Q. How do I make an exact duplicate of a partition using Linux? I have brought a new hard disk and I would like make an exact duplicate of a NTFS filesystem located at /dev/hda1 to /dev/hdb1.
A. You can copy a file, converting and formatting using a dd command. Use same tool to make an exact copy of NTFS filesystem partition under Linux.
First make sure you have created /dev/hdb1 using Linux fdisk program. /dev/hdb1 partitions must be the exact same size of /dev/hda1 so that you create a direct raw copy of source.
Use fdisk -l command to view current /dev/hda1 partition size (cylinders).
# fdisk -l
Now use dd command as follows:
# dd if=/dev/hda1 of=/dev/hdb1
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Remember that the first sector in an NTFS partition has a copy of the “special hidden sectors” – so if you’re thinking os “starting” your copied partition on a different cylinder to the original, you’ll need to modify this too.