Seagate DiscWizard Free Alternative | Review and Guide
Quick review for Seagate DiscWizard
Seagate DiscWizard, developed by Acronis, is a software specifically designed for Seagate and Maxtor hard drives. It allows users to download and use it for various purposes, such as backing up or cloning the disk, migrating the hard drive to another, and recovering from a disaster.
As a disk cloning tool, Clonezilla is practical and easy to use, but also has some limitations. I'd also like to mention a free alternative, Seagate DiscWizard, which can be used instead.
Now let's take a look at the abilities of DiscWizard.
◆ The advantages of Seagate DiscWizard:
Supported OS: Seagate DiscWizard supports various Windows operating systems, including Windows 10, 8, 7, and others.
Hard drive replacement: You can use the software to clone the old hard drive to the new one, effectively transferring all the data from the old drive to the new one. This can be a convenient and efficient way to transfer your files, programs, and operating system to the new hard drive.
Backup and restore: You can perform sector-by-sector backups, and store them on various external devices such as external hard drives, network attach storage, USB flash drives, CD/DVDs, and more.
Disaster recovery: The operating system also allows you to create a recovery media, which can be used in case the operating system fails to boot.
Simple operation: To clone a disk using Seagate DiscWizard, follow these steps: 1. Download and install the software from the official Seagate website.
◆ The shortcomings of Seagate DiscWizard:
Seagate DiscWizard does not support cloning a dynamic disk or a single partition, but it can clone a basic disk with multiple partitions.
The software only allows for backing up partitions and disks, but does not support backing up individual files or folders.
The software takes up a lot of space due to its large installation file size, which exceeds 500 MB.
The backup image can only be restored to the same computer it was created on, and cannot be restored to other locations.
Seagate Disc Wizard may fail to clone due to various reasons, such as corrupted source or destination disks, incompatible operating systems, or insufficient disk space.
Seagate DiscWizard mainly supports Seagate and Maxtor hard drives.
After reviewing the pros and cons of DiscWizard, you should have a clear understanding of whether it's the right tool for you. If you're not satisfied with its limitations, a free alternative with more comprehensive features, higher compatibility, and efficiency may be a better option for disk backup or cloning tasks.
Best free alternative to Seagate DiscWizard
I've tried various products like this, and I consider Qiling Disk Master Standard as one of the best free alternatives to Seagate DiscWizard. It allows you to backup and restore files and folders, partitions, OS, and disk, as well as clone a data disk.
It supports Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP/Vista, just like DiscWizard, and has no restriction on hardware brands. With its Disk Backup and Disk Restore feature, you can achieve data protection on any hard drive that can be detected by Windows.
- The Disk Backup feature will backup everything on the disk, including the operating system, boot-related partition(s), and other data like installed programs and personal data, if it's a system disk.
- The Disk Restore feature enables you to restore a backup image to a new disk, which can be larger or smaller. This feature also allows for improving SSD disk performance and adjusting the partition size of the target disk if it is larger.
To clone a disk using Qiling Disk Master, you can utilize its disk backup and restore functions. Alternatively, you can also migrate the whole disk using a simple method, which is described in more detail in the following guide.
How to clone disk using free Seagate DiscWizard alternative?
To use the Disk Backup and Disk Restore features, select the device you want to backup from the list, then choose the backup location. Next, select the data you want to backup and choose the backup format. After that, click on the backup button to start the backup process.
Section 1: Make a copy of your computer disk
Step 1. To backup your computer, download and install Qiling Disk Master Standard, then open it. In the main interface, select "Backup" and then "Disk Backup" to create a full backup of your hard drive, or choose "System Backup" to only backup your Windows system partition and create an image of the system partition.
Step 2. To clone a system disk, click the "Disks" button to select the disk you want to clone. Next, click the folder-shaped button to select the destination disk where the disk image file will be stored.
Step 3. Click Proceed to perform disk backup.
Schedule Backup: You can schedule your backup tasks to run daily, weekly, or at specific times using a USB plug-in, and in paid versions, you can also trigger backups based on events.
Options: You can enable email notification, choose compression level, select backup type (intelligent sector or sector-by-sector), and encrypt backups, depending on the version you have.
Section 2: Restore the disk image securely
Now that you have the disk image in hand, you can easily restore the backup image to the new SSD and boot from it securely and for free.
Step 1. Connect the external drive containing the system image and the new SSD to the target computer. Open the recovery software, then click "Restore" and "Select Task". If the image file is not listed, browse to the backed up image file by clicking "Select Image File".
Step 2. In the next interface, you can select a backup image from the list and click "Next".
Step 3. You can choose how to restore the backup image, which includes restoring the entire disk or restoring a partition in the disk.
Step 4. The source disk and the destination disks will be listed, and after confirming the operations, click "Proceed" to initiate the process.
After the restore process is completed, click "Finish" to enjoy an exact copy of the Windows OS and configuration of your current PC.
How to migrate Seagate hard drive directly
In addition to free backup and restore methods, Qiling Disk Master also offers clone features. With the free Standard edition, you can easily clone data disks. If you need to clone a system disk with Windows installed, you can upgrade to Qiling Disk Master Professional, which provides an advanced cloning function that simplifies the transfer process and saves time.
As a suitable Seagate DiscWizard alternative, this tool enables you to clone a hard drive with a different size, allowing for a seamless transition to a larger or smaller storage capacity.
- To free up space and boost performance, clone your hard drive to a larger drive. This process creates an exact replica of your existing drive on the new, larger one, allowing you to replace the original drive with the new one.
- Clone a larger hard disk drive (HDD) to a smaller solid-state drive (SSD) using intelligent mode, which optimizes the cloning process for the smaller target disk. This approach ensures that the smaller SSD is utilized efficiently, allowing you to transfer all data from the larger HDD to the smaller SSD while minimizing any potential issues that may arise from the size difference.
- The tool also offers additional features such as cloning dynamic volumes, restoring system images to a different computer, and automating the deletion of old backups, among others.
Regardless of your specific needs, cloning disks with Qiling Disk Master is a straightforward process, similar to using Seagate DiscWizard.
1. To clone your drive, install and launch the software, then navigate to the Clone tab and select Disk Clone. If you only want to migrate your operating system, choose System Clone instead. If your target drive is an SSD, make sure to connect it to your computer in advance.
2. To clone a disk, specify the source disk you want to copy and the destination disk where the copy will be saved, then click Next to proceed.
The tool supports cloning various types of disk data, including all data disks and MBR system disks, as well as system disk GPT to GPT, MBR to GPT, or GPT to MBR.
3. In the Operation Summary section, you can edit the partition, select SSD alignment or sector by sector clone, confirm the operation, and click proceed.
SSD Alignment: This option can accelerate the reading and writing speed of the target SSD.
Sector By Sector Clone: To create a complete and intact duplication of a hard drive, including all sectors, including unused or bad sectors, a larger or equal-sized target disk is required.
Edit Partition: Adjust partition size and drive letter of the target disk.
4. Wait patiently till the cloning has been completed. Click Finish to quit the wizard.
The target disk will be overwritten after cloning, so please save important data from it to the Backup tab in advance. The source disk will not be automatically formatted, but you can use the Disk Wipe feature in the Tools tab to erase it if desired.
Other helpful features:
◉ Create Bootable Media:If your computer is at risk of crashing, you can use a tool to create a bootable USB or disc that can restore your computer from a system image, serving as a backup alternative to Seagate DiscWizard.
◉ Scheduled Settings:You can set up a schedule to perform automatic backup or sync, with 5 options available: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers, and USB plug in.
◉ Image Compression:For large backup files, you can choose a compression level for the image, with higher levels taking longer to process but resulting in smaller image file sizes.
◉ Universal Restore: This feature enables you to restore a system image to a different computer with varying hardware, ensuring the new PC can boot successfully after the restoration.
Verdict
If you're a Seagate or Maxtor hard drive user, Seagate DiscWizard is a convenient software for you. However, if you're not a user or not satisfied with its functionality, you may want to consider Qiling Disk Master Standard as a free alternative. This software offers a free backup and restore method, allowing you to clone your disk, and also provides a pro version with a disk cloning feature for faster and easier cloning. Ultimately, the choice depends on your personal needs.
Qiling Disk Master is a backup and clone software that stands out for its ease of use and rich features. It offers a range of functions, including those available in Seagate DiscWizard, as well as additional capabilities like replacing hard drives without data loss, restoring Windows from boot, and cloning dynamic disks. This makes it a powerful tool for users looking to manage their disk operations with minimal hassle.
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