Make a working copy of a Signalling Server hard disk This option can often recover a dead hard drive, or an unreadable file, but it does not repair the error. If the operation stops with an I/O error, try to salvage all readable data with conv=noerror,sync. conv=noerror,sync tells dd to be fault-tolerant and ignore read errors (optional).bs=n sets both input and output block size (optional, default=512 byte blocks).of= specifies output path (file, or device).if= specifies input path (file, or device).There's also a freeware version of dd for Windows available, with instructions. Lifehacker’s App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.How to clone a hard disk or USB stick in the terminal.ĭd (disk duplication) is a Mac OS X command-line utility which can read raw data off a disk, even if the Mac doesn't understand the filesystem. Got any other disk cloning apps you love? Share ’em in the comments! So is the dd command, which is a better choice if you’re comfortable messing around in the OS X command line.

While we’d highly recommend using CCC instead, seeing as it’s also free, if you’re in a pinch and can’t download another app this is an option that will always be available. While it copies file-by-file, rather than block-by-block, it can generally get the job done so long as you’re not trying to clone the disk you booted from. If you need a backup and cloning app that can do practically everything, ChronoSync should do the trick.ĭisk Utility, which is built in to Mac OS X (just see your Hard Drive -> Applications -> Utilities folder), is technically capable of cloning a drive. While it’s certainly capable of cloning and syncing drives, it’s definitely a full-on backup utility that can handle things like complex file comparisons, data filters, and pretty much anything you could need.

We feel this alone makes CCC a clearly better choice, but some prefer Super Duper and you may, too.ĬhronoSync will run you $US40 and give you a very comprehensive feature set. It is a capable drive cloner free of charge, but to get features like scheduling, scripting, smart updates, and more, you’ll need to pay the fee. Super Duper is probably the most obvious alternative to CCC, but it’ll cost your $US28 if you want to unlock all its features.

Best way to clone a mac drive