Disk Cloning

What is Disk Cloning?
Many people wonder, what is disk cloning. It is not a very hard concept to understand but people may get it confused with “regular” cloning with humans and animals. It is two totally different things. Disk cloning is the process of copying the contents of one computers hard disk to another disk or to an “image” file. Usually the first part of the disk is copied as an image file and then the second disk is loaded with the contents of the image. This is also a useful procedure when you move a larger capacity disk or to restore to a virgin installation.

Why use Dick Cloning?
There are many reasons for using disk cloning. They include:
• Reboot and restore – this is a technique used in which the disk of the computer is automatically wiped and restored from a “clean”, master image, which should be in full working order and should have been swept for viruses. This is used in cybercafés and also in some training and educational institutes. This is just a safety precaution they use so that the user doesn’t misconfigure something, downloads something inappropriate content or programs, or puts a virus on a computer. If any of this happens it can be restored to a clean and working state. This reboot and restore process can either take place irregularly when a computer shows signs of malfunctioning, on a regular basis or sometimes every time a user logs off. The reboot and restore process is the safest approach and does involve some downtime.
• Provisioning new computers – When you need to download a lot of programs for a new user you can download a complete application suite and not have to waste time installing individual applications. Sometimes this is often used by original equipment manufacturers and larger companies.
• Hard drive upgrade – Sometimes an individual user may want to upgrade to a new or lager hard disk, so disk cloning may be easier than copying everything over and installing previous software.
• Full system backup – Backing up your operating system and installed software are very important because of all of the information people store on their computer and count on it to be there every time they start up their computer.
• System recovery – An OEM can provide media that can restore a computer to its original factory software configuration.
• Transfer to another user – A system that gets moved to another user may be reset by reloading a known, previous-saved image that will not contain and personal files, information, or bought programs.

How Does Disk Cloning Work?
To provision the hard disk of a computer without using disk cloning software, the following steps are generally required for each computer:
1. Create one or more partitions on the disk
2. Format each partition to create a file system on it
3. Install the operating system
4. Install device drivers for the particular hardware
5. Install application software
With disk cloning, this can be simplified to:
1. Install the first computer, as above.
2. Create an image of the hard disk (optional)
3. Clone the first disk, or its image, to the remaining computers