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How do I mount an NTFS image created by NTFS-3G NTFSclone on Windows? Neither the gnuwin32 version of NTFSclone nor Cygwin’s mount seem to be capable.

George Litos
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user64996
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4 Answers4

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If you just need to read an image, 7-zip should do it, believe it or not. The file manager UI should let you view the contents or extract, the 7z.exe command-line tool should let you extract it too.

Proof since this got downvoted despite being right, in a changelog.

If you actually need to write, or make the system think it's a real disk, I think OSFMount may be the only option. It is free (as in free beer, if you want that distinction made).

Wyatt Ward
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  • 7zip is for manipulating archives, like zip, 7zip, and tar... it does not understand ntfs filesystem images. – psusi Apr 02 '16 at 02:16
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    @psusi I believe it does... I know it can read fat32 filesystems and ext4 filesystems and HFS+ filesystems/DMG files. Try it. (edit: [yes it can](https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/discussion/45797/thread/a0140568/).) – Wyatt Ward Apr 10 '16 at 01:46
  • Oh wow, that is crazy. – psusi Apr 10 '16 at 13:48
  • @psusi it can also extract files from some .MSI installers and .exe programs/setup programs, and icons and resources from DLL files. I used to play around with it a lot just to see what all it could open. It's a real swiss-army knife. – Wyatt Ward Apr 11 '16 at 05:21
  • MSI and self extracting executables make sense since they are just slightly different forms of zip files. A filesystem image though, is an entirely different beast that is *far* more complicated. – psusi Apr 11 '16 at 22:58
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I'm using PassMark OSFMount, as it's a simple no-nonsense utility perfect for temporary mounts. It doesn't register itself with the system start up or install an icon to the system tray.

I am not sure if your NTFS images will be compatible, but you might want to try:
http://www.osforensics.com/tools/mount-disk-images.html

If you want a write access, be sure to uncheck the read-only flag during mounting.

gyohng
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ImDisk might mount it, but you may have to fuss with the settings to get it to work.

afrazier
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  • Why would it handle ntfsclone images? – user64996 Feb 13 '11 at 18:16
  • Because it can mount raw hard disk images, such as those created by dd. The image created by ntfsclone should be similar, unless you've used the "control code" feature for specifying free space. – afrazier Feb 14 '11 at 14:08
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    Isn't it meaningless to use ntfsclone without --save-image option, which skips free space? – Basilevs Oct 28 '13 at 04:04
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ImDisk will mount the partition image file unless you created it using the "special" format ('-s' option) of ntfsclone.

If the partition was cloned using the special format, you need to clone it again using ntfsclone.

example: ntfsclone -ro newfile.img oldfile.img

Selespridar
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  • -1 How is this fundamentally different from the [answer](http://superuser.com/questions/244803/#244827) posted by [afrazier](http://superuser.com/users/34636)? – user66001 Jun 14 '16 at 19:12
  • @user66001: Probably because it's more detailed? – SamB Oct 27 '18 at 18:25
  • @Samb - Then comment on the previous one, to not force people to look at several answers with similar info. – user66001 Oct 28 '18 at 00:57