[PLUG] Creating an ISO of a drive in a USB enclosure

[Dale Snell]

On Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:53:24 -0700
"Richard C. Steffens" <rsteff at comcast.net> wrote:

> Is it possible to create an ISO of a drive in a USB enclosure -- and
> if so, what program do I use? Or do I have to open my box and
> physically connect the drive to an IDE port to be able to access it
> without mounting it?
> 
> I have an old laptop with a failing hard drive. I have a newer, spare 
> hard drive and want to "simply" copy the entire contents of the old 
> drive onto the new one. The newer drive has a larger capacity than
> the older one.

Yes, you can create an ISO, but why do it that way?  It seems
rather a roundabout way doing things.  I assume, since you
mentioned the new drive has a larger capacity than the old one,
that you aren't interested in copying the old drive's
partitioning.  (Which would be preserved in an ISO copy.)  I'd
suggest that you use fdisk or gparted to create the partitioning
you want on the new drive, mkfs the new filesystem(s) you want,
and simply copy your files.  It won't be very fast -- USB isn't
what you'd call a speed demon -- but it'll get the job done.

--Dale

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