Why suddenly does Clonezilla only do DD-mode disk-to-image copies?
A partition and disk imaging/cloning program
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I've been using Clonezilla only for a little while, and have taken about 4 image snapshots of my 2TB laptop SSD to USB storage. The actual usage of the 2TB is about 130GB, so when it's done the image copy, the resulting folder contains about 105GB, which seems about right.
Then - as of yesterday, when I tried the same thing again, it just started using a DD copy, and wants to copy the whole 2TB. Firstly, that takes forever, and secondly, my USB storage isn't that big.
I'm booting Clonezilla from a 4GB FAT32 USB drive plugged into a USB-C port, and the image target is a 256GB USB-C SSD drive formatted as exFAT. The device is a 2024 edition Dell XPS 9350.
Can anything think of why the usual copy mode seems not to work, and it's falling back on DD mode? Anything I need to do or check? I've always used the "beginner" mode, but last time used the advanced mode, where I was able to verify that DD mode was not the default first choice.
Thanks.
Hi Karl
You didn't tell us the type of files you are trying to clone, but I'm going to guess that it's Windows.
Clonezilla will use dd to clone a Windows disk if it can't read the disk files because Windows Fast Startup is ON or that Windows BitLocker is ON. Make sure that they are OFF and you should be good to go.
Also running a Windows Disk Check on your disk is also a very good idea before cloning (C:> CHKDSK C: /F).
Hi Karl,
You can share the log file /var/log/clonezilla.log, too. It's easier for us to chcek.
BTW, if you file system is encrypted, Clonezilla will use dd to clone that.
Potentially Chuck nailed it. It is Windows (11 Pro) and I do have safe boot
on, which I believe I had off previously, so I'll give it another go and
see.
One thing I wish I COULD do, is boot Clonezilla from the same USB SSD as I
want to store the image to, but when I try that, it shows me the device
when it gives the device list, but doesn't then offer it as a target onto
which to save the image.
Karl
On Sun, 2 Nov 2025 at 01:37, Steven Shiau steven_shiau@users.sourceforge.net wrote:
Potentially Chuck nailed it. It is Windows (11 Pro) and I do have safe boot on, which I believe I had off previously, so I'll give it another go and see.
One thing I wish I COULD do, is boot Clonezilla from the same USB SSD as I want to store the image to, but when I try that, it shows me the device when it gives the device list, but doesn't then offer it as a target onto which to save the image.
"One thing I wish I COULD do, is boot Clonezilla from the same USB SSD as I want to store the image to, but when I try that, it shows me the device when it gives the device list, but doesn't then offer it as a target onto which to save the image." -> You can check this:
https://drbl.org/fine-print.php?path=./faq/2_System/120_image_repository_on_same_usb_stick.faq#120_image_repository_on_same_usb_stick.faq
Fantastic -thanks, both.. Safe boot was on, and for some reason, so was BitLocker (which must have been automatic, as i didn't switch it on). i switched them both off, repartitioned the USB SSD into two partitions, and it then ah ran like a dream.
Very happy - thanks for your quick help.