Comparison of disk cloning software

This is a comparison of disk cloning software. See also: List of disk cloning software

Table

Name	Interface	Usage				Based on	Raw copying[1]	Smart copying[1]				Architecture		License
		Provides Live USB (approx. size)	Provides Live CD (approx. size)	Boots from floppies (count)	Live copying[2]			Ext2/Ext3	FAT32	NTFS	HFS+	Without server	Client/server
Clonezilla Live	text-mode	Yes (108.2 MB)	Yes (109.1 MB)	No	No	partimage, ntfsclone, dd, partclone[5]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (Clonezilla server edition)	GPL
g4u	command-line	?	Yes (3 MB)	Yes (2 floppies)	No	NetBSD	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	requires FTP server	Yes	BSD
PING (Partimage Is Not Ghost)	text-mode	?	Yes (31 MB)	No	No	partimage?, zsplit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial[3]	?	Yes	Yes	GPL
G4L	text-mode	?	Yes (80 MB)	No	?	g4u[4][5], partimage, ntfsclone	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	GPL
partimage	text-mode	?	Partial [6]	No	?		No	Yes	Yes	Partial [3]	?	Yes	Yes	GPL
ntfsclone	command-line	?	Partial [7]	No	?		No	No	No	Yes	?	Yes	No	GPL
SelfImage	GUI	No	No	No	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	? [8]	Yes	?	Yes	No	GPL
OSFClone	command-line	Yes (26 MB)	Yes (27 MB)	No	No	dc3dd	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	GPL
Mondo Rescue	text-mode	?	No	No	Yes	partimage?	Yes?	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	GPL
ODIN[9]	GUI	?	Yes WinPE	No	Yes		Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	GPL
Linbox Rescue Server (GPL edition)	GUI	?	Yes (187 MB)	No	?	?	No[10]	Yes	No[10]	No[10]	?	No	Yes	GPL
FOG	GUI	?	No	No	?	partimage	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	GPL
zsplit/unzsplit	command-line	?	Partial [11]	No	?		Yes	No	No	No	?	Yes	No	GPL
DriveImage XML	GUI	?	Yes, using WinPE	?	Yes		Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Can access networked drives	Free for private use
Partition Saving	text-mode	?	Yes (4 MB)	Yes (1 floppies)	?		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Freeware
Acronis True Image	GUI	Yes (64 MB)	Yes	No	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Proprietary
Ghost 11.5	GUI and Commandline	?	Yes WinPE or Linux	Yes (3 floppies)	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Proprietary
R-Drive Image	GUI and command-line	Yes	Yes	Yes (2 floppies)	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Proprietary
Paragon Backup & Recovery	GUI	Yes	Yes	?	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Has some network functionality	Proprietary with a free version for home use
StorCube PC/Server Backup & Recovery	GUI and command-line	No	Yes	No	Yes		No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Has some network functionality	Proprietary with a free version for Migration(StorCube Virtual Converter)
Macrium Reflect	GUI	?	Yes (6 MB)	?	No		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Proprietary (with a slimmed down free version for personal use)
Kleo Bare Metal Backup for Servers	GUI	Yes (570 MB)	Yes (570 MB)	No	No	partimage	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Freeware
HDClone 3.9	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		No	Template:Yes 2/3/4	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	Freeware with advanced paid versions also
SystemImager	text-mode	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	No	Yes	GPL v2
SmartDeploy	GUI	No	Yes	No	Yes		No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Proprietary

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Raw copying means a possibility to perform sector-by-sector copying of a whole partition, while smart copying means here a possibility to distinguish which portions of the partition really contain data and to copy these only.
2. ^ Live copying means that a drive or volume can be copied/imaged while it is in use (commonly using Shadow Copy techniques), avoiding the need for booting into a separate operating system or Live CD.
3. ^ ^{a b} At the current time support of NTFS in partimage is experimental [1].
4. ^ g4u/g4l Copyright Infringement Analyzis, by g4u author
5. ^ g4l documentation, PDF, see page 102 "Disclaim file that discusses issues between early version of G4L and G4U."
6. ^ There is no Live CD dedicated specially to partimage. However partimage is present on several rescue CD's together with other software.
7. ^ There is no Live CD dedicated specially to ntfsclone. However ntfsclone is present on several rescue CD's together with other software.
8. ^ To spite the manual seems to only do raw.
9. ^ ODIN is in early beta stage and not recommended for primary use. Currently only supports copying a partition to an identically sized partition.
10. ^ ^{a b c} LRS has proprietary and GPL editions; LRS GPL edition cannot handle FAT and NTFS [2][3]
11. ^ zsplit/unzsplit are available on DeviceImage-Live CD, however DeviceImage-Live CD is not available for free download [4].

Creating a Live USB

Any application that can be booted from a CD or floppy can also be booted from a USB drive if the system's bios supports booting from USB. To create a bootable USB drive you will need to install a boot-loader such as grub4dos (freeware) which is related to GNU Grub.

Other disk cloning applications

• Altiris - Deployment Solutions
• Apple Software Restore and Disk Utility (included with Mac OS X)
• dd (Unix)
• Rollback Rx
• Scriptlogic - Desktop Authority Image Center
• Trinity Rescue Kit

Recovery Live CDs & Live USBs that include disk-cloning utilities

• PartedMagic Includes PartImage and G4L (G4L includes ntfsclone).
• SystemRescueCD. Includes PartImage and ntfsclone and fsarchiver.
• Trinity Rescue Kit. Includes PartImage and ntfsclone.
• Recovery Is Possible. Includes PartImage and ntfsclone.
• Ultimate Boot-CD includes several cloning programs.
• Clonezilla Live
• G4L - Disk Imaging Includes ntfsclone and fsarchiver and testdisk