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How do I make an image of my entire USB flash drive?

Is there a way to determine the optimal value for the bs parameter to dd?Where are my copied files?Best linux recovery tool for deleted files from USB flash drive?cannot mount usbI can't access my USB device after mkfs.ntfs commandUSB flash drive formatted as “Linux Live CD” keeps the CD-ROM name after re-partitioningSet removable media (USB drive) permissions to a specific groupHow do I plug in a usb-drive?

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5

1

The message below comes from another post and I tried it the way that they stated to. First, I mounted the USB drive:

sudo mount -o ro,noexec /dev/sdb1 /media

I mounted it as read-only to prevent any damage or changes to the USB while copying it, especially if I mixed up if and of. In the message below, I'm not sure if they wanted to me to use sdb or sdb# for if.

Before trying any recovery I would save the current state by backing up the whole device block by block: dd if=/dev/sdb bs=16M of=/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive where /dev/sdb is your USB drive (check which one by using lsblk) and /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive is a path and filename you choose on a disk/partition with lots of space. Then, if a recovery tool that writes to the disk makes more damage than repairing, you can go back (exchange if and of fields)."

usb

share|improve this question

edited 16 hours ago

Peter Mortensen

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asked yesterday

hddfsck777hddfsck777

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hddfsck777 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  If you're dd-ing the drive, why do you mount it at all? sdb1 is a partition, sdb is the whole disk.
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Kusalananda Simply, since the image is coming from a flash drive, I thought it had to be mounted like all usb's usually are. Thx.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Kusalananda Since the usb 'was' mounted for the original dd, do you think that I made the usb less likely to be able to retrieve the deleted, stolen files from it? Thx.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Ned64 addressed this in a comment (to a degree). Please don't ask follow-up questions in comments. This is not a discussion forum. Your question should be answerable with finality. Additional questions should be new questions.
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Kusalananda ok, good to know.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

5

1

The message below comes from another post and I tried it the way that they stated to. First, I mounted the USB drive:

sudo mount -o ro,noexec /dev/sdb1 /media

I mounted it as read-only to prevent any damage or changes to the USB while copying it, especially if I mixed up if and of. In the message below, I'm not sure if they wanted to me to use sdb or sdb# for if.

Before trying any recovery I would save the current state by backing up the whole device block by block: dd if=/dev/sdb bs=16M of=/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive where /dev/sdb is your USB drive (check which one by using lsblk) and /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive is a path and filename you choose on a disk/partition with lots of space. Then, if a recovery tool that writes to the disk makes more damage than repairing, you can go back (exchange if and of fields)."

usb

share|improve this question

edited 16 hours ago

Peter Mortensen

95666 silver badges99 bronze badges

asked yesterday

hddfsck777hddfsck777

2955 bronze badges

New contributor

hddfsck777 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  If you're dd-ing the drive, why do you mount it at all? sdb1 is a partition, sdb is the whole disk.
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Kusalananda Simply, since the image is coming from a flash drive, I thought it had to be mounted like all usb's usually are. Thx.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Kusalananda Since the usb 'was' mounted for the original dd, do you think that I made the usb less likely to be able to retrieve the deleted, stolen files from it? Thx.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Ned64 addressed this in a comment (to a degree). Please don't ask follow-up questions in comments. This is not a discussion forum. Your question should be answerable with finality. Additional questions should be new questions.
  
  – Kusalananda♦
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Kusalananda ok, good to know.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

The message below comes from another post and I tried it the way that they stated to. First, I mounted the USB drive:

sudo mount -o ro,noexec /dev/sdb1 /media

I mounted it as read-only to prevent any damage or changes to the USB while copying it, especially if I mixed up if and of. In the message below, I'm not sure if they wanted to me to use sdb or sdb# for if.

Before trying any recovery I would save the current state by backing up the whole device block by block: dd if=/dev/sdb bs=16M of=/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive where /dev/sdb is your USB drive (check which one by using lsblk) and /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive is a path and filename you choose on a disk/partition with lots of space. Then, if a recovery tool that writes to the disk makes more damage than repairing, you can go back (exchange if and of fields)."

usb

share|improve this question

edited 16 hours ago

Peter Mortensen

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asked yesterday

hddfsck777hddfsck777

2955 bronze badges

New contributor

hddfsck777 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

sudo mount -o ro,noexec /dev/sdb1 /media

share|improve this question

edited 16 hours ago

Peter Mortensen

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asked yesterday

hddfsck777hddfsck777

2955 bronze badges

New contributor

hddfsck777 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 16 hours ago

Peter Mortensen

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asked yesterday

hddfsck777hddfsck777

2955 bronze badges

New contributor

hddfsck777 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

edited 16 hours ago

Peter Mortensen

95666 silver badges99 bronze badges

edited 16 hours ago

Peter Mortensen

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asked yesterday

hddfsck777hddfsck777

2955 bronze badges

New contributor

hddfsck777 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked yesterday

hddfsck777hddfsck777

2955 bronze badges

2 Answers
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4

The best way to back up a whole drive is via dd because you can control buffer size for block devices better than with cat. While the USB drive is not mounted, please run, as root:

  dd if=/dev/sdb bs=16M of=/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

where /dev/sdb is your USB drive (check which one by using lsblk) and /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive is a path and filename you choose on a disk/partition with lots of space.

You can restore that backup by exchanging if and of arguments to dd.

Please note: dd can easily overwrite all your data beyond repair (with reasonable effort) if you get the parameters wrong!

This was first mentioned in my comment to your other question
Best linux recovery tool for deleted files from USB flash drive?

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Ned64Ned64

3,23411 gold badge1616 silver badges4242 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Yes, as my question directly comes from your reply, thanks. I am very comfortable with dd now, the 'if' starts with where the files are now (ie: usb), and the 'of' is the destination for the image. And I check my 'dd' command 100 times to be sure before hitting enter! Originally, I don't think we spoke about mounting or not mounting, if I recall correctly. I can redo it. Thanks.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Any way to check the authenticity of the (new) image created, to make sure it is not corrupted? Thx.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @hddfsck777 The data is usually copied without error. If you are unsure you could copy the data again, to a second file, and run sha256sum on both, then compare the hashes (or run diff -qs /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive2). The files may differ if you have mounted the disk in between.
  
  – Ned64
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Probably faster with cat /dev/sdb >/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive though. And easier to remember than dd.
  
  – roaima
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @roaima I do not think that cat would be faster as it would probably buffer with 512 Bytes as opposed to 16MiB specified by dd here. Many drives read and write faster with medium buffer sizes.
  
  – Ned64
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 9 more comments

4

/dev/sdb is the entire USB disk, and /dev/sdb1 is a partition on the disk. If you want to image the entire disk, you want /dev/sdb.

That said, mounting as read-only isn't going to help you any in this case. You're bypassing the filesystem (which is where the read-only effect is) and working directly with the block device. So if you mix up i and o, you'll trash the disk anyway.

There isn't much benefit to dd here, you might just as well use cat:

sudo cat /dev/sdb > /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

(Or pv for a nice progress display.)

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

murumuru

43.7k55 gold badges110110 silver badges181181 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  what happens if cat dies with an i/o error? you keep both pieces? try again to read the damaged blicks
  
  – pizdelect
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Both cat and dd will fail from an Input / Output error. ddrescure was made for the purpose of continuing on after errors if that's what's happening.
  
  – Alex Cannon
  19 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

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4

The best way to back up a whole drive is via dd because you can control buffer size for block devices better than with cat. While the USB drive is not mounted, please run, as root:

  dd if=/dev/sdb bs=16M of=/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

where /dev/sdb is your USB drive (check which one by using lsblk) and /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive is a path and filename you choose on a disk/partition with lots of space.

You can restore that backup by exchanging if and of arguments to dd.

Please note: dd can easily overwrite all your data beyond repair (with reasonable effort) if you get the parameters wrong!

This was first mentioned in my comment to your other question
Best linux recovery tool for deleted files from USB flash drive?

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Ned64Ned64

3,23411 gold badge1616 silver badges4242 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Yes, as my question directly comes from your reply, thanks. I am very comfortable with dd now, the 'if' starts with where the files are now (ie: usb), and the 'of' is the destination for the image. And I check my 'dd' command 100 times to be sure before hitting enter! Originally, I don't think we spoke about mounting or not mounting, if I recall correctly. I can redo it. Thanks.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Any way to check the authenticity of the (new) image created, to make sure it is not corrupted? Thx.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @hddfsck777 The data is usually copied without error. If you are unsure you could copy the data again, to a second file, and run sha256sum on both, then compare the hashes (or run diff -qs /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive2). The files may differ if you have mounted the disk in between.
  
  – Ned64
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Probably faster with cat /dev/sdb >/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive though. And easier to remember than dd.
  
  – roaima
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @roaima I do not think that cat would be faster as it would probably buffer with 512 Bytes as opposed to 16MiB specified by dd here. Many drives read and write faster with medium buffer sizes.
  
  – Ned64
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 9 more comments

4

The best way to back up a whole drive is via dd because you can control buffer size for block devices better than with cat. While the USB drive is not mounted, please run, as root:

  dd if=/dev/sdb bs=16M of=/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

where /dev/sdb is your USB drive (check which one by using lsblk) and /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive is a path and filename you choose on a disk/partition with lots of space.

You can restore that backup by exchanging if and of arguments to dd.

Please note: dd can easily overwrite all your data beyond repair (with reasonable effort) if you get the parameters wrong!

This was first mentioned in my comment to your other question
Best linux recovery tool for deleted files from USB flash drive?

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Ned64Ned64

3,23411 gold badge1616 silver badges4242 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Yes, as my question directly comes from your reply, thanks. I am very comfortable with dd now, the 'if' starts with where the files are now (ie: usb), and the 'of' is the destination for the image. And I check my 'dd' command 100 times to be sure before hitting enter! Originally, I don't think we spoke about mounting or not mounting, if I recall correctly. I can redo it. Thanks.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Any way to check the authenticity of the (new) image created, to make sure it is not corrupted? Thx.
  
  – hddfsck777
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @hddfsck777 The data is usually copied without error. If you are unsure you could copy the data again, to a second file, and run sha256sum on both, then compare the hashes (or run diff -qs /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive2). The files may differ if you have mounted the disk in between.
  
  – Ned64
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Probably faster with cat /dev/sdb >/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive though. And easier to remember than dd.
  
  – roaima
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @roaima I do not think that cat would be faster as it would probably buffer with 512 Bytes as opposed to 16MiB specified by dd here. Many drives read and write faster with medium buffer sizes.
  
  – Ned64
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 9 more comments

The best way to back up a whole drive is via dd because you can control buffer size for block devices better than with cat. While the USB drive is not mounted, please run, as root:

  dd if=/dev/sdb bs=16M of=/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

where /dev/sdb is your USB drive (check which one by using lsblk) and /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive is a path and filename you choose on a disk/partition with lots of space.

You can restore that backup by exchanging if and of arguments to dd.

Please note: dd can easily overwrite all your data beyond repair (with reasonable effort) if you get the parameters wrong!

This was first mentioned in my comment to your other question
Best linux recovery tool for deleted files from USB flash drive?

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Ned64Ned64

3,23411 gold badge1616 silver badges4242 bronze badges

  dd if=/dev/sdb bs=16M of=/somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Ned64Ned64

3,23411 gold badge1616 silver badges4242 bronze badges

answered yesterday

Ned64Ned64

3,23411 gold badge1616 silver badges4242 bronze badges

answered yesterday

Ned64Ned64

3,23411 gold badge1616 silver badges4242 bronze badges

4

/dev/sdb is the entire USB disk, and /dev/sdb1 is a partition on the disk. If you want to image the entire disk, you want /dev/sdb.

That said, mounting as read-only isn't going to help you any in this case. You're bypassing the filesystem (which is where the read-only effect is) and working directly with the block device. So if you mix up i and o, you'll trash the disk anyway.

There isn't much benefit to dd here, you might just as well use cat:

sudo cat /dev/sdb > /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

(Or pv for a nice progress display.)

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

murumuru

43.7k55 gold badges110110 silver badges181181 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  what happens if cat dies with an i/o error? you keep both pieces? try again to read the damaged blicks
  
  – pizdelect
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Both cat and dd will fail from an Input / Output error. ddrescure was made for the purpose of continuing on after errors if that's what's happening.
  
  – Alex Cannon
  19 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

4

/dev/sdb is the entire USB disk, and /dev/sdb1 is a partition on the disk. If you want to image the entire disk, you want /dev/sdb.

That said, mounting as read-only isn't going to help you any in this case. You're bypassing the filesystem (which is where the read-only effect is) and working directly with the block device. So if you mix up i and o, you'll trash the disk anyway.

There isn't much benefit to dd here, you might just as well use cat:

sudo cat /dev/sdb > /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

(Or pv for a nice progress display.)

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

murumuru

43.7k55 gold badges110110 silver badges181181 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  what happens if cat dies with an i/o error? you keep both pieces? try again to read the damaged blicks
  
  – pizdelect
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Both cat and dd will fail from an Input / Output error. ddrescure was made for the purpose of continuing on after errors if that's what's happening.
  
  – Alex Cannon
  19 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

/dev/sdb is the entire USB disk, and /dev/sdb1 is a partition on the disk. If you want to image the entire disk, you want /dev/sdb.

That said, mounting as read-only isn't going to help you any in this case. You're bypassing the filesystem (which is where the read-only effect is) and working directly with the block device. So if you mix up i and o, you'll trash the disk anyway.

There isn't much benefit to dd here, you might just as well use cat:

sudo cat /dev/sdb > /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

(Or pv for a nice progress display.)

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

murumuru

43.7k55 gold badges110110 silver badges181181 bronze badges

sudo cat /dev/sdb > /somelargedisk/rawusbdrive

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

murumuru

43.7k55 gold badges110110 silver badges181181 bronze badges

answered yesterday

murumuru

43.7k55 gold badges110110 silver badges181181 bronze badges

answered yesterday

murumuru

43.7k55 gold badges110110 silver badges181181 bronze badges