Why Do You Need Disk Cloning?
Disk cloning is the process of creating a 1-to-1 copy of a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD), not just its files. In what situations would we want to perform a disk clone in our daily lives? A few common reasons are listed below.
- Upgrade small disks to large disks. With more and more files and data stored on the disk over a long period of time, it is inevitable that the disk will run out of space. Insufficient disk space will affect the performance of your computer and make it run laggy, so you can choose to replace the disk by cloning a small disk to a large one.
- Replace HDD with SSD. The reason most people replace HDD drives with SSDs is performance. SSDs are known to be over 10 times faster than their HDD counterparts. Replacing your hard drive with an SSD can greatly improve the performance of your old computer. Disk cloning can help you clone HDD to SSD free.
- Copy data from one disk to another disk as a backup. Sometimes we need to make a copy of HDD/SSD as a backup to protect our precious data. In case of machine crash, you can get complete data recovery.
Best Disk Cloning Software for All Windows
AOMEI Backupper Standard is a free cloning software, designed for all Windows users. It supports all Windows systems, such as Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP. You can use it to clone all data from one disk to another disk completely. In case of disk with a system, it also guarantees that you will be able to boot from the cloned disk successfully.
This powerful software has the following outstanding features.
- It supports all disk types, including SSD, HDD, USB, SATA SSD, NVMe SSD, M.2 SSD and SD card, etc. You can use it to transfer OS to new drive.
- It has two different cloning modes – Intelligent Clone and Sector-by-Sector Clone. The former is the default cloning mode of the software, which clones only the data currently present (or used sectors) on the disk. The latter will clone all sectors on the source disk, whether used or unused.
- It supports all brands of hard drives. This free disk cloning software can clone all brands of HDD/SSD in the market, such as Western Digital, Kingston, Samsung, Inland, etc.
- It has an SSD Alignment feature, which can help you improve the performance of your SSD and extend its lifespan.
- In addition to disk cloning, AOMEI Backupper is a free backup and synchronization backup software. You can use it to backup your system, files or partitions. You can refer to this article to see how to transfer files from C drive to D drive.
Detailed Steps to Clone HDD With AOMEI Backupper
After knowing the basic information of this best disk cloning software, you can learn how to use it to clone HDD to SSD by following the illustrated actions provided below.
- Download the best clone software and install AOMEI Backupper Standard on your computer.
Note: Before you start, it is recommended to create a file backup if you have important files on the target disk. This is because the data on the target disk will be completely overwritten during the cloning process.
- Connect the target disk to your computer and make sure it can be detected. Find Clone in the left panel inside the software and then click Disk Clone in the right panel.
- Select the source HDD that need to be cloned and select the target SSD to clone to.
- Then click SSD Alignment in the Operation Summary page and click Start Clone to perform this disk clone operation.
Tips: AOMEI Backupper Standard only supports system disk cloning from MBR to MBR. Therefore, if you want to clone MBR system disks to GPT disks, GPT system disks to MBR disks, or GPT system disks to GPT disks, please consider using the premium version – AOMEI Backupper Professional.
Final Words
This article gives you the best disk clone software. This software is loved by millions of users, mostly because of its stability and reliability. Hurry up and use AOMEI Backupper Standard to help you migrate your data or system. Also, you can use it to perform NVMe recovery.