Of course, you can get rid of the old USB stick and find a new one, but your data may be lost forever. To avoid such a scenario, we recommend cloning your entire USB drive and all of its contents to a USB image using the instructions below. A USB image is indestructible, unlike the removable media hardware used for data backup. You can store the image anywhere online and export it to another external drive to retrieve the lost data anytime.
What Is a USB Image?
There are two different meanings for “USB image,” and the term requires a bit of clarification. It is most commonly used to denote any software that creates a bootable image of an operating system. Popular examples include tools such as Rufus and BalenaEtcher. They convert USB devices to a Live USB system that can boot an entire operating system. When you use a bootable USB drive to install a Windows or Linux operating system on your desktop, you would use a USB image. However, we are not dealing with this type of USB image here. Live USB systems only manage to save a backup on the USB hardware itself, so they cannot help with data or operating system recovery if the USB device is lost or stolen or the files become corrupted. Many people use data recovery tools such as Disk Drill or Recoverit to rescue inaccessible files when dealing with such data loss. While these tools have their merits, a smarter way to recover data is with a portable image of your USB disk created to handle such scenarios. This is where the second definition of a USB image comes in. USB image also refers to a single image of the entire USB drive with its partitions and contents created using backup software, also known as a USB image tool. The image can be in various formats, such as .bin, .iso, or as a proprietary extension of the backup software. Its file properties have to be transferable online to recover the stored information at your convenience.
Why You Can’t Just Copy Files for Backup
If you have just a few personal files and information, it should not be difficult to upload them to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, or any other cloud account. You can also copy-paste them to an external drive or removable media. But as the number of files and overall file size increases, it becomes tedious to upload them one by one regularly. Even with fast Internet speeds, creating cloud storage consumes a lot of time. In addition, when you edit files frequently, it is difficult to keep track of different file versions. Besides, if your USB drive has extra partitions and file archive properties, you won’t be able to recreate an exact clone. If you are trying to move installer software from your hard drive, its Properties cannot be copied to a new system. Also, some programs and software may forbid the user from moving them to a new external drive. USB imaging software can provide a one-stop solution to deal with all these problems. It creates a single permanent image that makes the saved data agnostic to all future devices’ hardware. You are effectively cloning your removable media, making your data accessible at all times. Also, the process is much faster than uploading images online, especially when many files are involved.
How to Clone a USB Drive With a USB Image Tool
Some popular examples of a true USB image tool are ImageUSB, AOMEI Backupper, and EaseUS Todo Backup. We show how each program can be used to clone an entire USB disk along with all of its partitions and files. While only the first tool is true freeware, the other two also support free USB imaging. While an online search reveals several other “USB image tools,” most of them are ridden with malware, such as Trojans and rootkits, or have device compatibility issues. Therefore, only download and install USB imaging software from reputable software providers. Our recommendations below are a safe bet, as they have all tested malware free and will not harm your system.
1. ImageUSB
ImageUSB by PassMark Software is lightweight, portable freeware that does not require installation. It currently supports Windows 10 and 11 and a Mac version is available as well. The best part is that you can save created images concurrently to multiple USB devices.
Restore Data From the Cloned Image
When you need the USB data again:
2. AOMEI Backupper
AOMEI Backupper Pro is premium backup software but has a standard edition that can be downloaded for free. Even the free version has a few advanced USB cloning features: it can also create and save backups of your entire hard disk drive or SSD with its Disk Clone feature.
Restore Data From the Cloned Image
To restore inaccessible data from a lost or corrupted USB drive:
3. EaseUS Todo Backup
EaseUS Todo Backup is another reliable USB imaging tool that is very easy to use. While the software is mostly trialware, its image backup capabilities can be accessed for free.
Restore Data From the Cloned Image
When it is time to restore the backup image: Image credit: Alexey Rotanov via Adobe Stock. All screenshots by Sayak Boral. While these system images can back up most of your files, programs, and settings for data restoration later, in some cases, the backup may not work as intended. Some software programs include per-device restrictions that prevent their properties from being cloned on new hardware.
