Hi all,

Looking for some advice from all you knowledgeable Linux folk.

At work we have this six year old Pentium I class computer running a piece of garment design software from a company called "Lectra" on Linux (don't know the version). This computer is dedicated to this one software package and automatically boots into and runs through a custom GUI so you never see a Linux prompt. The computer was originally set up by and is soley administered by Lectra themselves.

Anyway, following a risk assessment we did last week, it turns out the backup tapes we have been making all these years aren't worth the tape they're written on (coz company Lectra who we sent the tapes to for verification say they can't get any data off them,... D'oh). So we are at risk of loosing years worth of patterns if the hard drive in this machine dies (which may surely be imminent due to the age of the drive). We are in the process of upgrading the unit but this may take many weeks / months due to "corporate lag" (like "turbo lag" but longer and infinitely more boring).

Since I am the person most likely to have their world "shat on" if a drive failure occurs, what I would like to know is....
IS THERE A SIMPLE WAY FOR A LINUX NEWBIE TO DO A DRIVE COPY.

I am familiar with PC hardware & windows, but know little about Linux. Can I use partition magic or ghost or ??? - HELP !

Cheers, Sim