There are a number of tools to perform disk imaging and it often depends on the original media. If you need to attach a specific type of physical media to the processing computer, see the appropriate section in Connecting Devices [link] before attempting to use the software below.
Disk imaging tools
Guymager, CCA Tools, and Brasero all require use of BitCurator, a customized Linux operating system, that we run on a virtual machine through Windows. To access do the following steps:
Click on the Oracle Virtual Box shortcut on the Windows desktop screen
Virtual Box will open, click on the BitCurator with the latest version number after it
Wait for the operating system to load. Once you see a screen with a blue background, BitCurator is ready to use.
Guymager
Guymager is an all purpose software tool with a user interface for creating disk images. In general, it is your first choice for imaging hard drives, memory cards, Zip disks, 3.5” floppy disks via USB, and data on optical discs.
FTKImager
FTK imager is a similar general purpose imaging tool as Guymager but it is our second choice for imaging imaging hard drives, memory cards, Zip disks, 3.5” floppy disks via USB, and CDs/DVDs due to the inability to alter the metadata elements entered when creating an image and it being closed source software. We use FTK Imager mainly when imaging fails with Guymager or when we can’t get the external media to be recognized in BitCurator. If you want to use FTKImager, go to the FTKimager section.
Kryoflux software
Beyond being a controller card that allows USB access to legacy floppy drives, it is also a software tool for imaging these disks. We use the Kryoflux software for all 5.25 and 8 inch disks and some 3.5 inch disks that don’t image properly with Guymager/FTK Imager.
Brasero and optical disc alternatives
Brasero is a tool for easily creating ISO disk images of CD-ROMs and DVDs. Generally it is used when it’s important that the content have playable menus such as with DVD and CD menus deemed worthy of preservation. If you are only concerned about the other content, consider using Guymager or making a logical transfer. If it’s unclear whether the item would need to be an ISO image based on the reasons mentioned above, you can create a disk image using Guymager and it could also be re-imaged as an ISO image in the future.