{"id":258,"date":"2023-04-11T05:47:16","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T05:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dataprot.net\/?p=258"},"modified":"2023-05-06T05:39:52","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T05:39:52","slug":"how-to-clone-a-hard-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dataprot.net\/guides\/how-to-clone-a-hard-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Clone a Hard Drive | DataProt Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
All hard drives have a shelf life before they become unusable, and your data is irreparably lost. You might decide to get a new computer and make a file backup with Backblaze, only to forget to transfer that one crucial project on your new hard drive before it gets lost. And for some people, making a full HDD backup can be stressful and difficult. But with making a clone from your hard drive, all those worries are a thing of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ll show you how to clone a hard drive effortlessly. Technology has evolved enough that data backup is not the stuff of nightmares anymore. It is, in fact, merely a few mouse clicks away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First things first, let\u2019s differentiate between hard drive cloning and doing a file backup. Every approach to preserving your data has its benefits and shortcomings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you make a backup, everything is dependent on files. You make a copy of your critical system files to another hard drive or storage device, which is very different from a hard drive cloning. This way, you can backup one file, several files, or the entire system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most used operating systems come with backup software, Windows with a backup utility, and macOS with the Time Machine functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you make a hard drive clone, you create an exact copy of your whole system to an alternative hard drive. Everything is copied identically from files and operating system data down to disk partitions and boot data. You\u2019ll be able to start the system from the cloned drive immediately and check for performance lags with a PC optimizer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a significant difference between making a disk clone and imaging a disk. While both copying methods make an exact duplicate of your drive, disk imaging makes an extensive compressed file, or an image, of your drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cloned drive uses an uncompressed copy of a hard drive. After disk imaging, you restore this file to make your drive usable again. The disk image file can be pretty large, which is why it\u2019s usually saved to an external or cloud drive, such as iDrive, or pCloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure you have everything ready before you clone a drive, thus saving yourself from frustrations later down the line. The aim here is to make a one-to-one copy of your drive that you\u2019ll be able to start on a computer from the get-go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most important thing you\u2019ll need is an alternative hard drive to carry the data from the cloned drive. You can use an external drive or another internal hard drive. Depending on the type of hard drive, make sure you have a USB to IDE\/SATA adapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When learning how to completely clone a hard drive, you must consider that you don\u2019t need to use the same hard drive type to make a successful copy. You can make a hard drive clone from an NVMe to a SATA drive and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It will only impact the file transfer speed. Traditional hard drives are capped at 100MB to 150MB when copying large files. Their transfer rate is reduced for smaller files, which can make drive cloning last for hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next thing to be mindful of is the drive\u2019s size. Since we are making a copy that is identical in structure and size to the original drive, you\u2019ll need the second drive to be of higher capacity than the source drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you discover how to clone a hard drive, you\u2019ll find out that you need to clone the entire disk along with its partitions. It is why you should always ensure that you have a big enough alternative drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSetting Up the Cloning Grounds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n