ARAX Disk Doctor - Data Recovery. Create Disk Image Wizard

Data Recovery - Create Disk Image Wizard

This wizard guides you through simple steps to create a Disk Image of a data storage device or a logical drive.

A Disk Image is a single file or a series of files that stores all the data from your logical drive or physical device as a mirror image. Having a Disk Image can be useful when you want to back up the contents of the whole drive, and restore it or work with it later.

When the Create Disk Image Wizard starts for the first time, the first screen describes the process. Clear the Show this dialog next time? check box to avoid seeing this screen the next time you create a Disk Image.

To start the Create Disk Image Wizard, do one of the following:

• From the Wizards menu, select the Create Disk Image item
• Select Disk Image in the Command Bar and select Create Disk Image item

To run the wizard, follow the steps below:

1. Disk Image Type - Choose whether you want to back up the entire hard disk drive, or a logical drive or a partition. The choice you make here determines what happens in step #2, below.
   • Disk Image for Data Storage Device - The disk surface for the whole device is saved as a Disk Image.
   • Disk Image for Logical Drive - Select part of a data storage device, for example, a Volume identified by a drive letter and a colon. 
2. Drive Selection - Choose a device or a drive from the table presented. To proceed, at least one of the drives should be selected. Click Next to continue.
   • If you chose Data Storage Device in step #1 - A list of data storage devices appears.
   • If you chose Logical Drive in step #1 - A list of logical drives appears.
3. Disk Image Parameters - Specify options for the Disk Image.
   • Creating image for: - The name of the selected drive or the device appears here.
   • Destination Path - The full path for the single Disk Image file. If you decide to store the Disk Image file in chunks, this path will be used to store all files. You have the option to use the default path, enter a new path or click Browse and navigate to the folder that will store the Disk Image.
   • Image Name - Enter a descriptive label to help you to recognize this Disk Image after it has been created.
   • Disk Image Description - Enter a more detailed description of the Disk Image you are about to create.
   • Image Type - Choose one of the two types:
     • Raw Image - Contains an image of the whole drive's surface, including used and unused clusters. This image can be used for deleted data recovery and can also be helpful if you require further analysis by third party utilities that use non-compressed raw Disk Images only.
     • Used Clusters Only - Contains only those clusters which are actually occupied with data. This Disk Image requires less space and takes a shorter time to create, but the file may not be used to recover deleted data. You may use this image to try to recover existing files and folders that are damaged.
   • Compression Level - Choose one of the three types:
     • None - No compression is applied, sectors are stored in raw format.
     • Good [Fast] - Sectors are compressed before storing to the file using a fast compression algorithm.
     • Best [Slow] - Sectors are compressed before storing to the file using a slow but more effective compression algorithm.
   • Store image as chunks having size: Select this check box to save the Disk Image as a series of files with a specified size. Choose the file size from the drop-down list. This option may be useful if you want to write the Disk Image to CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs. By default this check box is cleared and the Disk Image is stored in one large file.
4. Confirm Disk Image Parameters - Verify and confirm Disk Image parameters and click Create! to start the Disk Image creation process. While the process is in progress, you can cancel Disk Image creation at anytime by clicking Stop! at the bottom of the screen
5. Click Finish to close the Wizard when Disk Image creation is complete.

You can work with a Disk Image the same way as you work with a regular storage device or logical drive. For example, you can:

• Scan it as a device for deleted or damaged partitions
• Scan logical drives and search for files
• Recover or copy files and folders to another safe location
• And more...

See Also

Open Disk Image | Verify Disk Image

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ARAX TECHNOLOGIES INC. 2011