

The small portable utility USB Image Tool is ideal for solving our today's problem.

After downloading the program, unpack the archive with it to any location on your hard drive - this software does not require installation on the system. Then connect a bootable USB flash drive to your PC or laptop and double-click on the executable file.

In the main window on the left there is a panel displaying all connected drives. Select the boot one by clicking on it.

There is a button at the bottom right "Backup", which you need to press.
A dialog box will appear "Conductor" with the choice of where to save the resulting image. Choose the one that suits you and click "Save".

The cloning process can take a long time, so be patient. When it is finished, close the program and disconnect the boot drive.
Connect a second flash drive to which you want to save the resulting copy. Launch USB Image Tool and select required device in the same panel on the left. Then find the button below "Restore", and press it.

The dialog box will appear again "Explorer", where you need to select the previously created image.

Click "Open" or just double click on the file name.
Confirm your actions by clicking on "Yes" and wait for the recovery procedure to complete.

Done - the second flash drive will become a copy of the first, which is what we need.

Disadvantages this method a little - the program may refuse to recognize some models of flash drives or create incorrect images from them.

Method 2: AOMEI Partition Assistant

Powerful memory management software hard drives, and USB drives will also be useful to us in creating a copy of a bootable flash drive.

Install the software on your computer and open it. Select items from the menu "Master"—"Disc Copy Wizard".

Celebrating "Quickly copy a disc" and press "Further".

Next, you need to select the boot drive from which the copy will be made. Click on it once and press "Further".

The next step is to select the final flash drive, which we want to see as a copy of the first. In the same way, mark the desired one and confirm by pressing "Further".

In the preview window, check the option "Fitting partitions of the entire disk".

Confirm your choice by pressing "Further".
In the next window, click "End".

Returning to the main program window, click on "Apply".

To start the cloning process, click "Go".

In the warning window you need to click "Yes".

The copy will take quite some time, so you can leave the computer alone for now and do something else.
When the procedure is completed, simply click "OK".

There are practically no problems with this program, but on some systems it refuses to start for unknown reasons.

Method 3: UltraISO

One of the most popular solutions for creating bootable flash drives can also create copies of them for subsequent recording on other drives.

Connect both of your flash drives to your computer and launch UltraISO.
Select the item in the main menu. Further - “Create a diskette image” or "Create an image Hard drive» (these methods are equivalent).

In the dialog box in the drop-down list "Drive" you need to select your boot drive. In point "Save as" select the location where the flash drive image will be saved (before doing this, make sure that you have enough space on the selected hard drive or partition).

Click "Do" to start the procedure for saving the bootable flash drive image.
When the procedure is finished, press "OK" in the message box and disconnect the boot drive from the PC.
The next step is to write the resulting image to a second flash drive. To do this, select "File"—"Open…".

In the window "Conductor" select the previously obtained image.

“Burn Hard Disk Image...”

"Disk Drive"

"USB-HDD+"

"Record"

Confirm formatting the flash drive by clicking on "Yes".

If you have to periodically make images with USB data drives, and then restore them or clone them onto other media, then you definitely won’t be able to do without special utility, which will help you do everything in a couple of mouse clicks. Surprisingly, you can find quite a lot on the Internet. free programs similar plan. Utility ImageUSB This is exactly what we should treat, although with its own specifics, the developers have implemented support for writing to several flash drives at the same time.

ImageUSB does not need to be installed, but simply unpack the downloaded archive into a separate folder, from where you can launch the only executable file imageUSB.exe. The program is removed by simply deleting this very folder.

ImageUSB is primarily suitable for people who from time to time have to do mass cloning USB flash drives. It will be enough if everything is available Computer USB insert the flash drives, check the boxes on them and indicate the desired image for cloning, then everything will be done automatic mode. True, there are several nuances. Regardless of the size of the flash drive, logical drives will be created the same size as the donor flash drive. Also, you cannot write an image of a larger flash drive to a smaller flash drive, even if most of the image is empty space.

The program interface is divided into four logical parts. At the very top, in the “Step 1” section, there is a list of devices connected to the computer. removable USB carriers. Here the user can select necessary disks with whom he plans to work. In the section labeled “Step 2” there are available operations with removable drives, where all the settings available to ImageUSB users are collected. In the “Step 3” line, select the disk image that you are going to restore or where you want to save the “imprint” of the flash drive. Finally, in “Step 4” you need to click the “Create” button to start the saving or restoring process. At the very bottom you can see the ImageUSB operation log and there are buttons that link to the official website, help section, information about the utility and closing the program.

If we briefly go over the most important points in the “Step 2” section, then:

"Write image to USB drive» is responsible for recording selected images onto selected removable USB storage media.
"Create image from USB drive" allows you to save an image of the selected USB flash drive.
"Zero USB drive" is responsible for deleting data on selected removable USB drives.
"Reformat USB drive (Windows Vista or later)" allows you to format a USB flash drive to another file system, saving the data.

It is also possible to enable checking the recorded data, sounding a sound signal at the end of the copying/writing process and fully using the space on the flash drive if the image size is smaller, but is only being used file system NTFS has only one partition.

The program will constantly warn that the user can erase data from the flash drive or delete files from the computer. After each completed operation, a large window painted in bright colors will pop up. Finally, ImageUSB requires updating the list of drives connected to USB ports after each completed operation, otherwise it will refuse to do anything further.

ImageUSB, in principle, does a good job of creating and restoring USB images flash drives. However, there are more convenient and friendly free utilities with similar capabilities. This program I can recommend it to people who need to multiply one image onto many flash drives.

The program works on 32 and 64-bit versions operating system. The program interface has been translated only to English language, if you don’t know it, arm yourself with a dictionary to figure out what you need to click on and what items to select.

ImageUSB free download page - https://www.osforensics.com/tools/write-usb-images.html

Program size: archive 1.06 MB

Compatibility: Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 and 10