


- CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD HOW TO
- CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD INSTALL
- CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD FULL
- CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD WINDOWS 10
- CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD FREE
The examples above outline cloning using an external drive as an intermediary, but what about cloning directly? That's where a hard-drive enclosure comes is.

You can, of course, overwrite the clone on the hard drive in the case that you need the external drive for other storage. If this seems a bit confusing, we wrote a guide on this process that lays everything out for you to digest:īecause cloning creates an exact copy - no compression - of a hard drive, you can only clone to a hard drive once. Use Macrium Reflect to clone your hard drive (Image credit: Windows Central)įor example, you can clone your PC's hard drive to an external drive, swap out the PC's internal drive for a new one, then boot from the external drive and reverse clone your OS and files back onto the new drive in your PC. This cloned drive can be kept as a backup, or you can reverse clone from it to a new, blank drive. Unlike drive imaging, in which you create a compressed version of a drive that can be restored later, cloning creates an exact replica - boot records, files, settings and themes - that can be used immediately as a primary drive. Since imaging a drive can seemingly keep tidy records of your files and can be used to put Windows on a new drive, where does cloning come in? If you find that your computer has been infected with malware, for example, having a healthy image to restore to can make things quite easy when it comes to removing the virus. There doesn't need to be a complete failure, though, to benefit from an image backup.
CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD WINDOWS 10
Also, if you create a recovery environment on a separate USB stick or external hard drive, you can restore an image on a PC that doesn't have Windows 10 installed at all. In that case, you can choose your image (usually saved on an external drive) and restore your PC. If your Windows 10 PC suffers from a blue screen error and can't boot properly, you'll be confronted with a menu with an option to restore from a system image. There are a few ways you can recover your computer using a drive image.
CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD FULL
Incremental images are sometimes preferred because they can be created quickly depending on how many changes have been made, whereas differential images can become quite large depending on how much time has gone by since a full image was created. Incremental images record any changes made since the last incremental image, so, in the case of a restoration, you need the full image and every incremental image created thereafter. Differential backups keep a record of any changes made since the full image was created, so restoring a system requires the full image and the latest differential image. (You'll probably only need to do this if you're migrating from a hard drive to a smaller SSD we have a separate guide on that process here.What's the difference between these types of image backups? A full image takes everything on the drive and is required to restore your system.
CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD FREE
If it isn't, you'll need to free up space on your source drive and shrink the main partition down to fit. In most cases, your destination drive will probably need to be as large as, or larger than, your source drive.
CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD INSTALL
Once you've connected your drive, you can go through the cloning process, then disconnect it and install the drive internally. If, however, you're using a laptop with only one drive bay, you'll need an external SATA-to-USB adapter, dock (Opens in a new window), or enclosure to connect your bare drive to the computer. If you have a desktop computer and both drives are installed internally (or you're just cloning to a USB external drive for backup), great! You're ready to continue.
CLONING HARD DRIVE WINDOWS 7 TO SSD HOW TO
How to Set Up Two-Factor Authenticationįor this process, you'll obviously need two drives: the source drive (with the data you want to clone), and the destination drive (where you're cloning that data to).How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.
