How To Clone A Hard Drive In Windows 10

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We all need to replace or clone a hard drive for various reasons. Whether we need more space or the current hard drive is corrupted or needs to be replaced. Whatever the reason is, the cloning of the hard drive is a crucial step and you need to make sure that you are doing everything right. Not all people are familiar with hard drive cloning in Windows 10 and this is where you need our help.
We know that switching from one hard drive to another can be a bit of an inconvenience for you but it is something that needs to be done as well. Since your hard drive contains all the necessary media and data of yours, you need to be extra careful so that you won’t lose it during the process. Copying can be an option but it would be time-consuming and tiresome work and that is why most people prefer cloning over copying as it is easy and time-efficient.
Since you are here, we take it that you are not familiar with cloning and also having a hard time as well. Don’t worry, we have got you covered. In this article, we are going to list out a number of ways to clone a hard drive in Windows 10. So just move ahead and take a look at the following ways, we are sure you would find something worthy which would make it easier to clone the hard drive in Windows 10.
Before Cloning:
There are some things that you need to take care of before you clone your hard drive in Windows 10. These things would make sure that your cloning is safe and secure.
  • Backup important data should be your priority. Even though it is a safe process and the chances of losing any data are highly unlikely, still it would be smart to be more careful and have a backup.
  • Check the used space before cloning the hard drive. You have to make sure that there is enough space in which you are cloning the data otherwise the whole operation would fail.
  • Convert dynamic disk to basic disk without losing any data first. So if you are working with a dynamic disk then first convert it and then start cloning.
Apart from this, you should also have screwdrivers to open the back of your laptop as well as prepare a 2.5″ SSD enclosure and SATA to USB cable SSD if you are running a Windows 10 laptop with only one hard drive slot.
There are a few ways to clone a hard drive in Windows 10 and these are the following:

How To Clone A Hard Drive In Windows 10

1. Creating a Windows 10 System Image

One of the most effective ways to clone a hard drive in Windows 10 is to create its system image. This would be helpful for those who are looking to clone a system drive containing your Windows 10 installation. It is a built-in method that was originally designed for Windows 7 PCs. This would clone your hard drive entirely and you would be able to copy it to a new drive later. This would be done if you are switching to a new drive with larger storage.
For this you will need to follow these steps:
  • Right-click on the Windows Start Menu and click on settings
  • From the Windows settings menu, go to the Update and Security
  • Then move to the Backup and next select the Backup and Restore option
  • This would open the backup and restore window. Here you need to go to the Create System Image (left-hand menu)
  • As the create system image window opens, you will need to select a location to save your disk image. There would be many options to choose from such as another hard drive, multiple DVDs, or a network drive. Once you have selected your desired location, you need to proceed by clicking on Next.
  •  If there are multiple drives connected to your system, you will need to select which drives you to wish to add to your system image.
  • Now the minimum storage requirement would be shown for the system image and if everything goes okay for you, you can proceed. Once you are ready, press Start Backup to begin the image creation.
This process may take some time to complete depending on the size of the system image and the drive or the file location you are using to save the image. Once the process is completed, you can use the new system image to restore your Windows installation on a new drive.

2. Using Third-Party Cloning Software

Using third-party cloning software might be an easy way to clone your hard drive in Windows 10. There is plenty of cloning software available to choose from as well and you can easily find one that would serve your needs and meet your requirements as well.
All the cloning software would be easy to use and have intuitive navigation too, so you can choose the one that you find most perfect for your cloning needs. Some of them are free while some of them are paid. The paid versions would be more reliable and trustworthy than the free ones, but you can try it with a free one after you have backed up all your data. You will need a second drive ready and installed or connected to your PC so that it can be done quickly and efficiently as well. Overall, using a third-party cloning application doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

3. Using a Hard Drive Duplicator

If using a third-party cloning software isn’t something you would want and desire, then you can also try using a Hard Drive Duplicator. Some people do find cloning via the software tiresome and complicated process, in this case, the hard drive duplicator might be your best shot. These devices would allow you to clone a drive independently making it a good option if you aren’t able to connect a second drive to your PC.
The good thing is the hard drive duplicators (most of them) support both the USB and SATA connectivity. This allows you to copy a standard drive to a USB External drive. It would fully wipe out your drive and if you are copying files to a new drive, it would also allow you to quickly repurpose the older drive afterward.
You can also choose to go with a multi-drive duplicator, with it, you would be able to clone your hard drive to multiple drives at once. This would allow you to deploy the same installation of Windows to multiple PCs. Overall, it might be the simplest way of cloning your hard drive, especially if you are struggling with cloning software or system image creation.

4. Transferring Files in Windows 10

Transferring the files in Windows 10 is a safe and secure way to clone your hard drive. This may be a little time-consuming and tiresome, but in the end, it still is the best option. Transferring Files in Windows 10 isn’t that hard and you can easily do so as well.
If you don’t want to do this manually, you can always use software like Macrium Reflect which would help you to copy your files. When you would have the right backup with you, you would be less worried about cloning or losing your data. So you may as well give it a try while cloning the hard drive in Windows 10.

Reasons Why You Should Clone Your Hard Drive?

There are plenty of reasons why you should clone your hard drive and some of them are following:
A. Upgrading to larger capacity is one of the most common reasons among users to clone their hard drives. Besides, working on a PC with no space would only leave you irritated and annoyed as you will find it difficult to work efficiently and with full potential. So if you are struggling with low space, you may as well upgrade your hard drive with bigger space.
B. Better performance is another reason that makes a number of users clone their hard drives and switch to a bigger and better one. If there is low space in your computer or laptop, this would make it slower and you will find it difficult to work on it and the low space messages and alerts are pretty annoying too.

Conclusion

So these are some of the ways which can help you clone a hard drive in Windows 10. These are some of the simple steps that you would find and these are most likely to help you as well. A lot of users clone their hard drives with the aforementioned ways and find it convenient as well. These ways are convenient, time-efficient, and effective, so you can go with any of the aforementioned ways and clone a hard drive in Windows 10.
That would be all for now and we hope that you found everything you were looking for. Thank you and keep coming for more such helpful content in the future as well.

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