How to copy c drive to external hard drive on Windows 11/10?

Using a free bootable Linux Live CD (or USB) is an alternative method to copy C drive to external hard drive, especially if you prefer working outside of Windows or want more control. Here's how it works, explained in simple terms:

1. Create a Bootable Linux Live CD/USB

2. Boot Your Computer from the Linux Live Media
- Insert the USB or CD into your PC.
- Restart your PC.
- Enter the BIOS/UEFI settings (usually by pressing F2, F12, DEL, or ESC during startup).
- Change the boot order to boot from the USB/CD.
- Save settings and restart; your PC will boot into Linux.

3. Identify Your Drives in Linux
- Once Linux loads, open a file manager or terminal.
- Use commands like lsblk or fdisk -l to list all connected drives.
- Identify your C: drive (usually labeled as /dev/sda or similar).

4. Copy Your C Drive to External Hard Drive
- You can use command-line tools like dd or partclone.
- For example, with dd (be very careful, as it can overwrite data):

sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress

- Replace /dev/sda with your source drive (C: drive).
- Replace /dev/sdX with your external hard drive.

5. Complete the Copy C drive to external hard drive
- Wait until the copying process finishes.
- Shut down the computer.
- Remove the Linux boot media and restart normally.