How do I clone my windows

[Konyalee]

Hello,

Before I start please excuse my poor english as it's not my native language.

I currently have a 1TB SN850X WD Black and I plan to swap it out for a 4TB of the same brand same model. I know there are guides on internet on how to do it but all the software used is paid.

Can anybody reccomend a free software to do it and with a guide as to how.


Thanks

 

[Thimblewad]

Clonezilla

 

[Tatty_Two]

You should be able to access "Acronis True Image for Western Digital" that is available to download from their site here (scroll down the list), prior to allowing you to install the software it will do a scan to ensure you have a WD drive connected .........

Western Digital Product Software Downloads (wd.com)

You will see some pretty simple instructions to clone your old drive onto the new one.

​

 

[P4-630]

You should be able to access "Acronis True Image for Western Digital" that is available to download from their site here (scroll down the list), prior to allowing you to install the software it will do a scan to ensure you have a WD drive connected .........

Western Digital Product Software Downloads (wd.com)

You will see some pretty simple instructions to clone your old drive onto the new one.

​

Does it create an EFI System Partition and a Recovery Partition as well??

 

[wNotyarD]

You should be able to access "Acronis True Image for Western Digital" that is available to download from their site here (scroll down the list), prior to allowing you to install the software it will do a scan to ensure you have a WD drive connected .........

Western Digital Product Software Downloads (wd.com)

You will see some pretty simple instructions to clone your old drive onto the new one.

​

I recommend Acronis True Image (though I used their version for Crucial). Very easy to use, and it works almost issue-free when migrating an OS disk (either GPT or MBR). Most you'll need to do after cloning is running a chkdsk to fix some entries. It should work even if you don't have both drives of the branded version (e.g. I have a Crucial MX500 and a Hiksemi Future Lite on my laptop, and it allowed me to migrate what I had on the Crucial to the Hik).

@P4-630 You can select if you want to clone singular partitions or the whole drive, and if you want to scale partition sizes manually or automatically when cloning different sized units.

 

[Konyalee]

Clonezilla

You should be able to access "Acronis True Image for Western Digital" that is available to download from their site here (scroll down the list), prior to allowing you to install the software it will do a scan to ensure you have a WD drive connected .........

Western Digital Product Software Downloads (wd.com)

You will see some pretty simple instructions to clone your old drive onto the new one.

​

I recommend Acronis True Image (though I used their version for Crucial). Very easy to use, and it works almost issue-free when migrating an OS disk (either GPT or MBR). Most you'll need to do after cloning is running a chkdsk to fix some entries.

@P4-630 You can select if you want to clone singular partitions or the whole drive, and if you want to scale partition sizes manually or automatically if cloning different sized units.

Thanks for the reply, I will check out Acronis as it's provided by same brand as the SSD's

 

[SPDIF]

Best 6 Free Cloning Software for Windows 10/11

• Wondershare UBackit.
• DiskGenius.
• MiniTool Partition Wizard.
• Macrium Reflect.
• Clonezilla.
• Acronis True image iso

 

[wNotyarD]

@Konyalee forgot to mention: if cloning an UEFI OS drive (which by definition has its entries on your UEFI boot table), Acronis updates the table to use the new drive (and remove the entry for the old one) if you choose it to. If memory doesn't fail me, the option will be listed as something like "Clone OS to new drive, old one will be removed".

 

[SPDIF]

@Konyalee forgot to mention: if cloning an UEFI OS drive (which by definition has its entries on your UEFI boot table), Acronis updates the table to use the new drive (and remove the entry for the old one) if you choose it to. If memory doesn't fail me, the option will be listed as something like "Clone OS to new drive, old one will be removed".

It also asks if it for the same or a new computer, then it changes the disk serial number that windows add on setup to a new number.

 

[P4-630]

Just don't talk about Bitlocker...

 

[Konyalee]

@Konyalee forgot to mention: if cloning an UEFI OS drive (which by definition has its entries on your UEFI boot table), Acronis updates the table to use the new drive (and remove the entry for the old one) if you choose it to. If memory doesn't fail me, the option will be listed as something like "Clone OS to new drive, old one will be removed".

Thanks, I will migrate my OS and use my old SSD for work PC.

 

[SPDIF]

It also asks if it for the same or a new computer, then it changes the disk serial number that windows add on setup to a new number.

Just don't talk about Bitlocker...

No, then windows knows it's on a new system or hard drive and seeks hardware again for new driver's. This is also important for the digital activation of it.

The serial number i am referring to is the volume serial number. It belongs to the disk, not Windows. It gets generated randomly when the volume is formatted.

Easy to see it, open command prompt and type vol c:, it will show your unique disk serial number.

 

[Tatty_Two]

I recommend Acronis True Image (though I used their version for Crucial). Very easy to use, and it works almost issue-free when migrating an OS disk (either GPT or MBR). Most you'll need to do after cloning is running a chkdsk to fix some entries. It should work even if you don't have both drives of the branded version (e.g. I have a Crucial MX500 and a Hiksemi Future Lite on my laptop, and it allowed me to migrate what I had on the Crucial to the Hik).

@P4-630 You can select if you want to clone singular partitions or the whole drive, and if you want to scale partition sizes manually or automatically when cloning different sized units.

Yeah it's Acronis that I linked, I did the same as you for my Crucial, many of the leading drive manufacturers now appear to offer their version of the software with their hardware, it was also a simple process for me.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yes indeed make sure you turn off bitlocker if you use it first.

Macrium reflect although it went subscription I use an older version only tick is to not update the app
Clone works best booting to the winpe recovery media reflect prompts you to create at first start so have a flash drive ready
Winpe does have an option you can check for bitlocker support !
All versions of Macrium Reflect for Windows - FileHippo.com

After that boot to the winpe recovery flash drive and everything is pretty straight forward menu wise
Uncheck the new drive
Leave the current os you want to clone checked and use the listing under it to either clone this disk or system image this disk.

Only trick with cloning is shut down/ power off after it's finished because after all windows will; see the duplicate and disable it's boot loader
Then after powering off remove the original and change slots.
Not sure this talks a lot about cloning but good tutorial
Backup & Restore Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect - Windows 10 Forums

 

[GerKNG]

i cloned a lot of drives with macrium reflect and it worked every time without any issues.

 

[Chrispy_]

Macrium is great, and I still use it with a technician's license but it's not free any more.

Clonezilla is probably the most powerful free cloning utility but http://redorescue.com/ is very simple backup and restore utility that I recommend to people who have never cloned anything before. It's not a cloning tool, but the backup and restore interface is so simple that I've never seen anyone ever screw it up, which isn't true for Macrium and Clonezilla is foreign enough to some people to put them off the idea of imaging their own drives.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yeah another free app is disk genius and friend suggested for another task
Has the same features as other system imaging and cloning offer plus disk management functions other apps do as well
So it is a one stop does all app

DiskGenius Free Edition - Free Partition Manager for Windows

DiskGenius Free Edition is free partition manager and data backup software, providing various features to help you optimize disk utilization and ensure data security.

www.diskgenius.com

 

[unwind-protect]

Boot a Linux or FreeBSD live version and use dd(1) on the whole drive. Then you don't have to worry about EFI or other boot code.