4.5.1. Creating an Image file

You can create an image of different storage devices and save them as DMG file by using the Create Image option of Stellar Data Recovery. You can create an image of the following types of storage devices:

• Hard Disks
• Existing logical volumes in hard disks
• Removable media such as pen drives, external hard disks etc.

Images, of all sources listed earlier, are saved as DMG file. This DMG file is of same size as of the source. You can use the image files to resume recovery later.

The image you create by using Stellar Data Recovery will be of same size as the selected hard disk, pen drive, or volume. Ensure that the location where image file needs to be saved has sufficient space to store the image file.

To create an image file of hard disk, volume, or removable media:

1. Run Stellar Data Recovery software.

2. From the Home screen, click  icon and then select Create Image option.

3. From the Create Image screen, select the drive or partition for which you wish to create an image.

4. To create an image of the entire drive or partition click Next.

Or,

To create an image of the selected region click on the Advanced Settings. From the ‘Select Range to Create Image‘ screen, drag the sliders to define the starting and ending sectors of the image file. Click Close, and then click Next.

5. In the ‘Creating Media Image to Save‘ dialog box, locate the destination where the image file should be saved. In the Save As text box, type name. Click Save.

Note: If you are scanning a system drive having Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or Big Sur for the first time using Stellar Data Recovery, you need to allow macOS to load an extension signed by “Stellar Data Recovery”. To know the procedure refer to Recover Data from System Disk with High Sierra and Above.

6. After the process gets completed, a screen is displayed below that shows the newly created image.

7. Click Scan to start the recovery process.

8. A screen showing the scanning process is displayed. If you wish to stop the scan at any point, click Stop button.

9. Once the scanning process is complete, details of the files and folder found are displayed in a dialog box as shown below:

10. Click OK.

11. For information on how to preview and recover the scanned data, see Previewing Scan Results and Saving the Recovered Files.

Note: If you wish to save the scanned information and resume the recovery process at a later stage, see Saving the Scan Information.

Tip: It is recommended that you should save ‘scan information file’ and ‘hard disk image’ at different locations with a proper name such that you can easily retrieve the required image file.