Best Software for Byte-to-Byte Backup?

[Scott Baret]

I'm looking to make a byte-to-byte image of a hard drive to recover some data. Long story short, the disk refuses to mount by any means, including through Terminal. It's a 500MB hard drive (actual hard drive, not SSD). It's in a known good external enclosure and I'm attempting to recover data from it for a friend.

I found a program called Disk Drill, but I don't trust it. It just looks and feels shady, plus it's estimating that it will take over 3000 hours to make the byte-to-byte image.

What can I use that isn't Disk Drill and that will allow me to make an image in maybe 3 hours?

 

[Slydude]

I have used Disk Drill at least three times inn the last few months. I didn't do a byte-by-byte recovery but used one of the other methods. One of the drives took several days to recover because it would take forever to mount then sometimes disappear mid recovery.

That drive must be in really bad shape to have the estimate take that long. If it's a large drive that kind of recovery could take a looong time,

Did you consider any of the other methods in Disk Drill?

 

[Scott Baret]

I didn't because it refused to really mount the disk...it acted like the only option was a byte-to-byte.

What other options should I consider?

 

[Slydude]

In some cases I have been able to use Quick Scan, but I think for the really damaged drive I think I used the All Recovery Methods option.

 

[ferrarr]

Most forum members trust Carbon Copy Cloner, ChronoSync, or SuperDuper. They all offer free trial periods.

Download Carbon Copy Cloner | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

https://www.econtechnologies.com/chronosync/overview.html

SuperDuper!

 

[Scott Baret]

Updates....I tried the quick scan, but it wasn't so quick, stating it would take 2000+ hours to complete when I checked on it after leaving it overnight.

I just do NOT trust Disk Drill for many reasons. One is the time estimates. Yes, this drive is likely very damaged, but that many hours?? Also, when you search the web, the people who make Disk Drill seem to have rigged the search engines so that their own pages come up over everything else.

I'll look at the other three programs.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

If the drive won't mount, then the other apps will have a hard time to do their job.

You want to access the drive at the basic/raw drive level and copy stuff. If the drive is physically OK, then copying the data to another drive will yield the same issues. If physical drive is not OK, then you might have to employ professional data recovery folks to get the data off it.

 

[Slydude]

One thing I neglected to mention earlier is that the time estimates that Disk Drill uses are sometimes off and the recovery may not take as long as the estimates suggest. I've found that other tasks such as copying files in the Finder have time estimates that aren't accurate either.

In your case, Disk Drill's estimates may not be accurate but it's likely going to take quite a while. In my case I don't know how accurate thee estimates were because I sometimes left the program to do it's thing while I was at work. Sometimes when I came home the recovery had stopped because the drive had unmounted during the day.

I also got lucky and found a second partial backup do I didn't have to try and recover everything.

 

[Scott Baret]

There was something about a header being bad when I tried to repair the disk using Terminal commands.

Also, any Terminal alternatives to these programs are welcome...I'm 100% comfortable using it.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I'm looking to make a byte-to-byte image of a hard drive to recover some data. Long story short, the disk refuses to mount by any means, including through Terminal. It's a 500MB hard drive (actual hard drive, not SSD). It's in a known good external enclosure and I'm attempting to recover data from it for a friend.

I found a program called Disk Drill, but I don't trust it. It just looks and feels shady, plus it's estimating that it will take over 3000 hours to make the byte-to-byte image.

What can I use that isn't Disk Drill and that will allow me to make an image in maybe 3 hours?

I haven't used Disk Drill for backups (quite frankly, I didn't even know it did that, but I already use CCC), but I can vouch for it being pretty darned good at recovery of deleted files. I mean scarily good. I did a test run of it for a post here some time back, and it was able to find recoverable files on a thumb drive that had been reformatted at least twice. There's nothing shady about them, and trust me... I'm a natural skeptic who feels pretty good about sniffing out shady. I even have a license for it, and again... I don't pay for nothing unless I am quite certain of the product.

 

[krs]

Anyone ever use Boysoft Mac Data Recovery?

External Hard Drive Not Mounting on Mac, How to Fix It?

Tutorial to fix external hard drive not mounting on Mac and recover data from unmounted external hard drive.

iboysoft.com

 

[henry18]

Updates....I tried the quick scan, but it wasn't so quick, stating it would take 2000+ hours to complete when I checked on it after leaving it overnight.

I just do NOT trust Disk Drill for many reasons. One is the time estimates. Yes, this drive is likely very damaged, but that many hours?? Also, when you search the web, the people who make Disk Drill seem to have rigged the search engines so that their own pages come up over everything else.

I'll look at the other three programs.

Those estimates are calculations based on the software trying to read the directory structure, master boot records etc.
If a disk is damaged, the software has to read each sector dozens of times and try to calculate what data is missing, if possible. This also uses the checksums.
Once the recovery gets to an area of less damage, it can read files quickly.
So yes, let it run for a week unless you have a better option.
Or try Spinrite instead.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Those estimates are calculations based on the software trying to read the directory structure, master boot records etc.
If a disk is damaged, the software has to read each sector dozens of times and try to calculate what data is missing, if possible. This also uses the checksums.
Once the recovery gets to an area of less damage, it can read files quickly.
So yes, let it run for a week unless you have a better option.
Or try Spinrite instead.

These are some good points. A real byte-to-byte backup would and SHOULD take quite a bit of time, especially of a damaged disk.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Also, any Terminal alternatives to these programs are welcome...I'm 100% comfortable using it.

TestDisk (free)
https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

PhotoRec (free)
https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

Both are very heavy duty recovery tools that run from the command line.

 

[AsherDK]

Disk Drill is one of the best utilities for Mac and that’s from someone who also uses Carbon Copy Clone and Super Duper!

Disk Drill is now my favorite and most reliable dial recovery app for the Mac. It advised me to copy my damaged drive to a fresh drive as it feared that multiple searching and restarting attempts in locating data could overwhelm an already corrupted drive.

Asher

 

[pm-r]

Disk Drill is one of the best utilities for Mac and that’s from someone who also uses Carbon Copy Clone and Super Duper!

Welcome to mac-forums.com but it seems a bit strange you would recommend the program in a thread requesting help for "Best Software for Byte-to-Byte Backup?" as I didn't realize or even know Disk Drill was capable of performing such a thing.




- Patrick
=======

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Welcome to mac-forums.com but it seems a bit strange you would recommend the program in a thread requesting help for "Best Software for Byte-to-Byte Backup?" as I didn't realize or even know Disk Drill was capable of performing such a thing.

Much more suspicious is when someone who is brand new to this forum posts a testimonial for a product as their first (and possibly only?) post. Quite frankly, it sounds like they are a shill for that product.

This is why some forums put brand new members on full moderation until they've made two or three posts.

 

[pm-r]

Quite frankly, it sounds like they are a shill for that product.

I agree with you completely.

You are much more blunt with your post here, but I must admit I was thinking and suspecting the same thing.

Regardless, the Disk Drill software does have some relatively decent reviews for those who need or use it:

Download Disk Drill for Mac | MacUpdate

Download the latest version of Disk Drill for Mac for free. Read 196 user reviews and compare with similar apps on MacUpdate.

www.macupdate.com

- Patrick
=======