back up computer with external harddrive

the seagate drive is pre-formatted to ntfs. you can just plug it in and ubuntu should recognize it if you're running the gnome desktop.

follow the following post for links on how to backup your system.

Thank you for your reply. My computer does recognize the seagate external
hard drive however when I click on setup executive nothing happens. You said
to "follow the following links to learn how to set it up but there were no
links that In saw, only links back to my message.I am confused. Thanks

-----Original Message-----

From: marcus aurelius <email address hidden>

To: amy@97520.net

Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:32:55 -0000

Subject: Re: [Question #135825]: back up computer with external harddrive

Your question #135825 on Ubuntu changed:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825
[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825]

    Status: Open => Answered

marcus aurelius proposed the following answer:

the seagate drive is pre-formatted to ntfs. you can just plug it in and

ubuntu should recognize it if you're running the gnome desktop.

follow the following post for links on how to backup your system.

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Amy, have the seagate external pluged in the usb port, then start ubuntu FROM live CD (the one used at install) - let it finish loading

then, open a terminal and enter

sudo fdisk -l

all hard disks and partitions will show up; for beginners : identify the HARD DRIVE where UBUNTU IS INSTALLED AND just mark it down on a piece of paper ; for the purpose of this question WE'LL CALL IT /dev/sdX

then, do the same for the hard drive WHERE YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE /dev/sdX BACKED UP ; for the purpose of this question WE'LL CALL IT /dev/sdY

THE ABOVE PTS ARE V V IMPORTANT - pls do not MIX THEM UP !!

then just enter in the terminal the following command ; it WILL BACK UP /dev/sdX TO /dev/sdY

sudo dd if=/dev/sdX of=/dev/sdY bs=64k conv=notrunc,noerror

Amy, pls exercise MAX CAUTION when entering the command - REVERSING THE DEVICES ORDER in the command A LOT OF DATA WILL BE WIPED OFF ! (for your info dd iin slang is also named data destroyer)

This command will restore from the USB drive to the existing drive:

sudo dd if=/dev/sdY of=/dev/sdX bs=64k conv=notrunc,noerror

sorry, I forgot to mention in the prev post

pls replace X an Y with YOUR hd setup - the output from

sudo fdisk -l

command.

also, v imp, the procedure above ASSUMES that the external HD DOES NOT HAVE ANY DATA on it; if it does it'll be replaced with the /dev/sdX data.

I do not know how to open a terminal once I boot ubuntu and run from the
installation cd. Thanks Amy

-----Original Message-----

From: peter b <email address hidden>

To: amy@97520.net

Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 02:20:24 -0000

Subject: Re: [Question #135825]: back up computer with external harddrive

Your question #135825 on Ubuntu changed:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825
[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825]

peter b proposed the following answer:

also, v imp, the procedure above ASSUMES that the external HD DOES NOT

HAVE ANY DATA on it; if it does it'll be replaced with the /dev/sdX

data.

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[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825/+confirm?answer_id=4]

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AFTER ubuntu CD FINISHED loading on the desktop upper panel

just go to Applications-->Accessories-->Terminal and left double click on it

the terminal window will open with a blinking cursor waiting for your commands; then just enter commands shown above - press enter and some output will be generated on the term window ; if you want, you can copy/paste the output on a new post on this thread so I can see it and help you further.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -1
fdisk: invalid option -- 1

Usage: fdisk [-b SSZ] [-u] DISK Change partition table
       fdisk -l [-b SSZ] [-u] DISK List partition table(s)
       fdisk -s PARTITION Give partition size(s) in blocks
       fdisk -v Give fdisk version
Here DISK is something like /dev/hdb or /dev/sda
and PARTITION is

This is what came up when I entered sudo fdisk -1 . What am I doing
wrong?
-----Original Message-----

From: peter b <email address hidden>

To: amy@97520.net

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:35:17 -0000

Subject: Re: [Question #135825]: back up computer with external harddrive

Your question #135825 on Ubuntu changed:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825
[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825]

    Status: Open => Answered

peter b proposed the following answer:

AFTER ubuntu CD FINISHED loading on the desktop upper panel

just go to Applications-->Accessories-->Terminal and left double click

on it

the terminal window will open with a blinking cursor waiting for your

commands; then just enter commands shown above - press enter and some

output will be generated on the term window ; if you want, you can

copy/paste the output on a new post on this thread so I can see it and

help you further.

--

If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us

know that it is solved:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825/+confirm?answer_id=6
[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825/+confirm?answer_id=6]

If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the

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[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825]

You received this question notification because you are a direct

subscriber of the question.

it is

sudo fdisk -1

command that you entered. to avoid further confusion pls just copy and paste the command I gave you which is

sudo fdisk -l

pls notice de difference -l in the last cmd is

lower case L.

Ubuntu HD is sda backup drive is sdb. What am I doing wrong?
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ /dev/sda TO /dev/sdb

           sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=64k conv=notrunc,noerror
bash: /dev/sda: Permission denied
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

-----Original Message-----

From: peter b <email address hidden>

To: amy@97520.net

Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:52:04 -0000

Subject: Re: [Question #135825]: back up computer with external harddrive

Your question #135825 on Ubuntu changed:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825
[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825]

    Status: Open => Answered

peter b proposed the following answer:

it is

sudo fdisk -1

command that you entered. to avoid further confusion pls just copy and

paste the command I gave you which is

sudo fdisk -l

pls notice de difference -l in the last cmd is

lower case L.

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Amy, pls copy paste the following commands AFTER the pc is booted up with the live CD with the seagate ext drive connected

sudo fdisk -l
mount

Thank you.

.....'pls copy paste the following commands'.....

SHOULD read

....'pls copy paste OUTPUT OF the following commands'....

sorry.

I got past the sudo fdisk-l .That worked fine. The hard drives came up.
My drive with ubuntu on it is /dev/sda.
The external hard drive is /dev/sdb. I entered the command;
/dev/sda TO /dev/sdb
sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=64k conv=notrunc,noerror
The command was denied. What am I doing wrong?

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ /dev/sda TO
/dev/sdb

sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=64k conv=notrunc,noerror
bash:
/dev/sda: Permission denied
ubuntu@ubunt
-----Original Message-----

From: peter b <email address hidden>

To: amy@97520.net

Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2010 20:40:50 -0000

Subject: Re: [Question #135825]: back up computer with external harddrive

Your question #135825 on Ubuntu changed:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825
[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825]

peter b proposed the following answer:

.....'pls copy paste the following commands'.....

SHOULD read

....'pls copy paste OUTPUT OF the following commands'....

sorry.

--

If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us

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[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825/+confirm?answer_id=11]

If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the

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[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825]

You received this question notification because you are a direct

subscriber of the question.

.....'I entered the command;
/dev/sda TO /dev/sdb'.....

WHY ?? I did not direct you to enter such command; pls see above

.....'Amy, have the seagate external pluged in the usb port, then start ubuntu FROM live CD (the one used at install) - let it finish loading

then, open a terminal and enter

sudo fdisk -l
....
....
....

then just enter in the terminal the following command ; it WILL BACK UP /dev/sdX TO /dev/sdY

sudo dd if=/dev/sdX of=/dev/sdY bs=64k conv=notrunc,noerror

'......

if you not clear pls let me know.

btw, why do shy away - not copy and paste the output of sudo fdisk -l AND mount commands ?? as I asked you to pls ?

peter, thank you for being so patient with me and explaining things so well.
I got confused several times. Now it seems clear. However my CD/DVD drive is
not working suddenly and I have to wait for an external drive I ordered to
use the ubuntu install CD to back up my computer. I am not sure if I will
have problems with ubuntu recognizing it. I have never used an external
drive before. Thank you again.

-----Original Message-----

From: peter b <email address hidden>

To: amy@97520.net

Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2010 05:43:56 -0000

Subject: Re: [Question #135825]: back up computer with external harddrive

Your question #135825 on Ubuntu changed:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825
[https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/135825]

    Status: Open => Answered

peter b proposed the following answer:

.....'I entered the command;

/dev/sda TO /dev/sdb'.....

WHY ?? I did not direct you to enter such command; pls see above

.....'Amy, have the seagate external pluged in the usb port, then start

ubuntu FROM live CD (the one used at install) - let it finish loading

then, open a terminal and enter

sudo fdisk -l

....

....

....

then just enter in the terminal the following command ; it WILL BACK UP

/dev/sdX TO /dev/sdY

sudo dd if=/dev/sdX of=/dev/sdY bs=64k conv=notrunc,noerror

'......

if you not clear pls let me know.

btw, why do shy away - not copy and paste the output of sudo fdisk -l

AND mount commands ?? as I asked you to pls ?

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why use an external CD/DVD ? just replace the existing (broken/nonfunctional) CD/DVD.

it is less expensive than an external one, obviously, along with other benefits.