For this solution, we are assuming that you have a bootable Windows 7 installation on your working C: drive, and that you want to put a newer/faster/larger drive in as a new C: drive with the same Windows and programs. To clone the C: drive to another drive, you’ll need either to install it internally in the machine (if it is a desktop) connected to an available SATA connection, or if it is a laptop or a machine without room for a second SATA drive internally, use a USB / SATA drive enclosure or a technician’s USB / SATA adapter cable. Note: to clone a bootable Windows drive the target drive must be installed internally on the SATA bus. The original source drive must be in the USB enclosure.
The first place to look for cloning software is the manufacturer of your new hard drive.
Western Digital provides a free version of Acronis True Image here. See Section 15 of the User Manual PDF file for transferring a system automatically.
Seagate offers a free download of Diskwizard also an adaptation of Acronis software, with an instuctional video and User Manual PDF (English)
Other software options are:
Acronis TrueImage – this is a commercial program, and is our go-to tool for drive cloning and it includes backup and restore tools for continuing use.
EaseUS ToDo backup, which is available in a variety of versions, (EaseUS ToDo links from Download.com) and is an easy solution to maintaing backups of your files.
XXClone (XXClone from Download.com) can create a bootable clone of your drive.
EaseUS Disk Copy allows you to create a bootable DVD or USB utility disk, which you can use to start up the computer. The program can then do a sector by sector copy of a hard drive to another – which is independent of the operating system the drive was used with – and/or it can clone a bootable Windows disk. (EaseUS Disk Copy from Download.com)
On the hardware side, there are dual-bay SATA ‘docks’ with built in disk-to-disk cloning functions. You won’t find these in many homes or offices, but they are a timesaver in a technician’s shop.
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On the hardware side, there are dual-bay SATA ‘docks’ with built in disk-to-disk cloning functions. You won’t find these in many homes or offices, but they are a timesaver in a technician’s shop.
Yes, a direct SATA hardware clone can work and can be faster if what you want is an identical copy. The disadvantage is that most duplicators can only do a 1:1 size clone – that is, cannot clone a large source drive to a smaller one, and going from smaller to larger, may end up with a small volume on the larger target drive, wasting the extra space. With cloning software you can manage how you handle space and partitions, and can write a larger partition to a smaller drive IF the amount of data will fit. See https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/i-duplicated-my-wd-500gb-hdd-to-tb-seagate-sshd-using-vantec-nexstar-hdd-duplicator.2616481/