Exact copy of files from NTFS to another NTFS using Linux
There is no way to exactly copy NTFS files, passing through Linux. Even Wine, the Windows-compatibility layer on Linux, works by converting permissions back-and-forth between Linux and Windows, and so is limited to their (rather small) least common denominator.
The only solution I can see is running Windows on Linux inside a virtual machine (or physical).
I believe you have mentioned this possibility in your post and would prefer to avoid it, but I do not see another possibility. Only Windows can exactly copy NTFS files; Linux is only capable of copying NTFS partitions.
This article might help: How to install and run Microsoft Windows for free on Linux, using free virtual machines made available for download by Microsoft.
First thing is, you need to make up your mind if you want to copy files, ...
or you want to make a complete, sector-by-sector, copy of your NTFS partition, including the "old data", the "other files", aswell "all the metadata" you have mention above very broadly.
For the latter, use dd:
dd if=/dev/sda2 of=/mnt/usbdisk/my-ntfs-partition-D.img bs=1M
Have fun.
Linux can copy NTFS files contents fine, just not all the modified/created/accessed dates & attributes (I'm assuming that's what you want preserved).
So why don't you just make note of the current dates & attributes (dir should be able to display them), then copy the files in linux, and once you're running Windows again change the dates & attributes back to the originals.
Use a tool in Windows that can change the files, like one of these ones:
- Attribute Changer
- BulkFileChanger - Decent How-To on How-To-Geek
- File Date Touch
- SKTimeStamp
- Just change the file owner
Apparently Windows' own File Explorer doesn't even preserve all the file dates properly either. But zip & cygwin's tar commands should save file dates, so using one of those in Windows to create an archive first should work too, then just copy the archive any old way.
If the attributes are super-important, and difficult to copy even in Windows, they should probably be backed up in a text file or database, or made into part of the filename...