FAQ

1. I didn't understand a term you used, could you clarify ____?

Here are a few of the terms that i've used that could clarify what I'm talking about.

GUI(Graphical User Interface) -This is what Windows and OS X are. They are a graphical representation of the information stored on a computer, and applications that you use. Most users are familiar with GUI's and don't realize that everything down to a click is multiple commands to the computer to create another image.

Live CD- This is a CD that has a bootable program on it. Clonezilla and GParted are programs that are bootable from CD, and as such are called Live CD's.

Hard Drive- This is the area in a computer that stores all of the information on your computer. If something is running, it is taken from the hard drive, and placed in the RAM, which is sorta like our Short Term Memory vs our long term memory which would be a representation of a hard drive.

FAT32- This is a filing system that windows uses to allow the computer to understand where files begin on a hard drive and where files end. NTSF is almost always a superior filing system, but wasn't introduced till after FAT32.

Gb(Gigabyte)- A gigabyte is a unit of measurement of data which is approximately 1000 Megabytes, which is approximately 1,000,000 KiloBytes, which is approximately 1,000,000,000 bytes. A byte is 8 zeroes and ones that are put together to form a piece of data. This allows for 256 different representations from one byte. So a Gigabyte is approximately 8,000,000,000 zeroes and ones. A lot of information right? Not today considering some programs are 3-5 Gb in size, and a HD movie is 4Gb, and sometimes larger.

Linux - Linux the term used for any program that uses the linux kernal. A kernal is the base that any program is written on, so that the computer can understand the code.

Source Code- The code before the program was compiled and linked into a program.

Compiled- This is the process of the computer changing all the programming language into computer code. This is the step before the linker puts the correct code into the program so that the computer knows what to do with the code so it can execute the program.

GNU- This is in reference to the GNU Public License which Copy-Lefts the program, and makes it free to everyone, and open source so it can continue to be developed.

Copy-Lefting - This is the opposite of Copy Righting, where a program is free for all to use, and continue to develop so long as they keep their program free and open source.

2. Ok, so how do i use Clonezilla?
A Step by step guide would be redundant because clonezilla has instructions for every step of the way. If you need specific help with a problem you have encountered, you can talk with the community that built it here.

And just to be nice, here is a video if you need a hand to walk you though it.



3. I have further Questions...
You can contact me by dropping an email at Warhero89@gmail.com. I will most likely leave a post about it so the same question isn't asked twice.

Clonezilla Overview

By the end of this article, i will answer 3 questions. What is Clonezilla? Why would I use it? Is this product for me?

Clonezilla is a Linux based Cloning Software that runs of a live cd. Because it is a linux product, it falls under the GNU which makes it free for us. Inserting the cd before starting up the computer, then having the computer boot off the cd will start clonezilla. Clonezilla has multiple modes it can run in. Imaging, Cloning, or Burning the image. Can't say that is exactly what they call them, but those are pretty much the modes Clonezilla will ask you if you would like to run it in. Imaging mode is where you would copy the hard drive of your choice exactly the way it is, compress that file, and store the image file on another mediam(Cd, Dvd, External Hard drive).

Cloning is where you take a hard drive, and directly connect your computer to another hard drive that you would like to make into an exact copy of the one you have. This can allow you to quickly copy your hard drive, and swap it out with a new one without having to reload anything, and get right back to what you are doing.

Burning is the other side of imaging. You want to burn when you have a hard drive image that you want to put on a hard drive. I've used this several times to copy my hard drive that i had in my computer to an image on an external hard drive. Then i took the hard drive out of my computer(After turning it off of coarse...) and swapped in my new larger hard drive.

I then went back into clonezilla, and had it burn the image onto my new hard drive, which gave me back all of my old files, drivers, programs, and even settings. But if you are to put a larger hard drive in, you will probably also want to use Gparted, which is another free linux utility that allows you to expand the partitians on your hard drive so you can take advantage of that new space you have.

Clonezilla is very good about knowing the limitations of file formats and avoids running into problems by defaulting to break the image file up into 2 Gb files. FAT32 has a file size limitation of 4Gb's, which some people have their external hard drives set to.

Clonezilla is a very easy program to use, if you read the instructions as you are prompted. If you are like me, and try things out with occasional reading here and there, you are going to have a hard time with Clonezilla, and this product isn't for you. If you don't know what the C:/ is, then this product isn't for you. And if you don't have the patience to wait close to 4 hours for a 160 Gb hard drive, then this product isn't for you.

But if you didn't fall into those categories, and want the piece of mind that you can get your computer back to normal in hours even if the hard drive was to explode, get run over by a truck, and every horrible thing you can think of happened to your hard drive at once, then you should try Clonezilla.