{"id":3158,"date":"2019-07-31T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T11:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=3158"},"modified":"2019-07-30T10:49:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T14:49:46","slug":"can-i-clone-an-encrypted-hard-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/31\/can-i-clone-an-encrypted-hard-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"“Can I clone an encrypted hard drive?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Answer requested by Anthony Dimpu)<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, drive cloning basically just hoovers up the ones and zeros from a source disk; and lays them down, unchanged and unexamined, in an exactly analogous pattern on another disk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn’t matter to the cloning software what the ones and zeros represent, or whether the data is plain or encrypted, or anything else. It’s just picking up ones and zeros from one disk, and dropping them on another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complications can ensue depending on the type of encryption involved: hardware-level, within the drive itself (“self-encrypting” drives); low-level software within the OS (e.g. BitLocker et al); app-level software (e.g. 7-Zip); etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But your question was general, so the general answer is yes: Encrypted files, folders, or entire disks can usually be safely cloned without altering the contents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=3158<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"[seperator]\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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(Answer requested by Anthony Dimpu) Sure. In general, drive cloning basically just hoovers up the ones and zeros from a source disk; and lays them down, unchanged and unexamined, in an exactly analogous pattern on another disk. It doesn’t matter to the cloning software what the ones and zeros represent, or whether the data is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,30,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-hardware","category-science-and-tech"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-OW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3983,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/24\/is-there-any-possibility-to-recover-data-from-a-256-bit-encrypted-nas-hdd\/","url_meta":{"origin":3158,"position":0},"title":"“Is there any possibility to recover data from a 256-bit encrypted NAS HDD?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-12-24","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by ZeeForce Gaming) Encrypted files are still just 1s and 0s. So, if you're talking about recovering encrypted files after a crash, hardware failure, or something similar, you may be able to lift the encrypted bits off the defective drive using utterly normal data\/disk-recovery software, and write the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/safecracker-123rf-e1612187334162.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3055,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/09\/is-it-possible-to-retrieve-data-from-an-hdd-thats-been-zeroed-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":3158,"position":1},"title":"“Is it possible to retrieve data from an HDD that’s been zeroed out?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-07-09","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Shane Zimmerman) Actually, yes! (And I'm not talking about recovering a long, useless string of zeros!) Zeroing (or One-ing) out a drive --- filling it with all Zeros or all Ones --- will make it unrecoverable to consumer gear, but maybe not to specialized equipment. Here's why:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3209,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/06\/how-is-it-done-to-format-multiple-pcs-same-model-at-the-same-time-does-a-disk-cloner-work-does-it-handle-everything-drivers-bios\/","url_meta":{"origin":3158,"position":2},"title":"“How is it done to format multiple PCs (same model) at the same time? Does a disk cloner work? Does it handle everything — drivers? BIOS?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-08-06","format":false,"excerpt":"Your question touches on two separate things. First, yes: Cloning can perfectly replicate everything that's on a PC's disk. If the PCs are truly identical (as in a managed corporate setting), and the OS is licensed for it, then you only need one Master disk image, which can then be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1204,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/30\/a-reader-asks-how-do-i-recover-data-from-an-undetectable-external-hard-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":3158,"position":3},"title":"A reader asks: How do I recover data from an undetectable external hard drive?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-30","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: \"How do I recover data from an undetectable Seagate external hard drive? Is it possible through some software, or is it advisable to get it done through professionals?\" (via Quora) A: It depends on what you mean by \"undetectable.\" For example, there's physical\/electrical undetectability; and undetectability due to logical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1661,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/14\/a-reader-asks-what-happens-if-windows-is-infected-with-ransomware-but-the-files-are-already-encrypted-with-truecrypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":3158,"position":4},"title":"A reader asks: “What happens if Windows is infected with ransomware but the files are already encrypted with TrueCrypt?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-14","format":false,"excerpt":"The files will then be doubly-encrypted; once by TrueCrypt, and once by the ransomware. The good news is that the malware can't read the contents of your TrueCrypt-encrypted files. That's not what ransomware is really about anyway: It's not designed to snoop; it's just designed to take your files hostage.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2861,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/30\/should-i-encrypt-my-computer-hard-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":3158,"position":5},"title":"“Should I encrypt my computer hard drive?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-05-30","format":false,"excerpt":"Depending on how you perform the encryption, yes. I don\u2019t recommend whole-drive encryption because the encrypting is effectively part of the operating system. That is convenient, and can work great if the user is careful and knows what they\u2019re doing. But it can lead to lockout issues even if the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3158"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3208,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158\/revisions\/3208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}