I'm wanting to clone windows 10 and recovery partition to a bigger hard drive and can't find software that doesn't have the cloning feature crippled. Any free ones out there?
Free Disk Cloning Tool?
figarow on 07/02/2022 - 22:26
Comments
So good thanks man!
Here's a longer step by step one that I highly recommend if you are a beginner
The recovery disk is a lifesaver if somehow your clone becomes doo doo.
Macrium Free is the best. Look no further.
disk genius. I used the version from their website on a few computers and its very simple. There's instructions on youtube.
Clonezilla is the gold standard.
I wouldn't rely on it but Windows has cloning built in to Windows 7 Backup and Restore as well.
Most HDD and SSD manufacturers have clone software available for free on their web site, often Acronis.
Have a look at veeam backup free edition. Not crippled in any way for your task.
So do a whole backup of the computer to a external USB drive (which you should do anyhow from time to time). Swap in the new drive, then use the recovery media you created to boot the machine and do a computer recovery to restore from the backup.
While its not as straightforward as cloning and takes a little longer, it does work very well. Used it a few times to upgrade M2 drives etc when I didn't have a ext M2 enclosure to clone to.
Macrium Reflect 8 Free I've tried various different ones over the years this is my favourite.
https://www.macrium.com/reflectfreeMacrium Reflect can restore disk partitions exactly as they were when the backup was taken.
You can also explore any backup or image file in Windows Explorer. This powerful feature enables you to restore individual files or folders by simply using copy and paste.
With File and Folder backups you can restore all or selected files and folders to their original or new location.IMPORTANT to restore selected files when exploring the image tick Enable access to restricted folders in the backup selection screen.
Hope this helps
Another person who cannot use google.
I spent roughly 45 mins looking on Duck duck go (not google). Installed 4 programs that were either trial or free, all the time being interrupted by the kids. My laptop in pieces etc. All up about 1.5 hours of getting nowhere before posting for some help here. Seeking wise council with people far more knowledgeable than myself. People who have been in similar situations and managed to get some good advice themselves. People who are better at searching than myself, who don't have a tendency to skim over perceived scam sites and do thorough investigations, people with more time and patience than myself. Very glad I posted here because Macrium is a real gem and I have now successfully cloned the drive and windows is running flawlessly on the newly cloned drive.
Thanks guys!!
I know what you mean, I tried the top two recommended free solutions and neither worked without paying. I think the articles recommending them were paid ads.
It helps if people give info as to what they have tried and if they do not then they waste people's time. There are allot of articles and not free apps mascarading as free apps.
If you are moving to an SSD then use the SSD's software. Another option that I have used https://clonezilla.org/ and https://gparted.org/ in the past to clone and/or resize partitions, but these are for technical users.
Macrium
Edit: Tutorial