[OLUG] sooner or later

[Dave Burchell]

mesc says:

> lunatik at radiks.net wrote:

> > Oh cool, I didn't know cat could do binary transfers. I would have done
> > it this way:
> > dd if=/dev/hda1 of=/home/mesc/win_img

That works too.  In fact, it is better, because it tells you at the end
how much data was transfered.

> Just to see if i have this straight,my windows partition amounts to 1.3 GB so
> if I made a  file like DOS in /home/mesc/DOS the DOS file would be 1.3 GB also
> after cat < /dev/hda1 > /home/mesc/DOS?If so that won't work for me because i
> have no partions over 1.3 GB.

You still have a few options.

1) Split that 1.3 GB partition into two smaller ones.  Make one (your C:
drive) the home for your MS Win OS.  Make the other (D:) the place you keep
your data for use with Windows.  Then back the two up separately.  You
shouldn't need an "image" of the D: drive.  I consider this a good idea
for other reasons as well.

2) Back up the 1.3 GB partition in parts.  Use "dd" with the options "skip"
and "count".  Break it up into 2 or more files, each of which can be copied
off or compressed (e.g., with "gzip") separately.  For your disk you have
about 2.7 million 512 byte blocks.  Do two files of about 1 million blocks
each, then a third with the rest, like so:

dd if=/dev/hda1 of=/home/msec/win_img_1 count=1000000
dd if=/dev/hda1 of=/home/msec/win_img_2 count=1000000 skip=1000000
dd if=/dev/hda1 of=/home/msec/win_img_3 skip=2000000

When the time comes to restore you will need to write the data back out
to the MS Win partition using "dd" as well using "seek":

dd if=/home/msec/win_img_1 of=/dev/hda1
dd if=/home/msec/win_img_2 of=/dev/hda1 seek=1000000
dd if=/home/msec/win_img_3 of=/dev/hda1 seek=2000000

3) Compress the output file on the fly.  Try
   cat < /dev/hda1 | gzip -c > /home/msec/win_img.gz

Please note that there may be errors in the above instructions, so
verify that I have the right syntax before risking your data and ALWAYS
BACK UP DATA YOU CANNOT REPLACE before doing anything I suggested with
your disk.

>                     Thank you,Gary Martin

> P.S.or do you mean I just need the basic windows files before all my crap is
> installed on it ? :)

I'd say back up a system that is working fairly well and has been
stable for a week or so.  (Tough to find with Microsoft products, I
know.)

Keep in mind that the less you ask of Windows the more likely it will
be to deliver.  Don't get into the habit of adding or removing Windows
software.  That is what Linux is good at, not Windows.  Windows has no
package manager, so trying to install, uninstall, and reinstall
software under Windows is a no win proposition.  Stick with OSes that
incorporate package managers for your tweeking and experimentation
whenever possible.

-- 
Dave Burchell                                          40.49'N, 96.41'W
Free your mind and your software will follow.              402-467-1619
http://incolor.inetnebr.com/burchell/                  burchell at acm.org     

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