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In libraries, schools, and cybercafes, for example, computers are often restored from a cloned disk image on a regular basis to wipe out any viruses or other unwanted software that patrons may have downloaded. They might also use the technique to simultaneously apply updates and security patches to all their computers.
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Organizations with a large number of computers can utilize disk cloning to deploy a standardized set of applications and data across many different computers. When an exact copy of a disk needs to be made, many users may turn to disk cloning software. When backing up a folder to an external hard disk, for example, the date and time when a file was last changed may reflect the time of the last backup rather than when the original file was modified. In many cases, this is actually beneficial to the user. When operating systems and back-up software copy the contents of a disk from one location to another, they often ignore some files, alter the data in some way, or fail to preserve all the attributes of files on the disk. Performing a data backup using disk cloning guards against losing information in the event of a hard drive malfunction. The practice can create some problems, but many programs provide features to compensate for this. Libraries, schools, and cybercafes often restore their computers with cloned disk images to easily manage and protect a large number of machines. Such a disk image can be used for many purposes including transferring data to a larger hard disk or restoring an unstable system with a clean image of the disk. Cloned disks are often written to a single image file that represents the entire drive. Disk cloning, also known as disk imaging, is the practice of copying the entire contents of a hard disk or partition, including file structure and system files, for the purpose of moving or restoring the drive’s data.