[SOLVED] Can't copy my distro from one hard drive to another- DD command not working
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Can't copy my distro from one hard drive to another- DD command not working
Well, to start off- I accidently left easy BCD configured wrongly while in Windows, so while I try to boot my computer normally, it just gives the option to boot from a now empty, but existing partition.(I was planning on reinstalling my distro, as I had first installed the 32 bit successfully, only to realize I could have chosen 64 bit) Luckily for me though, I had my external hard drive have "kali" distro of Linux (amd 64 bit, as it seems to matter)and can modify the boot order so I can use my computer via plugged in external hard drive. While this is somewhat helpfull- I need to be able to get back to using my normal hard drive without wiping it- I have many important files and no way to back them up. I already have a partition in my initial hard drive for linux, and one for "swap", so right now I ether need help installing Kali while using it (I have no clue how, I am very new to linux, hence me posting where people are used to beginners like me asking basic questions) or just simply copying Kali to the partition I have in mind. I can access it, and I can login as root; however when I tried the dd command, while properly setting it up of course for what target directory I wished it to install- it seemed to work... only to install roughly 4 mb's of information, so clearly I messed up somewhere. I understand this is very basic what I need done, but I've researched for days, and all the help I DID find, didn't work- i.e. wine not being able to install (so I could use easy bcd to fix it again) and since I can't seem to install flash player, I can't search youtube. I can answer any spesific questions asked, but I believe I have covered what I can, with what little I truly know about how to fix this. Oh, and I don't have access to another computer, and my cd drive has stopped working sadly, so a live CD is out of the question. Though- there is one partition left in my external hard drive, if it helps.
First you should use an installer to install a distro of Linux instead of trying to use dd, several live cds will fit on a USB thumbdrive that you can install from. Next and last I think I understand that you are trying to use dd on the active partition, you should not use dd on a mounted partition, I think it is just sending error messages to your other device. You could cat your other device to see if it is giving you helpful hints.
First you should use an installer to install a distro of Linux instead of trying to use dd, several live cds will fit on a USB thumbdrive that you can install from. Next and last I think I understand that you are trying to use dd on the active partition, you should not use dd on a mounted partition, I think it is just sending error messages to your other device. You could cat your other device to see if it is giving you helpful hints.
Technically the "extra partition" in my external hard drive has an installer for the distro I want, I used Lili for it. The problem is though, is since I can't boot my normal hard drive properlly, I can't install anything yet- I have to use my external hard drive as my OS source to be able to use this computer at all. As for using "cat" though, do you mean to diagnose why dd didn't work, or what?
**Edit**
I just read what cat was used for, and did you mean to say that you'd like for me to post the errors I recieved? I technically didn't recieve any for when I tried to copy the partition to another one, it merely acted like it worked, but only copied 4.61 (I think, I'd have to retry to see the exact amount) megabytes worth. If it helps others to know- it might be because when I also tried to manually copy the files, it gave a reading prermission error, so that might be why I can't simply dd the partition.
**Final Edit**
I am rather saddened at how many people have viewed this thread, yet no one else gave a single comment or bit of advice. I've figured the best route is to simply restore the MBR via the tutorial at http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...ot-record.html and just install linux while in windows. I thank Sydney for their attempt to help me, but for now I'll flag thread as solved.
Last edited by Michmat; 03-06-2014 at 01:10 AM.
Reason: figured it out on my own
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