PowerPoint for the web Turn your ideas into compelling presentations using professional-looking templates. Softonic review. It's free. However, mjcrosoft does require you to enter a credit card number. Best Budget Laptops.
Step 4. Then you can see a note which reads "To boot from the new disk, please configure computer BIOS settings. Make sure the new disk is configured as the default boot disk. Step 5. Finally, you need to press the Apply button located on the toolbar to start hard drive cloning process.
When finished, you will find all your files stay intact on the original drive and the target drive has an exact same copy. Free Download. Want to know more information about how to successfully boot computer from the new hard drive? Recommend this tool to all of you.
In fact, MiniTool also puts forward another free cloning software to clone hard drives which is called MiniTool ShadowMaker. Although it is mainly designed for Windows backup, it also comes with useful Clone Disk feature. Now you know how to clone hard drive by using MiniTool free cloning software. Here I would like to put forward some tips to help you deal with cloning issue better.
When dealing with backup issue, cloning or imaging is always the question asked by many users. Many people choose to make a disk image, while many prefer hard drive cloning. Before I state my opinion, I would like to start with cloning VS.
Imaging is frequently used for preventative backup , which means you never know when you need the backup image for data restoration.
Today most disk imaging software offer schedule backup feature, and you can set to back up files daily, weekly, or monthly. Besides, incremental backup and differential backup are provided, making it possible to save hard disk space. If something bad happens, you can have the original image for restoration purposes without having to reinstall Windows and other applications.
Disk cloning is more significant for hard drive replacement or hard drive upgrading , which means probably you will use the destination disk right away. When you clone a hard drive, actually you are cloning the entire contents of the drive instead of creating an image file.
The only issue you need to concern is that you need to have another physical hard drive that is large enough to contain all data in the original drive. During the cloning process, all files on the target disk will be cleaned so be sure that you are operating the right disk. The conclusion here is: although cloning and imaging both back up and restore data, whether to choose cloning or imaging all depends on what you want to accomplish. In a word, for frequent backup issue, imaging software is better; for hard drive upgrading issue, free hard drive cloning software should be given the priority.
In this post, I mainly tell why you need to clone hard drive, which tool is best for hard drive clone, how to use it to clone hard drive, the differences between cloning and imaging, and several tips on hard drive cloning.
Hope all these information is helpful in dealing with your hard drive copy issues. Now it's your turn to have a try. Just download the best free drive copy software and start cloning hard drive.
I believe you can do everything smoothly as long as you follow this guide correctly. For any suggestions or questions towards using MiniTool software, please contact [email protected] or leave us comments below. Much appreciated! Rodin is an enthusiastic IT writer focusing on Windows trends, disk partition management and data recovery.
She loves to write and share her idea about the useful tips and tricks on personal computers' maintenance. If you are looking for methods to improve your computer performance, manage hard drives and recover data from different devices, Rodin can provide reliable solutions for data management.
Partition Wizard. Download Partition Wizard. Sometimes you might see backup software titles advertising the fact that they can make full system image backups! Simply put, in cases where a PC might be made up of more than one hard disk, the backup software will be able to automatically create multiple images of all connected hard disks which are in-use as a part of the same backup set i. NB � I think the confusion between disk cloning and disk imaging often comes from the fact that, whilst disk cloning could be used as a form of backup albeit an inefficient one , disk imaging could equally be used to create a clone of a hard drive albeit making the process slightly longer than it otherwise needs to be and slower than direct drive-to-drive cloning.
For example, if I had created an image-based backup of my entire hard drive using disk imaging backup software and then swapped out my existing hard disk for a new one, I could then recover the entire old disk using the image backup I took earlier on onto the new disk assuming I had some emergency boot software to boot the system into beforehand and perform the recovery from within. This process, albeit involving slightly more work, would have the same net result as simply cloning the existing disk onto the new disk directly!
Should I ever need to recover my PC to this original cloned state then I could then simply clone the secondary disk back onto my primary disk using some disk cloning software potentially a very useful option when facing issues such as malware damage to a system, but any user data would still most likely need to be backed-up else ware given this approach, in effect, only allows for a single version of the system to be kept. Of course, both of these aforementioned methods would work fine, but it is often simpler to stick to image-based backups and direct disk to disk cloning for their intended purposes so as to gain the maximum benefits from each approach.
No, Windows 10 does not currently contain any built-in disk cloning software as of time of writing in December This means if you do wish to clone a hard drive containing a Windows 10 system then third-party disk cloning software must be used! This is not too much of a problem, however, as you will see further down in this guide, I have collated together some reviews of my favourite free disk cloning software titles to help make the process of choosing such software much easier!
This means when you are ready to clone your existing hard disk containing Windows 10, you can do so at very little or zero cost should you need to! SSD disk drives have become very popular in recent years due to the increased operating speed they offer as well as the continuously deceasing costs and larger capacities as the technology becomes ever more affordable.
If you are currently running Windows 10 on an older mechanical hard disk then I would strongly recommend looking into an SSD upgrade as soon as possible to help in obtaining a much faster system! The decision of whether to make use of disk cloning or disk image backups depends upon the process being completed. On the other hand, should you wish to keep multiple copies of said original disk and potentially store them longer term in a disk space efficient manor, then disk image backup software will be the best solution.
NB � Remember, although usually a longer process then direct disk-to-disk coning, making a disk image backup of a disk and then resorting the image to another disk will provide the same net result as direct disk-to-disk cloning! Generally speaking, when cloning an existing and working system disk, everything on said disk will be copied across to the new disk meaning it will also be bootable by default! If you do perform such an operation, be sure to either remove the old drive before re-booting your system on the new disk or, alternatively, using your motherboards BIOS or UEFI settings, change the device boot order so as the new disk is set to be booted from first!
Yes, cloning a disk drive copies across all data on a basis! This means everything on an existing drive, including the operating system, all installed software application, user data and system configuration settings, will also be copied across to the new disk! In most circumstances there is usually no requirement to wipe a disk before cloning an existing disk drive across to it! One possible exception to this rule is when the new cloned disk is to potentially be passed on to another person or sold, in such cases it might be wise to perform a secure wiping of the drive and all prior data before commencing the cloning process!
When cloning a device under normal circumstances, the disk cloning software in-use will most likely streamline the process by automatically detecting and omitting any bad sectors or free disk space form from the source disk during the cloning process. This optimised running mode which is usually the default cloning mode will often result in a quicker operation whilst importantly still ensuring that all in-use data is copied across to the new device!
If it is the case that bad hard disk sectors or any existing free space are also to be copied across to the new disk e. No, disk cloning software will automatically adjust a cloned image to make use of any larger target hard disks when asked to do so something which is usually done by default and, if turned off, will simply leave any free space on the target disk unallocated.
Cloning from a larger hard disk to a smaller one is possible, however, the part of the disk in-use actually containing the data must be smaller than the total size of the smaller newer disk for this approach to work! Hopefully, by this point in this guide, you will understand a little better the reasons for using disk cloning software and the benefits it can bring as a PC user. As was mentioned a little earlier on, Windows 10 or any other recent version of Windows will not include any disk cloning software by default, this means if you are looking to clone a Windows system then you must obtain such software from a third-party developer, some of which as are listed below.
As always, be sure to check the details of each disk cloning solution listed below very carefully if you are planning to make any purchases and, if possible, always try to take advantage of any free trials to make sure any given solution works for you and your own needs before making any purchases! One of key functions of Partition Master is that it allows for the cloning of both individual partitions as well as entire disks directly across to any target disks. It also has the ability to merge, resize or move as well as re-order any partitions on an active disk making it a very powerful piece of free disk cloning technology which is capable of performing many commonly used disk management functions.
Other functionality included within Partition Master includes being able to automatically optimise operations for SSD disk drives with 4K alignment support , perform file system integrity checks, change partition names and labels within Windows and even perform secure disk cleaning as and when it is required to permanently erase an entire partition or disk.
Whilst this free version of Partition Master is a very capable tool with many disk cloning features included, an upgraded version also exists in the form of Partition Master Pro. This upgraded version builds upon the free version and brings with it additional functionality including support for re-sizing dynamic volumes, converting dynamic volumes back to basic volumes, support for Windows storage spaces and tools for building advanced WinPE recovery media amongst many others!
More detail on both editions can be found via the official EaseUS website! Reflect 8 Free is the latest free disk backup and cloning software from Macrium, a company with a great reputation for producing solid and reliable image-based backup software!
This free edition of Reflect 8 is actually a slightly cut-down version of the premium Macrium Reflect 8 Home edition which features more advanced disk-imaging tools, settings, backup functionality and greater disk cloning functionality overall. This free version does, however, allow for direct disk to disk cloning of active systems, the making of ad-hoc image-based backups of disks to a file, full support for SSD migrations including 4k optimisations plus the ability to automatically resize partitions for larger disk drives when applicable.
Also included in this free version of Reflect 8 is a very useful WinPE based recovery media builder. This means that, thanks to the ability of Reflect 8 Free to also perform disk-image backups, this free tool can also form a very useful disk image-based recovery tool in its own right with the ability to recover an otherwise un-bootable system thanks to this very useful addition.
Also available alongside this free edition is the fully featured Macrium Reflect 8 Home edition, an upgraded version which brings with it additional features including rapid delta cloning and disk-image restores, ransomware protection features, AES bit encryption and support for intra-daily scheduling of automated backups amongst many other features.
More information on Reflect 8 Free and its impressive disk cloning capabilities can be found via the official Macrium website.
DiskGenius is a highly functional and free-to-use disk management utility for Windows PC users! It is a tool which, amongst many other features, provides the ability to directly clone hard disks and migrate existing systems to new SSD drives with ease!
Whilst a premium version of DiskGenius does also exist, this free version is still very powerful and features many useful disk and partition management functions alongside the core disk cloning and disk migration tools which see it feature in this guide.
This means with DiskGenius Free we can split, move, resize, hide and unhide partitions, migrate entire disks to new disks with 4K optimisation for SSD disks , create image-based backups of entire disks or partitions to a file and, via the recovery media builder, restore systems from these same disk image backups. Other tools included in DiskGenius Free include those for securely wiping entire disk drives and partitions, tools for the verification and repair of bad sectors, the monitoring of hard drive SMART information plus the ability to convert MBR disks to GPT and vice versa amongst many others.
The upgraded version of DiskGenius, DiskGenius Standard, brings additional functionality over and above that in the free version including sector-by-sector copying, file and partition recovery tools, support for cloning dynamic disks plus the ability to convert dynamic disks back to basic disks amongst other additional features. More information on all DiskGenius software can be found via the official DiskGenius website.
Partition Wizard allows both full disks and individual partitions to be cloned as well as the resizing, reordering, creating, merging, formatting and splitting of partitions on the disk as might be necessary. Unfortunately, as of this latest version, MiniTool have set some restrictions on the free version meaning an active system disk cannot be copied nor can such active system disks be migrated directly to SSD drives or converted from MBR to GPT along with a few other restrictions.
Also available in addition this limited free edition is MiniTool Partition Assistant Pro, an upgraded version of the application with many additional features included making for a fully-functional disk cloning and disk management tool. Additions which can be found in the Pro version include support for cloning active system disks and migrating directly to SSD drives with 4K alignment support , full support for managing dynamic disks, WinPE recovery tools, the ability to convert from NTFS to FAT plus many more disk management tools making for a big upgrade from the free to use version!
Featuring many useful disk management utilities built-in to the app itself, Partition Assistant allows for the cloning of disk drives alongside functionality for resizing, merging, splitting and formatting of partitions plus other tools for checking partitions and performing disk surface tests which might also be required during the disk cloning process.
Also available alongside this free version is the upgraded Partition Assistant Professional edition. This upgraded version builds upon the free-to-use edition bringing many new features including support for directly migrating active operating system disks between disk types e.
To use this product for business purposes, you must obtain a license. Using this free backup software, you can back up and restore your data, or even restore to bare metal. Department of Agriculture. I highly recommend using the free version to try out the software. If it fits the bill, pony up for the full version or even the server version.
Paragon will run on any version of Windows, version 7 SP1 and newer. With one of these five, you should now have that solution in hand. But each of them should allow you to clone a source disk to target disk to make your disaster recovery plan come to life. As a freebie, I thought it worthwhile to mention the Linux dd command, which does a great job of cloning drives. You can use dd to create a disk image or a byte for byte copy. Your best bet is to boot the machine housing the drive with a live Linux distribution, find the name of the drive to be cloned, and issue a command like:.
What cloning tools have saved you when things when awry? Share your picks with fellow TechRepublic members. Stay up to date on the latest in technology with Daily Tech Insider. We bring you news on industry-leading companies, products, and people, as well as highlighted articles, downloads, and top resources. TechRepublic Premium content helps you solve your toughest IT issues and jump-start your career or next project.
Looking for the best payroll software for your small business? Check out our top picks for and read our in-depth analysis. Next year, cybercriminals will be as busy as ever. Are IT departments ready?
The company, which for several years has been on a buying spree for best-of-breed products, is integrating platforms to generate synergies for speed, insights and collaboration. Organize a number of different applicants using an ATS to cut down on the amount of unnecessary time spent finding the right candidate. Whether you are a Microsoft Excel beginner or an advanced user, you'll benefit from these step-by-step tutorials. Developing software in a modern business enterprise requires cooperation, collaboration and coordination.
Long gone are the days when a single mythical coder can single-handedly develop software applications sophisticated and flexible enough for modern business needs.
Successfully managing the development of quality software in such an environment requires a deft touch of experience. This is a Maintaining electronic communications in business involves walking a fine line. Employees want relevant information to be kept available for future reference so that they can do their jobs, but keeping these items long-term can pose security and resource risks. Clonezilla provides us with a terminal command which encapsulates all of the options we have just chosen.
Should we wish to run the process via a terminal, this command can be used. Press Y and Enter to begin the process. Make sure that everything is correct before moving onwards, there is no going back. Wait for the cloning process to finish. Depending on the size and speed of your drives, this can take some time.
The migration is complete and now we need to check that our OS boots and extend the partition to use all of the space on the drive. We used Windows 10, but the steps should be the same in Windows Swap in the new drive if you are not keeping both drives in the same computer.
Power on the computer and via the BIOS set the new drive as the boot drive. This is different for every machine, please refer to the motherboard manual. Open MiniTool and click on the recovery partition.
You may not have this partition in the same location, if there is no partition between the Windows install and the unallocated space, you can skip to step. Select the unallocated space, and then use the slider to select how much space you need. Click OK. We chose to use the maximum capacity of the drive. Get instant access to breaking news, in-depth reviews and helpful tips. Les Pounder is an associate editor at Tom's Hardware. He is a creative technologist and for seven years has created projects to educate and inspire minds both young and old.
He has worked with the Raspberry Pi Foundation to write and deliver their teacher training program "Picademy". US Edition. Be In the Know Get instant access to breaking news, in-depth reviews and helpful tips.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors. Les Pounder. Social Links Navigation. Topics Storage. See all comments Tutorial, how to make cloning so complicated, to scare you off completely. CloneZilla used to be good. However, it does NOT work when changing from a larger drive to a small.
In CZ, the target drive must be the same or larger than the source. Current tools are much easier to work with. They only take into account the actual data size, not the physical drive size. If not, we have to fix that first. Run the Macrium Reflect or Samsung Data Migration Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source.
You probably don't want that You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target larger drive Click on "Cloned Partition Properties" , and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing Click the 'Clone' button Wait until it is done When it finishes, power off Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD.
This is not optional. Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure. If it works, and it should, all is good. Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
WebApr 6, �� Macrium Reflect Free Edition touts itself as one of the fastest disk cloning utilities available. This hard drive cloning software supports only Windows file systems, . WebOct 9, �� Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD) If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may .