How to clone a hard drive without losing data?

There are many reasons why anyone would need to clone their hard drive. A user may want to clone their hard drive to upgrade to a better one with more storage space. A user may also clone the hard disk to replace an older and failing disk which may cause the entire system to crash. They may even use cloning as a way of having a back-up where their data is safe and avoid having to tediously copy files one by one. Whatever may be the reason for cloning a hard disk it is important that no data is lost while cloning. In this blog I will try and guide the user through the way to clone a hard drive without losing data.

In the market there are many software available which allow you to clone a hard drive. Just as with anti-virus software cloning software can be free or paid for. If you are using a free software there are certain extra features that you might not get. Though those extra features are just a bonus and the free software are as good as the paid versions. The first most obvious step is to know the reason you are cloning your drive if it is for a back-up then you can choose the USB drive and in case you would want to boot your system from the cloned drive then you have to choose an SSD which is bigger in space than your existing hard drive.

The next step is to connect your SSD or the hard drive with your existing drive. So, if you are trying to clone a laptop’s hard drive then you would need an adaptor or dock or enclosure to connect the two. In case of an SSD it is better to convert your SSD to MBR or GPT for the smooth transition of the data and also the computer. Once the disks are connected then you can install or if you have already installed the cloning software, then run the program. Once you run any cloning software, the first prompt message will ask you which drive do you want to clone.

That’s where you select the drive you want to clone. Then it will prompt you to the destination drive. It is very important that you chosen an empty hard drive to clone your files into otherwise overwriting on the disk may cause you to lose data. Also, be careful on what type of service you choose if you choose disk imaging then you would not be able to use the cloned hard drive as a boot device. Once you have selected the cloning drive then the cloning begins and the time taken to clone your drive depends on the amount of data that you are cloning.

After the cloning process is completed the programs prompt you on the use of the cloned data whether you would like to boot from the cloned data or if you would like to be an XML file of the data for it to used later. Some programs even offer the benefit of running the back-up periodically if you are upgrading your hard drive then you do not need it periodically but if it is a back-up drive then maybe you should opt for this option. Lastly, once the cloning is done and dusted restart your PC or laptop to reboot the system.

That’s how it is done! Key points to remember is that always know the purpose for cloning, select an apt hard drive to clone the data, remember to convert your SSD into MBR or GPT, select the correct drive for cloning and reboot once cloning is done. This is the most efficient way to clone your hard drive without running the risk of losing your data.