Forum Discussion

NoahRussell's avatar
NoahRussell
Iron Contributor
Jul 11, 2025

What is the easiest way to clone a hard disk drive in Windows?

The old drive is a small 256GB SSD as my main drive for a while, but it's finally running out of space. I just bought a new 2TB SSD with more capacity and want to clone my current drive to it so I do...
device management
Yusilin's avatar
Yusilin
Iron Contributor
Jul 11, 2025

General Steps to Clone a Hard Drive in Windows:

  1. Choose a Cloning Tool: Download and install one of the free tools listed above.
  2. Connect the Destination Drive: Connect the new (target) hard drive to your computer. This can be via SATA, USB adapter, or external enclosure.
  3. Run the Cloning Software:
      -Launch the software.
      -Select the source drive (the original hard drive).
      -Select the destination drive (the new hard drive).
  4. Start the Cloning Process:
      - Follow the software prompts to begin cloning a hard drive.
      - Ensure that the partition sizes are compatible or adjust as needed.
  5. Wait for Completion: The process may take some time depending on the size of the data.
  6.  Swap the Drives (if necessary): Once cloning is complete, shut down your computer, replace the old drive with the new one if you're replacing it, or set the new drive as bootable in BIOS.
  7. Boot from the Cloned Drive: Turn on your computer and check if it boots correctly from the new drive.

Resources