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I'm preparing to do archival imaging of a bunch of IDE/ATA HDDs (disk capacities range from 1 GB to 300 GB). I'll be using a Windows 8 machine to create the images, and afterward there must be some reasonably easy way to browse and retrieve individual files within the images, also under Windows 8. Mountable images would be ideal. Given these constraints, what imaging solution would give me the most directly faithful low-level representation of the disk contents? I want to capture absolutely every capturable bit of information on the disk, including the MBR and Partition Table. If possible, I'd even want to capture the servo tracks, though I'd be surprised if any software were capable of that. I certainly want to preserve all fragmentation of data, precise ordering of data by track and sector, etc.

I've done plenty of my own research and have discovered a plethora of imaging solutions, but it is proving difficult to find the balance I need between low-level accuracy and usability, and so far I haven't been able to find a tool that images the disk at a low level and ALSO allows for mounting of the image file or some other type of reasonably easy access to its contents.

Thanks very much in advance for all efforts to help me find a workable solution.

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  • I think the big question you need to ask yourself is if you want fidility (everything is verifiably the same) or if you want to capture as much usable data as possible. I have an obvious bias, but my answer here might be a good starting point.
    – Journeyman Geek ♦
    Nov 30, 2013 at 6:05
  • Thanks, Journeyman Geek. Your excellent answer to that question gives me food for thought. I certainly do want to capture as much usable data as possible. Fidelity is paramount for me, but if there is imaging software capable of repairing or restoring bad sectors during the imaging process, that would be very much worth considering as well. My plan is to compile a list of imaging solutions that fit the parameters I laid out in the question, and then whittle down the list by considering issues like the one you raised.
    – ecksemmess
    Nov 30, 2013 at 6:17
  • I suggest using a RAID 5 or preferable 6 storage as your destination otherwise bad sectors will cause data loss over time. Unfortunately, I have discovered the best tools are independent, for example spinrite from grc.com is the best at recovering bad sectors. If you want everything you will need another package to capture the hdd SMART and other firmware information.
    – cybernard
    Nov 30, 2013 at 7:30
  • All images will be archived to multiple on-site and off-site RAID arrays, of course. Thanks for the heads up on Spinrite. I may well need it, since I'm sure there will be bad sectors on some of these drives. Could you elaborate a bit on what kind of firmware information there might be to capture, other than the SMART data? I understand it will obviously vary from drive to drive, but I'd like to have some idea as a starting point. Thanks so much!
    – ecksemmess
    Nov 30, 2013 at 7:38
  • Questions seeking product, service, or learning material recommendations are off-topic because they tend to become obsolete quickly.
    – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
    Nov 30, 2013 at 16:04

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