Free Clone Partition on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 Easily
What does clone partition mean?
Cloning partition can be also called copying partition, which is a process of copying whole partition data into another new partition or hard disk. After cloning, the destination partition will be loaded with the same data as the source partition. In brief, cloning a partition can help a full and faithful copy of the source partition in Windows 11/10/8/7.
In this way, you can get back important data by backup when your current hard drive fails. Besides, it is also a method of transferring a large amount of data more conveniently and safely. For example, when you want to move everything including installation packs from one partition to another hard disk volume, SSD, HDD, or other hard drives, it's better to clone partitions than copy files one by one that may cause programs or OS boot failure.
Does Windows 10 have cloning software?
When it comes to cloning partition on Windows 10, most users would ask: "Does Windows 10 have cloning software to help copy some partition?". Unfortunately, for the task of copying all contents from one partition to another, Windows 10 only offers a built-in option called System Image, which only allows you to create a complete replication of the OS drive and then restore it to another device. Briefly, Windows 10 only offers the way to create a system drive image, not provide any cloning feature.
Freeware to clone partition on Windows 10 (Win 11 also supported)
From the above, we know a professional partition cloning tool is necessary for flexibly cloning a partition in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7. Among all available disk/partition clone tools on the market today, we highly recommend the freeware: Qiling Disk Master Standard. It allows you to duplicate partitions or volumes in 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 11/10/8/7 for free.
Qiling Disk Master Standard provides two different methods to clone partition for different requirements:
✦Clone Partition Quickly: Copy all existing files from one partition to another partition or hard disk. In this method, the total space of the destination location should be large enough to hold all existing files on the original partition.
✦Sector-by-Sector Clone: Copy all sectors from the source partition to the destination partition, including bad sectors, used sectors, and blank sectors. It can ensure the destination partition is exactly the same as the source partition. Of course, this method requires that the target partition should be larger than the partition being cloned.
▶ Preparations before cloning partition on Windows 10
Before cloning the disk partition via the free Qiling Disk Master Standard, please make the following preparations:
① If you will clone partition to another different hard disk, make sure the hard disk is connected to your Windows 10 computer and it is detected successfully. To connect the new disk, you may need a USB adapter cable or install the second hard drive.
② Make sure there is unallocated space on the destination disk because only the unallocated space can be cloned during the process. If there is not, you can create one by deleting or shrinking partition.
③ If it is a new disk, you need to initialize it first. To avoid changing boot mode, please set the partition style (MBR or GPT) to be the same as the source disk.
▶ 5 steps to clone partition in Windows PC for free
Learn the following five steps to clone a partition from the one disk to another on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
Step 1. Install and launch Qiling Disk Master, You can also click the "Tools" main tab and select "Clone Partition".
Step 2. Then, you will enter the Confirm interface where you can check the source and destination clone location. After all is set, you can click the "Next" button to continue.
Step 3. In next window, select the destination partition or unallocated space to hold your source partition, and then click "Next".
Notes:
- There is a "4k alignment" option. If you want to copy a partition onto a SSD (Solid State Drive), ticking this option will optimize the read and write speed on this partition. It can also extend the life of the SSD.
- If you select the "Sector-by-Sector Clone" mode, the unallocated space must be equal or larger than source partition. If you tick the option, it will be unable to resize the destination partition.
Step 4. In the next window, you can click the "Settings" button to adjust the target partition size. As you can see from the screenshot, you could adjust the size of source partition in order to fit the target partition as per your need, or directly skip the step and click "Save".
Step 5. You can preview the partition copy operating. And click "Proceed" to clone the partition.
The cloning process will start and you can check the cloning process. Once the process is completed successfully, you will get a congratulation window. Finally, you can check the partition layout on the destination disk will be identical to the source partition.
▶ How to clone boot partition on Windows PC
Above is about how to clone data partition to another hard disk in Windows 10. To clone system partition, free edition only support to clone it from the MBR disk to MBR. If you need to clone it from the MBR to GPT, GPT to MBR, or GPT to GPT, you should upgrade to Professional Edition.
In addition, other advanced feature named "Migrate OS to SSD" is more recommended, which can migrate system partition and other OS-related partitions to another drive and ensure a smooth boot from the cloned drive then.
Step 1. Click "Clone" > "Migrate OS to SSD" and click "Next" in the pop-out window.
Step 2. Select an unallocated space on the target hard disk and click "Next".
Step 3. Here, you can resize partition on the destination disk and hit on "Next" to continue.
Step 4. Click "Proceed" to commit the pending operation.
Step 5. Read the note on how to boot OS from the destination disk and click "Yes".
After cloning the boot partition in Windows 10, you need to enter BIOS setup to change boot order to boot computer from the destination disk.
Summary
With the help of free Qiling Disk Master Standard, cloning partition in Windows 10 is an easy thing. Apart from cloning a specific partition on a hard disk, it also permits you to wholly clone hard disk. And it provides special Qiling Disk Master Server for Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012 (R2)/2008 (R2)/2003 users, etc.
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