Which imaging software is best for Truecrypt?

Discussion in 'privacy technology' started by wilder7500, Feb 4, 2014.

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  1. wilder7500

    wilder7500 Registered Member

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    Are some of them better than others or maybe have special features that work well with Truecrypt?
     
  2. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    You mean FDE? I use AX64 Time Machine for hot imaging/restore and Parted Magic's Clonezilla for cold imaging/restore.
     
  3. wilder7500

    wilder7500 Registered Member

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    Yes meant both FDE and non system. I want the backups to be encrypted with Truecrypt too. I was wondering if there was a method that would be easier than the The BartPE/WinPE method. I don't mind spending some money on it.
     
  4. Palancar

    Palancar Registered Member

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    There are many great tools. I have had great luck with Acronis and Macrium Pro. Much of the decision is what you want to be able to do with the backups. If you want them all TC encrypted then you'll be using sector by sector imaging. I have had fantastic luck with Macrium Pro, and especially never had a failure restoring the second partition (hidden OS). Not one hiccup, ever.

    One issue with sector based imaging is that you lose review and file restore features of the backup software. e.g. - lets say you hose a piece of software and all else is OK on your computer. If you wrote out an encrypted "hot" image of the OS you could simply open the image and restore the piece of software without the hassle and time of a full partition write of every sector. Macrium has strong encryption built in that allows for long passwords. If your risk model is not three letter agency adversary level, its more than strong enough. The other nice thing is that making a "hot" image only requires the OS space used and not the entire partition. Just something to think about. I do both and maintain both so I have flexibility in my repair options.
     
  5. TheWindBringeth

    TheWindBringeth Registered Member

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  6. wilder7500

    wilder7500 Registered Member

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    Thanks I've read that many times. The question here was about third party Imaging software and whether some of them had features that might be beneficial.
     
  7. wilder7500

    wilder7500 Registered Member

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    1. I already have acronis true image 2013, do you feel macrium (Pro/Reflect same thing?) is more reliable than acronis and/or has better features for this task?

    2. I would prefer to have strong truecrypt encryption on the backups. Can you do a sector by sector backup of the truecrypt encrypted windows partition from within macrium in windows or do you have to boot from a CD?
     
  8. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    Doing it from a bootable media like LiveCD/WinPE ensures the the backup image is already encrypted.

    A more convenient way is hot imaging with something like AX64 Time Machine. Just let it run in the background and snapshot for you. I set the backup destination to my TrueCrypt System Favourite Volume.

    Do note that only hot restores within Windows is supported, or else you'll restore an unencrypted system onto an encrypted one.
     
  9. wilder7500

    wilder7500 Registered Member

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    I read a bit about AX64TM, looks interesting. Just trying to understand what you say here, I can make an image of the truecrypt encrypted windows partition from inside windows. The image will remain encrypted with truecrypt (meaning the backup will remain encrypted) even it the backup HD/SSD is not encrypted. Is the correct? Will this work if I'm running the System Reserved Partition setup?
     
  10. Jryder54

    Jryder54 Registered Member

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    The image won't be encrypted if made from inside windows. I believe. I have been using bitlocker for quite some time and it has restored just fine with both hot and cold restores.

    Edit: You could just encrypt the backup drive.
     
  11. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    No, it will be unencrypted as all data are when the OS is running. That is why I specifically set the backup destination to a TrueCrypt System Favourite Volume.

    This will work as long as you restore images made within Windows while running Windows. Images made when FDE is unmounted are encrypted and must be restored when the encrypted system isn't running.

    I use both in case the former fails or isn't available (boot errors). You can even restore from Clonezilla, then restore from AX64 Time Machine; although that will take a while because AX64 didn't track the changes.
     
  12. wilder7500

    wilder7500 Registered Member

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    Thanks, now I think I understand it.
     
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