I am running windows 8.1 on my desktop PC, which has two-3TB hard drives installed. The first drive is where windows is installed. It has one NTFS partition labeled 'System Reserved', another NTFS partition labeled '(C:)' and some unallocated space which I intend to use for something else, but that's a different story.. The second drive is completely blank, with no partitions. Do I have to create a similar partition structure on the second drive in order for the cloning to properly take place? And if so, how do I do that?
I want this second drive to be able to be switched out for the first one in the event of a failure so that I can boot from it without having to restore the contents to a new drive.
When you clone a hard disk(not a partition but a whole hard disk), the entire partition structure of the second drive is replaced.
If you clone drive A to drive B, then it does (I think) byte for byte. (with I think hopefully some adjustments for hard drive geometry) and empty space.
I've used Macrium Reflect (it's free by the way), and made say an image of one drive and written it to another, and yeah it writes over the existing structure. But unlike dd, it also makes adjustments for hard drive geometry. so the hard drives don't have to be the same size. And unlike dd, it takes into account empty space rather than copying it blindly, so you don't need to defrag. There is a question as to whether clonezilla cloning does. I guess it does.
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Cloning is very useful when you want to upgrade your old Windows hard drive to a new one and don't want to reinstall your system. This article is going to show you how to clone Windows 7, XP, or Vista to safely upgrade your operating system without any bootable failure problem.
How to clone Windows 7, XP, Vista hard drive
To clone Windows, you need a cloning program at first. If you don't have one, here is my recommendation: Wondershare WinSuite 2012. This Windows cloning software enables you to clone your whole operating system to a new hard drive without any change, including programs, personal settings, etc.
After purchasing the program, you'll get a download link from Wondershare. Download and install it on a your computer. Then follow the steps below to clone hard drive Windows 7, XP, and Vista.
Step1. Launch the program and prepare to clone Windows
Launch the Wondershare WinSuite on your computer and move to the 'Disk Management' option on the top. Then choose 'Clone Entire Disk' if you want to clone the whole disk, or choose 'Clone One Partition' if you only want to clone the operating system partition. Here take the partition as an example.
Step2. Select the source partition (disk)
Now, select the sorce partition where your Windows locates, and click 'Next' to continue.
Step3. Choose the destination partition
Then, choose your new hard drive for your Windows as the destination partition. Click 'Next', your Windows will be cloned to the new hard drive immediately.
Step4. Clone Windows hard drive to a new one
Before cloning begins, you need to comfirm that the data on the new hard drive will be overwritten during the cloning. If you're sure, click 'Yes' to finish cloning. If you want to backup data first, press 'No' to back it up, then clone Windows again.
When the clone finishes, there will be a 'Successfully Cloned!' pop-up message, which means you've successfully cloned your Windows!
You need to format a hard drive if you plan on using it in Windows.
To format a hard drive means to erase any information on the drive and to set up a file system so your operating system can read data from, and write data to, the drive.
As complicated as that might sound, it's not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of Windows. All operating systems offer this capability and Windows makes it easy.
If the hard drive you want to format has never been used or was just wiped clean, it must first be partitioned. See How to Partition a Hard Drive in Windows for instructions. Once partitioned, return to this page for help formatting the drive.
Time Required: The time it takes to format a hard drive in Windows depends almost entirely on the drive's size, but your computer's overall speed plays a part, too.
How to Format a Hard Drive in Windows
Follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP:
Open Disk Management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of Windows.
Opening Disk Management can be done a number of ways depending on your version of Windows, but the easiest method is to type diskmgmt.msc in the Run dialog box or the Start menu.
Another way to open Disk Management is through Control Panel.
After Disk Management opens, which might take several seconds, look for the drive you want to format from the list at the top. There's a lot of information in Disk Management, so if you can't see everything, maximize the window.
Look for the amount of storage on the drive as well as the drive name. For example, if it says Music for the drive name and it has 2 GB of hard drive space, then you've likely selected a small flash drive full of music.
Feel free to open the drive to make sure it's what you want to format, if that would make you confident that you're going to format the right device.
If you don't see the drive listed on the top or an Initialize Disk windows appears, it probably means that the hard drive is new and has not yet been partitioned. Partitioning is something that must be done before a hard drive is formatted. See How to Partition a Hard Drive for instructions and then come back to this step to continue the formatting process.
Now that you've found the drive you want to format, right-click it and choose Format to open the disk-formatting wizard.
Now is as good a time as any to remind you that you really, really, really need to make sure that this is the right drive. You certainly don't want to format the wrong hard drive.
Existing Drive: If you're formatting a drive that you've been using and that has data on it, double-check in Explorer that the drive letter you're choosing here in Disk Management is the same as the one you see in Explorer that has the information on it that you want to erase. Once formatted, the existing data on the disk are probably unrecoverable for most people.
New Drive: If you're formatting a new drive, a great way to tell that it's the right one is to look at the File System column in the top part of Disk Management. Your existing drives will show file systems of NTFS or FAT32 but a new, unformatted drive will show RAW instead.
You cannot format your C drive, or whatever drive Windows is installed on, from within Windows. In fact, the Format option isn't even enabled for the drive with Windows on it. See How to Format C for instructions on formatting the C drive.
The first of several formatting details which we'll cover over the next several steps is the volume label, which is essentially a name given to the hard drive.
In the Volume label textbox, enter whatever name you'd like to give to the drive.
If the drive had a previous name and that makes sense for you, by all means keep it.
Drive letters are assigned during the Windows partitioning process but can easily be changed after the format is complete. See How to Change Drive Letters after the format process is done if you'd like to do that.
Next up is the file system choice. In the File system textbox, choose NTFS.
NTFS is the most recent file system available and is almost always the best choice. Only choose FAT32 (FAT — which is actually FAT16 — isn't available unless the drive is 2 GB or smaller) if you are specifically told to do so by a program's instructions that you're planning on using on the drive. This is not common.
In the Allocation unit size textbox, choose Default. The best allocation size based on the size of the hard drive will be chosen.
Kotor 2 not working on windows 10. It's not at all common to set a custom allocation unit size when formatting a hard drive in Windows.
Next is the Perform a quick format checkbox. Windows will check this box by default, suggesting that you do a 'quick format' but we recommend that you uncheck this box so that a 'standard format' is performed.
In a standard format, each individual 'part' of the hard drive, called a sector, is checked for errors and overwritten with a zero — a sometimes painfully slow process. This procedure ensures that the hard drive is physically working as expected, that each sector is a reliable place to store data, and that existing data is unrecoverable.
In a quick format, this bad sector search and basic data sanitization is skipped entirely and Windows assumes that the hard drive is free of errors. A quick format is very fast.
You, of course, can do whatever you like — either method will get the drive formatted. However, especially for older and brand new drives, we'd prefer to take our time and do the error checking right now instead of letting our important data do the testing for us later on. The data sanitization aspect of a full format is nice, too, if you're planning on selling or disposing of this drive.
The final format option is the Enable file and folder compression setting that is unchecked by default, which we recommend sticking with.
The file and folder compression feature allows you to choose files or folders to be compressed and decompressed on the fly, potentially offering considerable savings on hard drive space. The downside here is that performance can be equally affected, making your day-to-day Windows use much slower than it would be without compression enabled.
File and folder compression has little use in today's world of very large and very inexpensive hard drives. In all but the rarest occasions, a modern computer with a large hard drive is better off protecting all the processing power it can and skipping on the hard drive space savings.
Review the settings you've made in the last several steps and then click OK.
Volume label: [label of your choosing]
File system: NTFS
Allocation unit size: Default
Perform a quick format: unchecked
Enable file and folder compression: unchecked
Look back at whatever previous steps you need to if you're wondering why these are the best options.
Windows is usually pretty good about warning you before you might do something damaging, and a hard drive format is no exception.
Click OK to the warning message about formatting the drive.
Just as the warning says, all the information on this drive will be erased if you click OK. You can't cancel the format process halfway through and expect to have half of your data back. As soon as this starts, there's no going back. There's no reason for this to be scary but we do want you to understand the finality of a format.
You can check the progress by watching the Formatting: xx% indicator under the Status column in the top part of Disk Management or in the graphical representation of your hard drive in the bottom section.
If you chose a quick format, your hard drive should only take several seconds to format. If you chose the standard format, which we suggested, the time it takes the drive to format will depend almost completely on the size of the drive. A small drive will take a small amount of time to format and a very large drive will take a very long time to format.
Your hard drive's speed, as well as your overall computer's speed, play some part but the size is the biggest variable.
In the next step, we'll look at whether the format completed as planned.
Disk Management in Windows won't flash a big 'Your Format is Complete!' message, so after the format percentage indicator reaches 100%, wait a few seconds and then check again under Status and make sure it's listed as Healthy like your other drives.
You may notice that now that the format is complete, the volume label has changed to what you set it as (New Drive in our case) and the % Free is listed at 100%. There's a little overhead involved so don't worry if your drive isn't completely empty.
That's it! Your hard drive has been formatted and it's ready for use in Windows. You can use the new drive however you want — back up files, store music, and videos, etc.
If you'd like to change the drive letter assigned to this drive, now is the best time to do that. See How to Change a Drive Letter for help.
Formatting Deletes Data — but Doesn't Always Erase It
When you format a drive in Windows, data may or may not truly be erased. Depending on your version of Windows, and the type of format, it's possible the data is still there, hidden from Windows and other operating systems but still accessible in certain situations.
See How to Wipe a Hard Drive for instructions on truly removing all the information on a hard drive and Wipe vs Shred vs Delete vs Erase: What's the Difference? for some helpful clarification.
If the hard drive you're reformatting won't ever need to be used again, you can skip the format and the wipe, and physically or magnetically destroy it instead. See How to Completely Erase a Hard Drive for more on these other methods.
More on Formatting Hard Drives in Windows
If you want to format your hard drive so you can install Windows again from scratch, your hard drive will be automatically formatted as part of that process. See How to Clean Install Windows for more on that.
Not happy with the drive letter that Windows assigned during the partitioning process? You're welcome to change it at any time! See How to Change Drive Letters in Windows to learn how.
You can also format a hard drive via Command Prompt using the format command. See Format Command: Examples, Switches, & More for details on how to do that.
Transfer Windows 10 To New Drive
In order for an OS to function properly, it needs to be upgraded at regular intervals. However, with time and upgrades, your hard disk also requires an upgrade, when you don’t have empty space.
No matter how the upgrade of HDD or Operating system of your Windows computer helps it in functionality but it also poses a risk of losing data and your files. That’s when you need a disk cloning software for your Windows 10, 8, 7 and older versions.
List of Contents
Best Disk Cloning And Disk Imaging Software For Windows PC
As we know how important your data is to you, we have listed some of the best cloning software for your Windows 10, 8, 7 and older versions. Not just this, but most of them also double as great disk imaging software. So without further ado, let’s have a look!
1. EaseUS Todo Backup Home
EaseUS Todo Backup Home is a disk mirroring software which helps you to keep your system protected and backs up all your data whenever you need it. Let’s take a look at the features of the EaseUS Todo Backup Home:
Features:
It restores your data quickly and easily in case of hardware failures, hardware upgrade, viruses and more.
The software automatically backs up to keep your data, hard disk, partition and your OS protected.
It gives you the option to either take a complete backup of your computer or take backup of specific file or folder.
It supports to backup files or folder on cloud storage such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive.
This hard disk clone software is efficient enough to take backup of HDD and SSD backups when you are replacing your disk or upgrading it. The software is capable of keeping your data safe from malware and other infections. Read Full Review
2. Paragon Drive Copy
A disk duplicator software, Paragon Drive Copy Professional comes in handy if you want to store data, migrate your data, manage partitioning or backup your data. Let’s take a look at the features of the Paragon Drive Copy Professional:
Features:
It effectively backs up, migrates data irrespective of location and environment.
You can also create virtual clones of a PC quickly.
Copy or Restore data to an HDD with a different sector size easily.
It enables you to migrate Windows to new storage devices, take backup & reinstate your data and system in an organized manner.
This hard disk clone software is capable of cloning your hard disk to a larger driver. Also, you can migrate your computer data to a new HDD. With its inbuilt feature, you can restore all types of backup files created by the software. It also acts as disk partitioning tool which lets you do standard partitioning functions to organize your disk.
Also Read: 10 Best PC Cleaner Software For Windows 10, 8, 7
How To Clone A Hard Drive Windows 8.1
3. Acronis True Image
Acronis True Image is what the name says, an awesome HDD cloning tool. The software is quite comprehensive, copper-bottomed, easy to use. Let’s take a quick look on features of Acronis True Image:
Features:
It enables you to take a full image or mirror image backups of your system and data. This means you can get an exact replica of system disk or a specific partition.
You can clone all your data, be it OS, files, programs settings and more to larger or faster disk. What makes it best, is that you can clone an active Windows system to either a local drive or external storage.
Convert full image backups into a virtual hard disk format and test different system settings and apps or run your system on a virtual machine.
It comes with Ransomware protection, with artificial intelligence & machine learning-based technology, it effectively detects and stops ransomware.
This disk cloning software solves almost all concerns related to data, whether it is managing data backups, backing up your system or individual files or folder, monitors potential threats. Moreover, your data stays secure with military-grade AES-256 encryption, no matter where is it!
4. Macrium Reflect
Yet another hard disk clone software, Macrium Reflect is the best option if you are looking for a disk cloning or imaging software as it is fast, dependable and innovation. Let’s take a look at the features of Macrium Reflect:
Features
It creates an accurate image of your HDD, or partitions on the disk. So, if you lose your files or your system fails, you can restore the data with the image.
Create a backup of whole partitions or special files, images and more in the form of a single compressed mountable archive file.
It supports MBR and GPT disk.
You can recover partitions or entire disk images with a few clicks.
The software clones the disk fast with the help of Rapid Delta Cloning.
This hard drive cloning software mount images in Windows Explorer for easy item-level recovery. With Rapid Delta Restore you can recover your images in a few seconds. Moreover, it safeguards your backup files from ransomware with its Macrium Image Guardian.
Also Read: Best Driver Updater Software For Windows 10, 8, 7
5. Nova Backup PC
NovaBackup PC is simple, yet powerful disk duplicator software which is quite easy to use. It comes with best backup protection. Let’s take a look at the features of Nova Backup PC:
Features:
Clone Hard Drive Windows 10
The software comes with extensive backup options, you can back up with either image level backup or file level backup. The former lets you backup specific files and folders. On the other hand, the latter option enables you to backup your complete hard drive.
It protects your data with military-grade, 256-bit AES encryption, so your files are always safe.
You can schedule backups to automatically backup files to backup bit-level or incremental changes.
You can manage local and cloud backup on one interface. It totally works with free cloud storage such as OneDrive and Dropbox.
This cloning software takes a backup all your data from an operating system to email setting preferences and more. In the event of any disaster, you can get your data back within no time due to the fast restore process.
6. Hard Disk Manager 16
Hard Disk Manager 16 Professional is a disk mirroring software which is feasible and can be anyone whether you are pro or novice. It organizes your disk, takes care of performance and capacity of storage space. Let’s take a look at the features of Hard Disk Manager 16 Professional:
Features:
It enables to transfer systems within a few seconds, uses physical & virtual devices as per preferences.
The software is also a free cloning software which works in protected mode. In this mode, you can preview the changes, and apply the changes once you are sure. You can also undo the changes by going one step backward.
It comes with basic partitioning which helps you to keep your system organized.
In worst cases, if your system is affected by malware or other infections, you can recover your data and work on your system, with all the apps functioning with little or no data loss.
The hard drive cloning software can also resize the partitions with ease to maximize available storage space. You can use the software for destroying your data forever, in case you are scrapping your computer. You can relocate your Windows while you are working.
Also Read: 10 Best Duplicate File Finder and Remover Software for Windows
7. CloneZilla
Clonezilla is another in the list of best disk cloning software which can be used to do system deployment, recovery and more. It is available in two versions: Clonezilla live and Clonezilla SE(server edition which can clone 40 computer together). Let’s check out the features of Clonezilla:
Features:
You can get the image file anywhere such as on local disk, samba server, ssh server, NFS server, or WebDAV server.
It supports both GPT and MBR partition formats of a hard drive, Clonezilla live can be booted on a BIOS or uEFI machine as well.
The software supports Unattended mode. You can work on all the steps via options and commands. With boot parameters, you can customize disk cloning and imaging.
You can restore a single image to more than one local device. The image created can be encrypted for protection with ecryptfs, a POSIX-compliant enterprise cryptographic stacked filesystem.
This HDD clone tool uses AES-256 encryption whether you store, access and transfer your data. Clonezilla consisting of some programs can save and restore partitions as well as whole disk.
8. Drive Image XML
A best free cloning software, Drive Image XML also available in a commercial edition is a good option to create an image and backup your computer’s drives and partitions. Let’s check out the features of Drive Image XML:
Features:
You can create backup and restore images to same or different drives.
You can schedule automatic backups, so you always have current data backed up.
It is a simple and reliable software for quickly creating backup and images for partitions and drives.
While creating Image, the software uses Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Services (VSS) so that you can create safe “hot images” even from the drive still in use. The images are stored in XML files, so you can process them with 3rd party tools as well.
DriveImage XML is available in Private Edition and Commercial Edition. The commercial edition is used by organization running businesses and they can also install the software on a customer’s computer. The support is, however, only available for Commercial Edition.
Also Read:10 Best Disk Defrag Software for Windows
9. MiniTool Partition Wizard
MiniTool Partition Wizard is a free partitioning tool which also acts as a disk imaging software. The software works towards optimizing disk space and safeguard your data. Let’s take a look at the features of MiniTool Partition Wizard:
Features:
You can resize the partition to resolve low disk space problem. For that, you can use “Move/Resize Partition” & “Extend Partition” and organize the disk space with ease.
You can copy a disk partition, whether you want to back up your data or copy disk partition if your computer is troubled.
You can use the tool to merge adjoining partitions and make it one and manage space on your system
You can migrate OS to new SSD/HDD or take a backup successfully of your OS to restore the system.
With MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can easily perform functions such as create, format, edit, delete, split and more on your partitions. It also converts a non-system disk from GPT to MBR and vice versa without any data loss to support bigger drive or full OS.
10. Daemon Tools Pro 8
DAEMON Tools Pro 8 is a powerful disk mirroring software which is capable of mounting all famous forms of images from app or explorer. Let’s look at the features of Daemon Tools Pro 8:
Features:
It has TrueCrypt containers which can store sensitive and confidential data. You can create both Fixed and Dynamic virtual hard disks
It can emulate up to 32 HD, DT & SCSI drives simultaneously along with 4 IDE devices. You can append virtual drives to physical drives and change the settings with the emulation process.
You can convert, compress & protect your image files by keeping a password.
You can also create raw disk image file from USB tool content and burn Raspberry Pi operating system to SD card.
The disc imaging tool keeps you updated about the gaming industry via media info panel. The software has a classic interface and enables you to access DAEMON Tools Pro features through Windows Explorer.
11. Active@ Disk Image
Active@ Disk Image for Windows is a hard disk clone tool which can make a replica copy of any of the disks such as HDD, USB, SSD, CD, DVD, Blu-ray and saves it into a folder. Let’s take a look at the Active@Disk Image features:
Features:
The disk images created, can be used by backups, PC upgrades, also disk duplication purposes.
You can use a backup image to recover your computer system in case of system failure and also can restore important files within an image.
The software enables you to mount images to virtual drives.
It encrypts image with (AES-128, AES-192, AES-256) to make sure that your data is secure.
The hard drive duplicator tool can create & restore the disk image. You can schedule backups to make sure you have a copy of your data in case your system fails. The app is available for free, Standard and Pro version.
12. AOMEI Backupper
AOMEI Backupper is a one-stop solution to backup, restore, sync, and clone your Windows system, important data, and apps. Let’s take a look at the features of AOMEI Backupper:
Features:
It is used to clone HDD to SDD, SDD to SDD, HDD to HDD, if you want to upgrade your disk or migrate your data.
It is a data protection tool which also works as a disaster recovery solution for your computers.
There are four types of backups such as Automatic, incremental, full and differential backups to make your backup tasks easy.
It can create a WinPE or Linux bootable drive for unbootable computers.
The disk duplicator software is a tool which syncs files and folders in real time from source to target without any delay. It has a feature to automatically delete backup images from older date to save back data space. You can create a backup, restore files and carry out clone operations either from the command prompt or by creating batch scripts.
13. O&O DiskImage 12
O&O Disk Image 12 is another one of disk cloning software which enables you to create an exact replica of your hard drive, then you can restore the backup whenever you want on a machine with different hardware. Let’s check out the features of O&O Disk Image 12:
Features:
Backup and restore your files or the entire system, so if you suffer data loss, you can restore your valuable data with a few clicks.
The app supports SSD drives, and also the UEFI system.
You can opt for a regular backup so that you never lose your data even if your system is hacked or computer is stolen.
The software saves all the personal files as well as HDD information and individual settings.
The hard disk clone software comes with additional system recovery tools with O&O Disk Image With this you can quickly restore all your important data. You can save data on an external hard disk as well. The software comes with machine-independent restoration, so this means that your old backup file will be transferred 1:1 on to the machine.
14. PING
PING is called a live Linux ISO, developed on the basis of excellent LFS (Linux From Scratch )documentation. It is used to burn CD and integrate into a TFTP/ PXE environment. Let’s look at the features of PING:
Features:
You can backup and restore files or partitions on a local or public network. You can also backup and restore BIOS data.
You can burn a bootable DVD/CD or you can integrate within a RIS/PXE environment.
You can make partitions and format your disk before starting an installation process on Windows.
It gives you a possibility to Blank local administrator password.
Ping, a free cloning tool which works well and has a simple and easy to use interface. You need to get Ping and then you will have the best available Linux toolbox for rescuing a system.
15. R-Drive Image
R-Drive Image is an efficient utility which can help to create disk image files, backup and also duplicate files or disk. Disk image file comes with features like a byte-by-byte copy of a hard drive, exact, partitioning or creating the logical disk on an active Windows. Let’s take a look at the features of R-Drive Image:
Features:
Disk Imaging files can be saved in various locations for example: detachable media like CD-R(W)/DVD, Jazz disks or Iomega Zip.
The software restores the disk images to the desired location, be it the on original disks or other partitions within a few seconds.
In order to restore your Windows, R-Drive Image is changed to pseudo-graphic mode straight from Windows
It can reinstate your Windows quickly no matter your system has gone through virus attack, OS crash, hardware failure.
R-Drive Image is simple interface software which can easily work on image /copy/restore partitions clasped by the OS. It can compress image files to save storage space. It gives you an option to take a backup of the entire system or specific file or folder. It also helps in copying the entire disk to another.
What is Disk Cloning Software and Why do We Need it?
Disk Cloning is a method to create an uncompressed duplicate of your system’s hard drive on some other drive. The software should be used as a precautionary measure so that you don’t suffer data loss or system settings loss. With the cloning software, you can easily swap current hard drive to SSD, replace a failing drive, and more. As you clone your drive, it saves your system data, software installed and more. You can also use hard drive cloning software for regular cloning.
People often misinterpret Disk imaging software for disk cloning software. These are much likely related to each other, but both are used for different purposes.
Difference Between Disk Imaging & Disk Cloning
Disk Cloning & Disk Imaging are two methods which complete the same task. Their objective is to copy hard drive contents. Disk Imaging takes a backup of your hard drive in a compressed file. The use of both the tools is similar but the result is somewhat different. Disk Cloning produces an exact replica of the hard drive but Disk Imaging creates an archive of a hard drive. You can use Disk Imaging copy of hard drive to create the one-to-one copy.
Get A Tool To Create A Clone Of Your Disk on Windows 10, 8, 7 PC:
Getting a disk imaging software or disk cloning software for your computer is mandatory if you want to clone or make a disk image. Now you can restore, copy, clone or create partitions on your hard disk and restore your data on any of the computer or HDD anytime you need.
So, these are some of the best Disk Cloning software available on Windows 10, 8, 7 and older versions. Try them and let us know what worked for you in the comments below.
If you find that your old hard drive is bursting at the seams and you want to upgrade to a larger one, it’s really easy to do so without losing any of your data.
This is thanks to a process called disk cloning. Cloning a hard drive means that you take your old, existing drive and create an exact, bit-for-bit copy to a new one. When you plug the new one in, your computer will boot right up from it without skipping a beat, and without you having to reinstall Windows from scratch. This can be accomplished with free software and usually less than an hour of your time (maybe more if you’re moving a lot of data).
RELATED:How to Migrate Your Windows Installation to a Solid-State Drive
This guide assumes you’re upgrading to a larger drive than your current one. If you’re moving to a drive with less space, like an SSD, you’ll want to check out this guide instead, since there are a few more steps involved in that process.
What You Need
Before you begin, you’ll of course need your new hard drive, but there are a few other things as well:
A way to connect both hard drives to your computer. If you have a desktop computer, then you can usually just install your new hard drive alongside your old hard drive in the same machine to clone it. If you’re using a laptop, however, this usually isn’t possible, so you’ll need to buy something like a SATA-to-USB cable (shown right), which will let you connect a hard drive to your laptop via USB. If you’re upgrading a mechanical 3.5″ hard drive with spinning platters, and you want to use a SATA-to-USB wire, it will need to have an external power source. Something like this model should be more than enough to accommodate any kind of drive you throw at it. (2.5″ drives will not need this.) You can also install your new drive in an external hard drive enclosure before you start the migration process, though that’s a bit more time consuming.
A copy of EaseUS Todo Backup. Its free version has all the features we need to accomplish the task in front of us, so download the free version and install it like you would any other Windows program.
A backup of your data. Even though you’re copying your drive, we recommend having a backup before you start big, data-writing processes such as this one. Check out our guide to backing up your computer, and make sure you have a full backup of your important data before continuing.
A Windows system repair disc. This is a just-in-case tool. On the off chance that your Master Boot Record gets corrupted, you’ll be able to pop in the Windows repair disc and fix it in a matter of minutes. Follow these instructions for Windows 7, and these instructions for Windows 8 or 10. Don’t forget to print off a copy of our guide to repairing the bootloader so you’re ready to fix it if you need to. No really. Do it. Burn that CD and print that article—having it on hand will save you the hassle of finding another computer to create the boot CD on if you need it.
RELATED:7 Ways To Free Up Hard Disk Space On Windows
Since you’re doing some housekeeping anyway, this may also be a good time to delete any files you don’t need. A clean house is a happy house (or hard drive, as the case may be).
How to Clone Your Hard Drive with EaseUS Todo Backup
With your hard drives plugged in and ready to go, it’s time to move on to the big show. Once you have installed the EaseUS application, go ahead and run it, then choose “Clone” in the upper-right corner.
Our system drive has three partitions: a small boot partition in the front, our main system partition in the middle, and a small recovery partition at the end. We want to clone the entire disk, these partitions included, so check the box next to the disk’s name (in our case, “Hard Disk 2” and click Next. Make sure you’re selecting the correct drive! It should say “C:” somewhere on one of the partitions.
Choosing your target drive should be obvious. It will likely be the big, empty one (if the drive has never been used before). Just make sure you choose the right one, as this will erase anything currently on that drive!
Place a checkmark next to that drive and click the “Edit” button to the right of it. We’ll need to do a quick partition check before continuing.
In our case, our partitions are not set up ideally. The EaseUS application is trying to clone our old drive using the same size partitions on our new drive—even though we’re moving to a drive with more space! So, we need to fix that.
Remember, there’s a small recovery partition at the end of our system partition. Right now, it’s butted up against our Windows partition, leaving over 700 GB of unallocated space at the end of the drive. We have to select that partition and move it to the end of our hard drive. Just click on that tiny partition and drag it all the way to the right. (Make sure you’re moving the partition, not resizing it).
Now we can select our system drive and expand it to fill up the new unallocated space between the end of our system partition and beginning of our relocated recovery partition. Click and drag on the edge to expand (not move) the partition.
If you’re moving from a smaller drive to a larger one, it is likely you will encounter this problem, so make sure you resize your partitions before you proceed any further. When you’re done, you can click “OK” to continue.
Once everything checks out and you’re ready to continue, go ahead and click “Proceed” to start the cloning process.
How long it takes will depend upon the speed of your computer and drives, as well as how much data you’re moving. This can take anywhere from about 15 minutes to over an hour.
Our operation took just over 50 minutes. When finished, click “Finish” and it’s done.
Booting From Your New Drive
Now it’s time to point your computer to your new system drive. On most computers, this is pretty easy. You just need to power down your computer, remove the old drive, and insert the new one into the same socket. Power the computer back up and it should boot as if nothing happened.
RELATED:How to Boot Your Computer From a Disc or USB Drive
If you’re using a desktop computer and keeping both drives, you have a few choices. You can either put the new drive in the old one’s socket and plug the old drive in elsewhere (so the computer boots from the new one automatically), or leave it where it is and adjust your BIOS settings so your computer boots from the new drive. either works.
If you want to check to make sure that everything worked as intended, right-click on your C: drive and again check the properties. Make sure it has the correct amount of space—if it doesn’t, your computer probably booted into the old drive.
That’s it! Now that your new system drive is installed and working, you can do with the old drive as you please. Just make sure that everything is copacetic before you erase the old drive or delete any of the data.
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