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Intro [^]

The first thing you have to do in order to use any piece of software is to download it. Unfortunately, sometimes even downloading software can be difficult. In fact, Clonezilla-SysRescCD is maybe one of the most difficult pieces of software to download, since there are three different files available - and you're still supposed to only download one of them.

You not only need to choose between different files but also between direct download and torrent. This page will explain what torrents are, why torrent download is available and how the torrent can be used to download the actual file.

In addition, if you use the direct download link instead of torrent, there is a risk that the file becomes corrupted during transfer, especially because it's very large. This page will also tell you how the integrity of the file can be checked before burning it to the disc.

The files... [^]

Sources/installation package

The following file can be used to create Clonezilla-SysRescCD.

create-clonezilla-sysresccd-3.1.0.tar.gz [~ 6.3 MB]
The above tarball is intended to work with
      Clonezilla Live 1.2.5-35, and
      System Rescue CD 1.6.0.

It may work with other versions of these ISO files,
but there's NO guarantee it will do so.

ISO files

Download links
Architecture Direct Torrent Size ISO MD5 hash
i686 i686 3.1.0 ISO i686 ~ 406MB 08feed0234f3770412108b4a0374d7e1
x86-64 amd64 3.1.0 ISO amd64 ~ 418MB b810eaada20bbdbc6c97ae411d1c5ea1
i486 i486 3.1.0 ISO i486 ~ 406MB 2a2838fc4c9f3584992a8f2675d3471f

Which file to download? [^]

The short answer: clonezilla-sysresccd-i686-3.1.0.iso.

And here comes the long answer:

There are three editions of Clonezilla-SysRescCD available: i486, i686 and x86-64. The difference between editions are the processor instructions in the assembly code of software included in Clonezilla Live. (The copy of SystemRescueCD is identical in all editions.)

The i486 edition only uses instructions which were introduced in Intel 486 or even older processors. Thus, it will even run on very old processors, including 486 itself. However, it doesn't support parallel compression and is unable to clone very big partitions (about ten terabytes or more).

The i686 edition uses instructions which were introduced in Intel Pentium Pro or older processors. It will run on almost all processors used today and supports parallel compression. Cloning very big partitions is still impossible, though.

The x86-64 edition uses instructions which were introduced in AMD Athlon 64 or older processors. It supports both parallel compression and cloning very big partitions, but it doesn't run on IA-32 processors which are still widely used.

The x86-64 edition should be preferred if it runs. If not, the i686 edition is preferable. If even the i686 edition doesn't work, the i486 edition is the last option.

Which is the architecture of my processor? [^]

If you normally run GNU/Linux, download this script, open terminal,

mark the script as executable,

chmod +x edition

and run it:

./edition

If you run Windows, download this script instead and double-click it. Note that the script doesn't work if Windows Script Host is disabled.

Either script will immediately tell you which version of Clonezilla-SysRescCD is preferable.

Torrent [^]

BitTorrent is a protocol that is used for sharing files. The most important difference between BitTorrent and direct download is that everybody who downloads a file via BitTorrent also uploads parts of the file while and after downloading it. That is, people who use BitTorrent are actually sharing the file with each other.

The advantages of BitTorrent are:

The disadvantage of BitTorrent is that most browsers are unable to download files via BitTorrent. That is, downloading a file via BitTorrent often requires special software.

Using the torrent [^]

Many users already have required software to use BitTorrent. First of all, check if you are using the Opera browser. It has a built-in BitTorrent client.

In addition, most GNU/Linux distributions include a BitTorrent client like KTorrent or Transmission. You can test if your distro contains one simply by downloading the torrent and attempting to open it via double-click.

Unfortunately, Windows doesn't come with a BitTorrent client. Windows users have to either download Clonezilla-SysRescCD directly or install a client, for example BitComet.

If you have decided to use the torrent, proceed by clicking the torrent link. The web browser will ask if you want to open or save the file. Usually opening is easier, but if you decided to save the file anyway, continue by double-clicking the file.

If the torrent client shows any prompts, follow them.

Verifying the integrity of the file [^]

If you didn't use BitTorrent to download the file, it might have become corrupted during transfer. Corrupted copy of Clonezilla-SysRescCD may still work, but some functionality may be lost. In any case, it's best to notice corruption before burning the file to the disc.

It is possible to download the whole file again in order to check if it's OK, but doing so is not a good idea. First of all, it requires a lot of time, especially if your Internet connection is slow. In addition, even if you notice that the copies of the file you have downloaded are different, you still don't know which of them is correct.

Luckily, there are better ways to check if the file is OK. Some mathematical functions are able to take any input and create a fixed-length string called checksum or hash. These functions have been designed so that if the input is edited a bit, the resulting hash is completely different.

The pre-calculated hashes of the files can be found next to the download links. The idea is that you're able to use hash calculator software in order to calculate the hash yourself and compare it to the pre-calculated one. If the hashes are different, the file is corrupted and you have to download it again. But if the hashes are identical, it's very unlikely that the file is corrupted. (Because there are finite number of possible hashes and infinite number of possible files, there are multiple files that share the same hash. However, it's very difficult to find out which files have a given hash.)

The pre-calculated hashes have been calculated using the MD5 algorithm. It's the most popular hash algorithm around, and there are a lot of MD5 hash calculators available.

Using Snap MD5 [^]

Snap MD5 is a simple MD5 and SHA1 hash calculator. It's a closed-source, free Windows-only program.

Copy the pre-calculated MD5 hash to the clipboard (double-click the hash and press Ctrl-C). Launch Snap MD5 and press Browse.... Navigate to the directory where you've saved the disc image and double-click the file. Wait a moment and Snap MD5 will automatically tell you if the MD5 hashes match. If not, you have to download the whole disc image again.

Using md5sum [^]

Md5sum is a command line MD5 calculator that is included in virtually all GNU/Linux distributions.

Copy the pre-calculated MD5 hash to the clipboard (double-click the hash and press Ctrl-C). Open terminal and navigate to the directory where you've saved the disc image of Clonezilla-SysRescCD. Write "md5sum" and a couple of the first characters of the name of the disc image:

md5sum clo

Press Tab:

md5sum clonezilla-sysresccd-i686-3.1.0.iso

Write " | fgrep " (space, vertical bar, space, fgrep, space):

md5sum clonezilla-sysresccd-i686-3.1.0.iso | fgrep 

Press Ctrl-Shift-V in order to paste the hash from the clipboard:

md5sum clonezilla-sysresccd-i686-3.1.0.iso | fgrep 08feed0234f3770412108b4a0374d7e1

Finally, press Enter and wait until you get command prompt again. If you get something like the following output, the file is OK:

08feed0234f3770412108b4a0374d7e1  clonezilla-sysresccd-i686-3.1.0.iso

If you don't get any output, the file is corrupted and you have to download it again.