A better alternative IMO to dd is an app for linux called partimage. It basically does what dd does and it compresses it among other things. Although I guess you could pipe dd through some kind of compression app. I've used this extensively when I install some OS on a partition and I know overtime it will just need a fresh install. To blast the image partimage makes takes only 5-10 minutes, even for partitions 50-100 GB, depending on your processor.
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