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Use ntfsclone on Debian 12 KDE 5.7 to Backup Windows 11 NTFS

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🔹 Use ntfsclone on Debian 12 KDE 5.7 to Backup Windows 11 NTFS

ntfsclone is the best tool to clone Windows 11 partitions without copying unused space, making backups smaller and faster.

✅ 1. Install ntfsclone on Debian 12

ntfsclone is part of ntfs-3g, which should already be installed. To ensure it's available:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y ntfs-3g

✅ 2. Identify Windows 11 Partition

Run:

lsblk -f

Find the partition with "ntfs" (likely /dev/nvme0n1pX or /dev/sdaX).

Example output:

NAME        FSTYPE  LABEL      SIZE  MOUNTPOINT
nvme0n1p1   vfat    SYSTEM     512M  /boot/efi
nvme0n1p2   ntfs    Windows11  100G

Here, the Windows partition is /dev/nvme0n1p2.

✅ 3. Backup Windows 11 NTFS Partition

To create a compressed backup image:

sudo ntfsclone --save-image --fast --compress --output /media/disk10/windows11.img /dev/nvme0n1p2

🔹 Explanation:

  • --save-image → Creates an image file (does not copy empty space).

  • --fast → Speeds up cloning (skips bad sectors).

  • --compress → Compresses the image (reduces file size).

  • --output /media/disk10/windows11.img → Saves the backup on /media/disk10.

✅ 4. Restore Windows 11 from Backup

To restore the image:

sudo ntfsclone --restore-image --overwrite /dev/nvme0n1p2 /media/disk10/windows11.img

✅ 5. Verify Backup

After cloning, mount the image to check its contents:

mkdir -p /mnt/backup
sudo mount -o loop /media/disk10/windows11.img /mnt/backup
ls /mnt/backup  # Check if Windows files exist

Unmount when done:

sudo umount /mnt/backup

🎯 Final Notes

  • Faster than dd because it skips empty space.

  • Recommended for NTFS backups.

  • Do you want to automate this with a script? Let me know!

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