Clone hard drive: How do you do it?

An exact copy, but on your brand new drive.

I recently ran into a rather frustrating problem that many will recognize: my precious laptop computer had become incredibly slow. I was then advised to replace the HDD with an SSD, and indeed: my problems disappeared like snow in the sun. 👍

At the time, I studied the best way to transfer my data from my old to my new drive. That turned out to be quite easy, because you can clone your hard drive. In this article I explain how to do this! ⬇️

Why should you clone hard drive of your laptop?

Cloning your hard drive creates an exact copy. You transfer all data, including the operating system. The main reason you’d want to do this is if you’re replacing your drive.

Many older laptops still have an HDD (hard disk drive), the old-fashioned spinning hard disk. You can upgrade these laptops by replacing the HDD with an SSD (solid state drive).

An SSD has almost only advantages over an HDD. It makes your device start up super fast , is faster in general and also quieter , more energy efficient and more reliable.

Perhaps you already have an SSD, but you want to upgrade it to a better SSD. The discs are subject to constant development.

You can also clone the best external hard drive . Do you have the problem: your external hard drive no longer boots ? Then you may be able to save your data by cloning your drive to another drive.

You need these things:

• Your laptop or PC
• Your new HDD or SSD
• A cable or housing to connect your new hard drive

Step 1: Check if you have enough space

It is always good to check in advance whether your current disk does not have more space than your new disk. Is your new drive smaller? Then you need to clean up your current disk. Take a close look at your files and remove unnecessary documents, programs, photos and videos. 🔎

Step 2: Initialize the hard disk

After connecting you need to initialize the hard disk. Go to Disk Management and select the SSD. Right-click on it and select Initialize. Then go through the steps.

You must choose between MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition table) during initialization. MBR is the most compatible and is and may even be necessary with an older system. GPT is a more recent and more advanced standard.

Step 3: Connect the hard drive

The easiest way to transfer the clone is to connect the new hard drive to your PC or laptop with a special cable or enclosure. If your PC or laptop has room under the hood for an extra drive, simply place the new drive next to the old drive.

Step 4: Install a cloning software

To clone your hard drive, you need a cloning software. It may be delivered immediately.

If not, don’t worry: you can easily (and free) find it online. Examples are Macrium Reflect Free, Carbon Copy Cloner, and EaseUS. I have used Macrium Reflect Free and can absolutely recommend it! Once you find a cloning software, install it.

Step 5: Transfer the files

After initializing, transfer the files to the cloning software. Exactly how that works depends on the cloning software you’ve chosen. Most of the time it all speaks for itself so I don’t expect any problems!

Here are the steps to follow for Macrium Reflect Free, one of the most famous cloning software (and also the one I used):

1. Launch the program.
2. Select your old hard drive in the main screen of the software.
3. Choose Clone this desk.
4. A new screen appears.
5. Select Select a disk to clone to.
6. Choose your new hard drive.
7. Delete any current partitions on disk by selecting them and clicking Delete existing partition.
8. Click Next.
9. At the overview of the settings, click Finish.
10. Choose a name for the backup.
11. Click OK > Continue.
12. The cloning process starts.

Keep in mind that cloning can take several hours, up to eight hours. 

What do you do with your old hard drive?

You can turn your old hard drive into an external hard drive with a special housing. You can then connect your old hard drive via USB.

Do you give or sell your old hard drive to someone else? Safely erasing your hard drive is important, so that you can be sure that your personal data does not end up in the wrong hands.

You can format the hard drive to wipe it completely. Note: formatting the hard disk for Mac is different than for Windows.

Conclusion

Cloning hard drive of computer can be time consuming, but as you read, it’s not difficult. Hopefully it all worked out! If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. Fill in the feedback form at the bottom of the page. Thank you for reading!