Win32 Disk Imager is a compact application that allows you to create an image file from a removable storage device such as an USB drive or a SD memory card. It can be used to backup the information stored on the device in order to restore it later.
Unlike other backup programs, this tool creates a replica of the device instead of simply copying the files. This allows you to restore the disc content to its original state without any modification and to write bootable images. You only need to select the device and the folder path to the IMG file. It can only create IMG files for removable devices and not for hard disk drive partitions.
During the operation the program displays a progress bar, the completion percentage and the copy speed. During our tests, a 3.5 GB image was created in about four minutes without any impact on the computer's performance. It took about eight minutes to restore the image file since the writing speed was lower.
Besides creating and writing IMG files the program can also generate a MD5 hash that can help users to identify certain images. This can be useful if you backup several USB devices that have the same size as it prevents restoring a different image.
Although it can be used for backing up data, Win32 Disk Imager is designed to write bootable images to removable devices. This also recommends it for backing up U3 devices in order to preserve their settings and not only the files.
If you only need to backup the files from a removable device, other backup programs can save a lot of disk space. For an exact copy of the drive, try Win32 Disk Imager.
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