Quick Copy USB to USB in Windows 11/10 [with Boot Files]

Updated on Jun 12, 2024 | by Oaklynn

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User Case: How Do I Copy USB to USB (Bootable)
Benefits to Copy USB to USB in Windows
Reliable Way to Copy USB Drive to Another USB Drive
Step-by-Step Guide: Copy USB to USB in Windows 10 Easily
Another Way to Copy USB Drive with Boot Files
Final Words

User Case: How Do I Copy USB to USB (Bootable)

If I copy a bootable USB drive to another USB, will it create a duplicate bootable drive? I thought it's kind of a dumb question but a search with Google seems to indicate that it is not even possible to copy/paste data on a bootable drive to another USB? Any kindly advice will be appreciated, thanks.

Creating a bootable USB drive is a more complex process than simply copying and pasting files from one drive to another. You need to consider the partition table configuration, metadata about the organization of the drive content, and the bootloader, among other things.

To duplicate a hard drive or USB drive and make the copy the same as the source drive in every way, backup & restore or disk cloning should be more reliable.

Benefits to Copy USB to USB in Windows

An USB drive is small and light in capacity with lower power consumption and no fragile moving parts. Meanwhile, it can be carried everywhere, and used on a variety of devices, including thin laptops without optical drives.

USB drives as the removable devices are fairly convenient in transporting data from place to place and keeping the data readily at hand. If you own more than one USB flash drive or external hard drive in hand, you can indeed copy USB to USB, either for migrating data, making a backup, or upgrading/booting another computer.

Reliable Way to Copy USB Drive to Another USB Drive

Video Tutorial - How to Copy USB to USB

If you have files such as documents, photos, music, and other multimedia content on your USB drive, you can easily transfer them to another USB drive using the drag-and-drop method in Windows Explorer. This method is efficient for smaller data sizes, but if you have a large amount of data, it may not be the most efficient way to copy files.

If you're looking for a reliable way to backup and restore your USB drive, using the Windows backup utility might be a good option. However, for a quick and secure recovery, it's recommended to use a dedicated USB to USB copying software, such as Qiling Disk Master Standard.

Qiling Disk Master is a versatile software that offers a range of features, including a handy backup and restore feature, as well as a disk clone feature. The disk clone feature allows for quick and efficient copying of data from one USB drive to another, while retaining the original format, partition table, and other settings. To get started, simply download Qiling Disk Master and follow the guide below:

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

The Standard edition of Qiling Disk Master supports cloning data disks, which includes both MBR and GPT partitions. If you need to clone a USB bootable drive that includes an operating system and boot files, you should consider the rofessional edition. The Professional edition provides more advanced features and functionality, including the ability to clone bootable drives with operating systems.Professional edition. The Professional edition provides more advanced features and functionality, including the ability to clone bootable drives with operating systems.

Step-by-Step Guide: Copy USB to USB in Windows 10 Easily

Qiling Disk Master is a user-friendly software that provides a clear and intuitive interface, making it easy to navigate and use. The software is compatible with various versions of Windows, including Windows 11, 10, 8/8.1, 7, XP, and Vista. This ensures that users can easily install and run the software on their systems.

Here I will use Windows 10 computer as an example to show you the operation with screenshots.

✎The same steps also apply to copying bootable USB to USB (involves operating system), but you will need to upgrade to Pro edition.

How to copy flash drive to another flash drive in Windows 10:

1. Insert these two USB drives to your PC via USB ports, and make sure they can be detected by Windows.

2. Install and launch Qiling Disk Master Standard, then go to Clone tab and select Disk Clone.

3. When selecting the source and destination for the disk clone operation, ensure you choose the correct drives to avoid data loss.

4. To confirm the operation, you can review the summary provided. If you want to create an exact copy of the source USB, select the "Sector By Sector Clone" option. For a faster target SSD, choose the "SSD Alignment" option. Once you've reviewed the settings, click the "Proceed" button to initiate the operation.

In advanced editions, you can also use Edit Partitions feature to make full the disk capacity after cloning.
👉 Copy without resizing partitions: It will not resize the partition size.
👉 Add unused space to all partitions: Reallocate the unallocated space to each partition of the target disk.
👉 Manually adjust partition size: Extend unallocated space to any partition on the target disk as you want.
👉 Convert the destination disk...: Convert the partition style (MBR/GPT) of the target disk to make it the same as the source disk.

5. Once the operation is finished, click the "Finish" button to complete the process. After that, you can close the program.

👉Tips:
The steps outlined are also applicable to copying USB drives in other versions of Windows, including Windows 11, Windows 8, and Windows 7.
Enabling the "Sector by Sector Clone" option will disable the "Edit Partitions" feature.
• The Standard edition supports cloning all kinds of data disks, such as: clone HDD to Seagate SSD, clone HDD to Samsung SSD, clone NVMe to another NVMe, etc. If you upgrade to advanced edition, you can also clone all kinds of system disks: lone Windows 10 to new hard drive, clone Windows 10 to NVMe, etc.clone Windows 10 to new hard drive, clone Windows 10 to NVMe, etc.

Another Way to Copy USB Drive with Boot Files

In addition to Qiling Disk Master, you can also use the command prompt to make a USB drive bootable. Once bootable, you can extract the ISO image file using File Explorer or other ISO burning software.

Note: If your USB drive is displayed as a Removable Disk in Windows Explorer, you can only create one primary partition on it. However, if it is shown as a Fixed Disk, you can create multiple primary partitions based on its size.

1. Connect a USB drive and run Command Prompt as an administrator. To do this, press the Windows key + S to open the Start menu, type cmd in the search box, and then select it from the search result list. Finally, right-click on the Command Prompt icon and select Run as administrator.

2. In the pop-up command prompt window, type the following syntax and hit Enter after each one.

list disk
select disk X In the Command Prompt window, type the following commands and press Enter after each one:
clean
create part pri
select partition 1 (This is the partition you just created)
assign letter=N
select partiion N
format fs=ntfs quick To format your USB drive as FAT32 using Diskpart, follow these steps:
active
exit

3. In Windows 8/10, right-click the ISO file and select Burn Disc Image, then follow the on-screen instructions to finish the rest of steps. In Windows 7, you could consider using a ISO burner as instead.

4. After that, restart your computer, press F2 or ESC to enter BIOS screen, select the Boot tab and use "+" to move the flash drive to the first place, then press F10 to save the changes. Later, it will go to the Windows Setup screen automatically. If not, the drive is not bootable or something goes wrong.

Final Words

The way to copy USB to USB can be pretty easy with the help of Qiling Disk Master. Actually, as one powerful backup & cloning utility, it is highly recommended to keep Qiling Disk Master installed after cloning.

With the software, you can clone hard drive to SSD for better experience, copy Windows 10 to USB drive, or adopt the 3-2-1 backup strategy to save disk space while keeping backup images up-to-date.

If you're using Windows Server, you might want to consider the Server edition of Qiling Disk Master, which is specifically designed to cater to the needs of server environments. This edition is optimized to provide advanced features and functionality for server management, making it a great choice for those who require a more robust and specialized solution for their server-related tasks.