HDD GURU FORUMS

Hi,

There is an old thread on here regarding this topic but I don't think it's relevant. I am trying to mack a backup of a USB drive I have that contains software. If I simply copy all the files to another flash drive, the software doesn't work. I need to be able to clone the entire drive. Is this possible?

Chris

HI
I have modified registry to block all write commands to USB.This makes usb drive in read only mode . then you can use winhex to image drive. Write protection can be enabled using some handy tools like - http://www.m2cfg.com/usb_writeblock.htm
Thanks
hddbug

Well, I managed to clone the drive using WinHex, although this screwed up once and the partition need to be deleted - no mean feat for a Flash drive. Anyhow, I managed the later with Paragon Partition Manager.

However, It still didn't do the trick, the software will not run from the flash drive. I'm guessing it is somehow ties to the firmware in the drive.

Does anyone know of a way to copy the firmware of USB drives, or at least be able to manipulate how the usb device is seen by the computer?

Or is there another possibility?

It might help to know what software you're trying to run. Is there copy protection on it?

The software is SuperNova by Dolphin. The USB flash drive is is used on many machines but the constant use has a tendency to break them.

I suspect the problem is Copy Protection, and I also suspect that it will be difficult to bypass. They could have wrote code that looks specifically for features in the controller chip, or in some hardware serial number on the USB device. The same could be done with a Hard Drive, but it would obviously be a very inefficient way to distribute software

There's two ways I can imagine constant use could break them. One is wear leveling, which shouldn't come into play if these things don't need to write to themselves. The second problem might be broken connectors. Perhaps using a very short USB cable will prolong the device's life.

wHY NOT backup your files to another usb or any other storage device?

Thanks for the input.

Badzy - unfortunately this doesn't work as tried and explained in the thread.

Rchadwick - many thanks and to be honest it is as suspected. The software is designed to Visually impaired users and VERY expensive. I've had MANY USB flash drives simply fall apart over the years from various different manufactures. This drive is used in a semi-public location so will be well abused. If it does go down I'm sure we will get a replacement, but this will take time, so i was just tring to minimise the eventuality.

This might be pretty ugly, but just an idea:

Get a 6 inch or longer USB M-F extension cable. Attach to the USB drive. Get a paint stirrer, ruler, or other similar piece of wood. Cut or break in half, duct tape the wood on either side of the drive, including part of the USB cable. Makes it ugly, perhaps less likely to be stolen , and should protect it well. A little foam under the tape might protect it from shock as well. Might also make it harder to lose. It might not be elegant, but whatever works, right?

The other longshot would be to find the exact same USB drive the company uses, and try copying it to that. There's a slim chance they just check for what type USB drive the software is on, not necessarily a unique serial number.

It looks as though the drive is recognised as coming from the manufacture of the software - looking at the Details tab of the drive properties. I will have a better look but I'm not feeling at all well.

Specifically there are a number of ways to do this.

1. The NAND chips serial number (newer chips each have their own serial number written at manufacture)
2. a read only page inside the chip, program once
3. controller serial number
4. controller reserved area.
5. a mapping "trick" , I.E a specific block is mapped to a specific area on the nand chip, I.E block 5 of your data is mapped to block 59 inside the nand page, even if you clone the data , it is unlikely that teh blocks will be in the same physical position, unless you do a chip to chip clone.

I was looking at some software such as SourceUSB to see if anything can be determined, and I have been looking through some USB code FAQs, which although very interesting stuff, I don't think will be able to alter anything on a second USB stick in ordcer to replicate the first.