How to Clone Windows 11 to Another Hard Drive (Bootable)
User case
Can I clone my hard drive to an external drive?
To clone your C drive from a 128GB M.2 SSD to an external USB hard drive and then restore it to a new 1TB M.2 SSD, you'll need to use disk cloning software, such as a reputable and free option.
- Question from tom's HARDWARE
Cloning Windows 11 to an SSD or HDD allows you to create an exact replica of your current operating system and data on a new storage device. This can be useful for upgrading to a larger storage capacity, replacing a faulty drive, or creating a backup of your current setup. To clone Windows 11, you'll need to use disk cloning software, which can be a free and reputable option.
Reasons for cloning Windows 11 to another hard drive
Here are some common reasons for cloning Windows 11 to a new hard drive:
⊙When your computer or laptop runs slowly and takes a long time to boot up.
⊙When you desire to improve boot speed and overall system performance.
⊙When your system drive is almost full. When you do not have enough space for Windows 11 updates, or your system is almost full after Windows 11 updates.
⊙When you don't want to reinstall any programs on Windows 11. Migrating your operating system to another location without reinstalling can save time and effort.
Preparations before Windows 11 clone
Before performing Windows 11 clone, you need to do some preparatory work.
☛ Select the target disk. Select the target disk according to your purpose and needs, it can be HDD or SSD, and make sure your target disk can be detected.
☛ It's essential to check the size of the target disk to ensure it can accommodate all the data from the source disk.
☛ Prepare the connector. For desktops, you can install the new HDD or SSD directly in the extra socket. For laptops, you need a SATA-USB adapter, which may vary by disk interface (SATA, NVMe, PCIe, etc.).
☛ It's crucial to back up any important files or data on the target disk. This is because the cloning process will completely overwrite the target disk, erasing all existing data.
How to clone Windows 11 to another hard drive via best disk cloning software
Some users want to find a reliable cloning software to help them clone disks on Windows 11. However, there is no software available for disk cloning on the computer's own system, so you have to ask for help from third-party software.
You're right, finding a secure cloning software is crucial when migrating data or operating systems. A reliable cloning software should not only facilitate the migration process but also ensure data integrity and safe boot from the new disk.
Here I highly recommend one best disk cloning software in Windows 11 for you—Qiling Disk Master, which can help you easily clone Windows 11 and make it bootable. Learn more about the clone features of this software below:
✪ Clone methods. The software offers three paths for you to perform disk clone, partition clone and system clone according to your different needs.
✪ Clone different hard drives. With its help, you can clone HDDs, SATA SSDs, NVMe M.2 SSDs, USB flash drives, and SD cards, etc.
✪ Intelligent Clone. In default mode, it only clones used sectors, so you can easily clone a larger drive to a smaller drive and boot successfully from the cloned one.
✪ Sector by sector clone. It can clone all sectors, whether they are used or not.
Here I will show you how to migrate Window 11 system by disk clone—(it allows you to move OS to new drive by cloning entire disk) and ystem clone—(it lets you transfer only OS to new drive). You can choose according to your needs. Moving on to catch the stepwise guide on how to migrate your Windows system to another hard drive.system clone—(it lets you transfer only OS to new drive). You can choose according to your needs. Moving on to catch the stepwise guide on how to migrate your Windows system to another hard drive.
Copy Windows 11 to new hard drive using Disk Clone:
Step 1. Connect the target hard drive to your computer and make sure it is detectable. Download Qiling Disk Master Professional, install, and open it. Click "Clone"＞"Disk Clone".
Step 2. Select the Windows 11 system disk that you want to clone and click "Next".
Step 3. Select the destination disk to store the cloned data and click "Next".
Step 4. Preview all the settings and the information of your source and destination disk. Then click "Proceed".
Advanced settings:
Edit Partitions: To utilize this feature, you'll need to adjust the partition size on the destination disk. This involves modifying the disk's capacity to match the source disk's specifications.
Sector by Sector Clone: The cloning process will replicate all sectors, regardless of whether they contain data or not. This feature is typically accessible when cloning disks of the same or larger size. However, if you attempt to clone from a larger disk to a smaller one, enabling this option will result in clone failure instead.
SSD Alignment: The feature will enhance the reading and writing speed of the SSD disk. It is strongly advised to enable this option when cloning to an SSD, as it can significantly improve the performance of the target disk.
Clone only Windows 11 operating system to another hard drive:
Step 1. Launch Qiling Disk Master Professional. Click "Clone" in the left-hand menu, and choose "System Clone" to clone only Windows 11 operating system.
Step 2. It will automatically select the system drive and related drives by default. Select the hard drive you wish to clone to as the destination disk and click "Next" to continue.
Step 3. Confirm all the settings and then click "Proceed". If your target disk is an SSD, you can select "Optimize for SSD" to accelerate the reading and writing speed of the SSD disk.
Step 4. When the process is complete, click "Finish".
Boot from the cloned drive on Windows 11:
Now you need to follow the steps below to make the newly cloned drive bootable.
1. Reboot your computer and press F2/F10/Del to enter the BIOS.
2. Go to the boot menu and in the boot priority section, set the new hard drive as the first boot option in BIOS.
3. Press F10 to save all the changes and restart the computer.
Final words
That's all for how to clone Windows 11 to another hard drive. With Qiling Disk Master Professional, you can easily perform Windows 11 clone, ensure that you can successfully boot your computer from the cloned hard drive, and never worry about data loss and system crash.
In addition, you can get into the habit of creating a full backup of your system and files on a regular basis with Qiling Disk Master, so that you can easily restore your computer to previous date using the backup created in advance if you encounter xc000000e in Windows 11. There are more features worth exploring, so download this free trial version now and give it a try!0xc000000e in Windows 11. There are more features worth exploring, so download this free trial version now and give it a try!
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