Hard Drive Cloning Software

[Livefree]

My windows 10 drive started running slow. I checked event viewer logs and it has a bad block. I ran chkdsk /f and it didn't help.


Is there a good disk cloning software that's used now, that will help me avoid doing a whole install of programs settings etc. to a new drive?


My concern is if I clone to a new drive, it may not read from the original drive due to the bad sector.


I used to work in Technology, but it was a while ago, and things have changed

 

[Jerry1]

I use AOMEI.

https://www.aomeitech.com/ab/standard.html

 

[target2019]

Run CHKDSK /F /R/X Command to Fix Hard Drive Errors Windows 10/11 [Full Guide 2023] https://www.easeus.com/partition-manager-software/run-chkdsk-to-check-repair-drive.html

I use whatever comes with the replacement drive to copy old to new.

 

[Qs Laptop]

When I bought a Crucial 500 GB SSD to replace my 250 GB SSD, it came with Acronis hard drive cloning software. Brings over Windows 10 and everything else. Very easy to use.

 

[Livefree]

I use AOMEI.

https://www.aomeitech.com/ab/standard.html

Thanks. I'll look into this.

 

[Jerry1]

I use AOMEI.

https://www.aomeitech.com/ab/standard.html

Thanks. I'll look into this.

Sorry - I looked at the free specs and it only clones data drives. You’d need to buy the pro version. I’m sure there are free options. I must have upgraded at some point. It is a good program, but I don’t think I’d pay the price I saw on their site. I must have got a deal. I guess you could use the free trial and clone the disk in the trial period. Ugh. Again, sorry.

 

[target2019]

If you get a Samsung drive, you can use this software for free. It's what I used last time I upgraded to SSD.

https://semiconductor.samsung.com/us/consumer-storage/support/tools/

 

[jollystomper]

I have used Clonezilla for years without problems (https://clonezilla.org/). The user interface can be challenging for some.

 

[jim584672]

I have used Clonezilla for years without problems (https://clonezilla.org/). The user interface can be challenging for some.

I use this, but it isn't intuitive for someone not familiar with it.

 

[prudent_one]

I used a program I got from EaseUS when I was replacing my PC a couple months ago. A little fussy about how to use it but it did the job find. Brought over the registry, the OS, programs, desktop, everything.

 

[Livefree]

Sorry - I looked at the free specs and it only clones data drives. You’d need to buy the pro version. I’m sure there are free options. I must have upgraded at some point. It is a good program, but I don’t think I’d pay the price I saw on their site. I must have got a deal. I guess you could use the free trial and clone the disk in the trial period. Ugh. Again, sorry.

No worries...appreciate the advice

 

[5Miler]

I have used the free version of AOMEI Backupper for many years to clone my system drive on my Windows Media Center server. Unfortunately, over the years AOMEI has steadily removed functions from the free version and the ability to clone system disks is one of many that fell by the wayside.

AOMEI is currently distributing version 7 but you can still obtain version 4 which is easy to use. The one caveat when cloning an entire disk to another disk is the new one must be of equal or larger size compared to the original drive. I still use version 4 myself.

https://www.filepuma.com/download/aomei_backupper_standard_4.1.0-18672/

 

[gauss]

Macrium Reflect should work for this.

Although they no longer distribute their free version,

MajorGeeks still makes it available here. I believe that the software is "digitally signed" by Macrium so that the risk of rouge versions should be minimized in theory.

Macrium is out of the United Kingdom, as opposed to China where some of the other solutions mentioned originate.

-gauss

 

[easysurfer]

For my cloning I use Macrium Reflect. Macrium used to have a free version on their website but no more. Their free version still on some places though.

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html

 

[Livefree]

I have used the free version of AOMEI Backupper for many years to clone my system drive on my Windows Media Center server. Unfortunately, over the years AOMEI has steadily removed functions from the free version and the ability to clone system disks is one of many that fell by the wayside.

AOMEI is currently distributing version 7 but you can still obtain version 4 which is easy to use. The one caveat when cloning an entire disk to another disk is the new one must be of equal or larger size compared to the original drive. I still use version 4 myself.

https://www.filepuma.com/download/aomei_backupper_standard_4.1.0-18672/

This looks like a good solution..Thanks.

 

[mountainsoft]

I use Macrium Reflect to clone drives these days, but I also had good results with HCClone in the past.
https://www.miray-software.com/products/applications/hdclone.html

 

[easysurfer]

For me, Macrium Reflect is my go to.

Just for kicks, I've also used GNOME Disks from a live CD to make an image of my hard drive. Then restore from the image later.

 

[SecondCor521]

It's been a while, but if you clone a smaller disk to a larger disk and it's a Windows disk, you may need to go in after the cloning process and increase the partition size to the full disk. Otherwise you can have a 1G drive with a 512M partition on it and be surprised when Windows thinks it's full and it's only half-full.

This is a common scenario as drives (especially SSDs) get bigger and cheaper year after year.

It's usually fairly easy in the cloning or partition tool to see this and correct it if you know it is happening.

 

[Jerry1]

It's been a while, but if you clone a smaller disk to a larger disk and it's a Windows disk, you may need to go in after the cloning process and increase the partition size to the full disk. Otherwise you can have a 1G drive with a 512M partition on it and be surprised when Windows thinks it's full and it's only half-full.

This is a common scenario as drives (especially SSDs) get bigger and cheaper year after year.

It's usually fairly easy in the cloning or partition tool to see this and correct it if you know it is happening.

When I cloned a drive a couple years ago, the software recognized that the target disk was bigger and asked if I wanted a partition or the full disk.

 

[skyking1]

another acronis fan here.