On Sat, 29 Aug 2015 17:33:37 -0700, in message CAArUT0h_tuKhpq653m=3loyjdomwwcpqjoctgyqmexehgrf...@mail.gmail.com, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
> With regard to the ancient system, how might I clone the HD so that
> in case the HD fails we will still have a functional system? We do
> not have the installation disks for the SW that is part of the
> system (win 3.1, IDL 3.6.1, and custom C code).
First off, you're going to have fun (for certain values of "fun")
finding a replacement drive. It'll have to be an IDE drive,
probably about 1 Gig maximum capacity. At least, that's what my
old Windows 3.1 Compaq Presario had. Once you find a drive,
you'll need to test it thoroughly, preferably on your Linux box,
using the read/write bad blocks scan. Once that's done, use the
dd command to do a bit-for-bit copy from the original drive to the
new one. It'll look something like this:
dd if=/dev/old_drive of=/dev/new_drive bs=<size_of_old_drive_in_bytes>
Read the dd(1) man page CAREFULLY. Double and triple check your
command line -- you don't want to swap the if= and of= entries!
There are a couple of reasons for using dd here. One: there may
be hidden partitions. dd will copy those, where most backup
software wouldn't find them. Two: some programmer may have been
ever-so-clever and written software that would go directly to a
partition, without going through the partition table.
<sarcasm>
After all, nobody would ever change the disk partitioning, now
would they?
</sarcasm>
Anyway, that's about all the advice I can give you off the top of
my head. I hope this helps.
--Dale
--
"Always double-check your math if there are explosives involved."
-- Digger
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