# Disk copying (clone) USB jump drives



## Ms. Dos (Jul 19, 2006)

My presenting problem is that I have two new Sandisk Cruzer Minis (1 GIG) and these came with some proprietary software that I may or may want to keep. The files are structured (that is they're saved) in a weird fashion. First, there's a small partition that all utilities agree is using CDFS file system (!?) - that's about 4 megs and some of the files there are hidden (the VOL name is U3 System). The "Properties" for that partition include it being a drive type of "CD/DVD Rom". Next is 2nd partition which looks (in Explorer) like any jump drive--even the "General" tab in "Properties" says it's file system is "FAT". However, under "Hardware" (still in "Properties") it says it's a CD/DVD drive.
...
I want to reformat and play with one of these to see if I can get it to boot my PCs. However, if I can't or decided I'd rather return it to a virgin state I need to be able to "clone it back" to original specs. I'm flummoxed there. My trusty ol' Drive Image 2002 won't "see" any drives (it's not one drive or the other--neither appear). Thinking it's a limitation of the program I d/l a trial of Acronis' TrueImage 9.x Also tried a couple of freeware pkgs. All the same--none "see" a jump drive as another HD.
...
Can anyone suggest anything that might work? I thought about the low-tech solution (turn verify ON and run diskcopy from a command windw) but, unless I was certain that would work I don't want to nuke my test jump.
Help!?


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## qldit (Mar 18, 2005)

Good Evening, that seems like a strange set-up on those flashdrives.
I have used many different types of drives for several years and found that odd extra partitions (usually passworded) on them were a massive nuisance so I cleaned them off and use simple straight drives.
I kept the software, so can reload if needed, but it seems I never will, even if it is loaded anyone can reformat the drive and the files are all lost anyway.

Have a look at this program, it is called Recovery Manager and is extremely useful for anyone using flashdrives.
http://vaiosoft.com/products/recoverymanager.html 
You can use it to clean your drive.

There has been discussion on this site previously about booting windows programs from a flashdrive and some people have achieved it.
But it appears to be an interesting exercise, end of story!
This idea is restricted to one machine, so it is pretty pointless.

Windows is also more or less purposely designed to be booted from a a fixed point, obviously to maintain copyrighting integrity.
How can Bill charge for a portable system?

It is however, quite easy to load a Linux Operating System onto a flashdrive and have a good useable bootable arrangement which will really operate on different machines, independent of their device arrangements and architecture. 
The boot priority is really the only problem, and there is work-around software for that.

But there are even simpler alternatives.

One is to use a bootable operating system on an open CD-R where it loads and operates as a RAM drive and saves back to the CD-R (until the disk is full)
So this idea allows any machine to be used for whatever reason and leaves no record of that useage. Of course this is a Linux System.
Anyway enjoy the exercise.
Cheers, qldit.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You have U3 FLASH devices, they're basically a FLASH USB drive with some extras added in. The purpose of the U3 device is to allow you to run applications directly from the drive and not require an installation. This allows you to have your favorite email application, and carry your current email around with you, for instance. Read all about it here at www.u3.com.


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