i’m a newbie to Linux.
but i’m a confident Windows user.
I have a damaged hard drive with many bad sectors from my parents windows computer, attached via Sata cable to a Virtual Ubuntu (on my Windows Desktop).
i want to use ddrescue (GNU) to create a Disk Image.
Can someone tell me what to type into the ubuntu Terminal to achieve the following:
-
invoke ddrescue
-
skip over bad sectors (to avoid wasting hours and hours of time).
-
create a Log (map file) to enable ddrescue to resume itself if the computer hangs or crashes or restarts.
-
avoid imaging the Windows System Files (MBR) partition (as i dont intend to restore windows… I only want to recover data and not waste time imaging windows OS files).
Extra Questions (to add to the above):
-
Am I supposed to Un-Mount the damaged drive before invoking ddrescue ? how can I do this ?
-
Will I be able to run ddrescue a 2nd time more thoroughly to try to image the sectors that were skipped on the 1st image and then MERGE these 2 images to create a more complete image ?
-
Can I control how often the mapfile saves itself ?
-
Can I control how many attempts it makes to read a sector before skipping to the next sector ?
Software/hardware info:
i’m running Ubuntu GNOME from a USB Memory Stick (virtual machine, and with Persistence on my Windows 7 Desktop computer).
Faulty Hard drive is connected to the motherboard with Sata Cable.
PS: Am I correct in doing this with Virtual Ubuntu ? or would I be better off installing ubuntu as a dual boot on my windows desktop ?
i am under the impression that the virtual machine Persistence setting will allow for the ddrescue mapfile to resume itself if the computer crashes or restarts.