Request for way to backup custom hd install

[D_0ne]

With the strict forum posting rules, I'm not sure what section this should be in but I woulld like to know if anyone has been able to back up their BT4 to an ISO and then make it into a bootable usb. In the past I simply used remastersys and unetbootin to do this, but BT4 doesnt seem to want me to do this. Is there something that Im no getting here or can I do it in a similar way to the original hd install method? Any help is appriciated so that I can backup my working version to allow me to safely test some changes (mainly updates). Thanks.....

[drgr33n]

Yes I suspect somebody may move this post !!!

You could just copy your folders to a backup drive

cp --preserve -R {dir,dir,dir} /mnt/bacupdrive

[Oktain]

With the strict forum posting rules, I'm not sure what section this should be in but I woulld like to know if anyone has been able to back up their BT4 to an ISO and then make it into a bootable usb. In the past I simply used remastersys and unetbootin to do this, but BT4 doesnt seem to want me to do this. Is there something that Im no getting here or can I do it in a similar way to the original hd install method? Any help is appriciated so that I can backup my working version to allow me to safely test some changes (mainly updates). Thanks.....

I think your question is a legit one and posted in the correct spot (I'm not a mod, so they may disagree). A little googling may have given you a faster answer though

Try googling for a program called g4u - I haven't used it for awhile but it may get the job done for you.

[thorin]

You could probably use dd.

[lupin]

If you are looking for a way to backup your hard drive install so you can restore it to a different machine with similar hardware, or the same machine after a hard drive replacement, you could try something like CloneZilla.

http://clonezilla.org/

[thorin]

Thanks lupin, looks like an interesting package.

[lupin]

Thanks lupin, looks like an interesting package.

Yes, its a good little package. We use it at work to do backups of our custom laptop images - we were previously using Norton Ghost Corporate Edition, but this is a good drop in replacement. Its guided, so its easy to use, it can split and compress images, and it has some funky features like removing of page files on Windows volumes to reduce overall image size.

[imported_BaconZombie]

CloneZilla is a great program and even has a Server version that will let you image system via PXE booting.

My only gripe with CloneZilla is the last of been about to restore single files and not been able to restore an image from a larger drive onto a small one even if the image size is smaller {You can do this after using VM's and GParted but no straight forward way}

Yes, its a good little package. We use it at work to do backups of our custom laptop images - we were previously using Norton Ghost Corporate Edition, but this is a good drop in replacement. Its guided, so its easy to use, it can split and compress images, and it has some funky features like removing of page files on Windows volumes to reduce overall image size.

[lupin]

CloneZilla is a great program and even has a Server version that will let you image system via PXE booting.

My only gripe with CloneZilla is the last of been about to restore single files and not been able to restore an image from a larger drive onto a small one even if the image size is smaller {You can do this after using VM's and GParted but no straight forward way}

Yeah, its not quite there as a complete drop in replacement for Ghost CE just yet. We use it only for managing images for a small amount of laptops with identical hardware (so I haven't run into the larger to smaller issue you describe yet).

The main benefit it provided over Ghost was it could image a machine and write the images directly to an NTFS volume attached via USB (not possible with Ghost as it runs from MS-DOS and we don't have access to a DOS read/write NTFS driver). We have also had hardware issues with particular newer versions of the product, and have had to use older versions to get around it.

It generally meets our requirements though, and the price is right

[D_0ne]

Thanks for the replies, I realize I can use dd, g4u, clonezilla, etc to backup and restore my install, but Im looking to have a bootable live image (then use a tool such as unetbootin to put it on usb since I have no cd) from my current hd install rather than just clone it. Something similar to "remastersys" which actually seems to work, creates the .iso, but will not boot when put on usb (kernel panic). Actually I dont know if the problem is in the backup process or when I put it to an sd card. I'm wondering if there is some reason this shouldnt work with bt4, or if there is some other workaround for either step in that process.

My fault for a bad title to the post, which you all provided a good answer too, should have been how to backup hd install to live usb or something!