Backing up default windows installation with dd from linux running on another partition - is this fe

Posted by Marek on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Marek
Published on 2010-05-22T09:59:06Z Indexed on 2010/05/22 10:02 UTC
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Filed under:

Windows

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linux

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backup

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multi-boot

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mirror

I am preparing to reinstall my system. I am thinking about creating a multi boot with a linux distro+Windows 7 to choose from when starting up.

I would love to be able to skip all the hassle of reinstalling Windows and all programs when it starts becoming too slow in the future, thus I would like to mirror my fresh Windows system partition with some programs preinstalled.

I am thinking about installing Ubuntu, making a partition for windows, installing windows with the basic environment (Visual Studio, Office, etc.) then booting into Linux and making an image of the windows partition with dd.

I am not familiar with linux at all so I am a little afraid something may go wrong along the way. Is it possible to do it this way?

Will I be able to partition my existing disk for multi boot easily after I install Ubuntu?
Will I be able to recover the Windows partition easily using dd when I will need to re-create a fresh windows partition in the future?

What other (better) approach can you recommend to achieve the goal of easy disk mirroring (for free)?

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