How to Save a Drive Image to an External Drive
A drive image is a "bit-for-bit" copy of a hard drive. Make this copy using a "Clone" copy program that copies the entire contents of a hard drive at one time. A number of "Clone" copy programs are available for both PC and Mac use, all of which are available on a free or shareware (free to try out) basis that doesn't incur any costs. The drive image that is made can then be saved to an external hard drive for safekeeping or to restore the hard drive at a later time should it be necessary.
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Instructions
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Download a Clone copy program to the computer's desktop, for example, the DriveXML program for a PC or the Carbon Copy Cloner program for Mac users. Double-click on the file once downloaded. Follow the menus to install the program onto the computer's hard drive. Restart the PC after the installation; doing so will avoid any interference issues with the Windows operating system.
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Launch the Clone copy program by selecting it from the "Start," "All Applications" pop-up menu on a PC or by double-clicking its icon inside the "Applications" folder on a Mac.
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Select the hard drive that is to be copied from the "Source" or "Disk to copy" drop-down menu in the left column of the Clone copy program's main screen. Select "Desktop" from the "Target" or "Destination" drop-down menu in the right column of the Clone copy program's main screen.
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Select "Backup Everything" or "Copy all" from the "Cloning options" or "Options" drop down menu beneath "Target" or "Destination." Uncheck any check boxes beneath "Cloning options" or "Options." Check the "Disk image" check box.
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Click the "Start" or "Clone" button at the bottom of the program's screen. Wait as a copy program bar appears on top of the program and fills in from left to right. Quit the Clone copy program when the progress bar has completely filled in.
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Plug the cable attached to the external hard drive into the appropriate port on the computer. Wait for the icon of the external hard drive to appear on the desktop.
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Drag the icon of the hard drive that is now on the desktop on top of the external hard drive's icon. Wait as a copy progress bar appears, fills in from right to left (PC) or left to right (Mac) and then disappears. Unmount the external hard drive from the computer by right-clicking its icon and selecting "Eject" if on a PC or by dragging the external hard drive's icon to the Trash if on a Mac. Remove the external hard drive's cable from the port on the computer.
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