Disk Image
If you are used to downloading files or fixing computers, you will often stumble across the term “disk image”. A disk image is a single file that’s used to represent the exact structure of an original file, and copy the basic information that makes up the file. Disk images are similar to DNA, as they are small copies of everything that makes up the entire entity. This article will help to explain what disk images are, how they work and how to use them.
How It Works
Disk imaging is the process of copying a file in separate sectors with the goal of putting them back together in the correct order. Think of disk imaging as taking pictures of the pages in a book instead of reading the actual words from the page. Now if you were to take those pictures and lay them out on a table, you would be able to place them in the correct order by reading the words in the pictures. That’s what disk imaging does. Some software, such as WinRar, remove any excess space within the image to cut down on file size. You can think of that as like taking all of the pages in a book and reorganizing them so as to remove any empty spaces in between the words and/or sentences so that the entire book is just a series of letters and punctuation marks. Of course, the disk imaging software only does this to the image of the files and does not change the original file.
Software
There are many different types of software used to make and use disk images. Some programs will allow you to create disk images while others will allow you to extract them, while some will allow you to load them as if they were on a CD. Here are a few of the best disk imaging programs on the Internet.
MagicISO is an all-inclusive program that allows for the viewing, editing, creating and extracting of image files, particularly on and for CDs/DVDs. MagicISO lets you convert all files on a CD, DVD or hard drive to an image file known as ISO (the name ISO is taken from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media) and then to even convert that image file into a bin file; further, you can also use it to convert a bin file into an iso file. MagicISO supports all of the latest known CD image types and also allows you to burn CDs and DVDs. It can support files up to 10GB in size, make bootable CDs/DVDs and directly edit iso files from disks.
BootIt Next Generation is a program that includes an advanced boot manager, partition manager and the ability to backup your files with a disk image. BootIt Next Generation was created by TeraByte Unlimited in 2000 (yet it’s predecessor was published in 1994 as a stand-alone software to prove the idea that multiple operating systems could co-exist on the same computer). A more stable version of BootIt Next Generation was released in 2008.
Virtual Box is a disk imaging program originally designed by the German company, Innotek. They later sold the code of Virtual Box to Sun Microsystems and it is now widely distributed to millions of people worldwide without them even knowing. Virtual Box allows you to run multiple operating systems from the same computer and even on the same partition. Virtual Box works with any of the latest operating systems out there and a survey in 2007 showed that Virtual Box was the third most popular software package on the Internet.
Hard Drive Imaging
Disk images can be extremely useful in the world of cyber criminal justice. A process known as hard drive imaging is used to break a computer down into its core files and analyze the information. Below are the three types of hard drive imaging.
Forensic Imaging
Forensic imaging involves converting a computer’s entire drive to a image file and calculating the hash value to confirm the integrity of the image. This process is similar to common P2P programs that first download a torrent, similar to an image, and then transfer the file bit by bit in the order that it’s meant to be in. The program then performs a hash check to confirm that the entire file is there and is in working condition.
Drive Cloning
Drive cloning is pretty much what it sounds like. Drive cloning allows for a police officer or computer repair technician to move all files from a hard drive onto a separate main frame to view and edit just as if they were on the original computer. This is very helpful when files must quickly be taken from a computer and analyzed at a later time.
Data Recovery Imaging
Data recovery is a more intense version of forensic imaging. Data recovery imaging involves converting every individual sector of a computer into an image file and then filling in for corrupted sectors by going on the information it collects from the other sectors. It can only be performed by special software and is usually done by experts. Data recovery imaging may have to work around both software errors and physical errors to the machine.