How to clone Windows 10 - The Free and Easy way!
How to Clone Your Windows 10 Drive
In this video, the speaker explains how to clone your Windows 10 drive using the AOMEI Backupper tool. The speaker provides step-by-step instructions on how to use the tool and clone your drive.
Choosing a Tool
- There are many tools available for cloning drives, but the speaker recommends using a free tool like AOMEI Backupper.
- The AOMEI Backupper comes in two versions: Backupper and Partition Assistant. You only need Partition Assistant if you're cloning from a smaller drive to a larger one.
- If you're going from a smaller drive to a larger one, you'll need to use Partition Assistant to extend the volume of the cloned partition.
Using AOMEI Backupper
- To use AOMEI Backupper, download and install it. The free version is available by signing up for their newsletter.
- Connect both drives (source and target) either internally or externally through an interface like USB.
- Open AOMEI Backupper and click on "Clone" then "Disk Clone."
- Choose the source disk (the one you want to clone).
- Choose the destination disk (the one you want to copy your data onto).
Final Steps
- Once you've selected both disks, click "Start Clone" and wait for it to finish.
- After cloning is complete, shut down your computer and remove the original hard drive.
- Boot up your computer with only the new cloned hard drive installed.
The speaker mentions that there will be an intermission during this process since it takes quite some time.
Cloning a Drive with Macrium Reflect
In this section, the speaker explains how to clone a drive using Macrium Reflect.
Selecting Source and Destination Drives
- The partition will be the whole drive, and then the data will copy without filling up the entire drive.
- If the destination drive is too small, it will tell you.
- Make sure you have enough volume before selecting your source and hitting next.
- Disk 2 is our 960 gigabyte drive.
Formatting and Removing Partitions
- It's going to format and remove all of the partitions that are on that drive so you don't have to pre-format it or resize it.
- After performing the operation, existing partitions are removed.
Pre-Allocation of Data
- Before starting copying or formatting anything, it's going to pre-allocate data to make sure there's enough space on the new drive.
- This process ensures that everything is in order before starting so that there is no destruction of data prior to completion.
Analyzing Volume Status
- Clicking "Copying Data" gives an analyzing volume status which makes sure that the new drive can accept the current drive and its partition before starting.
- Analyzing takes time depending on how much data needs to be copied over from one disk onto another disk; this could take several hours for larger drives with more files stored on them than smaller ones.
Waiting for the Process to Complete
- The copying speed is going to be fairly slow, especially if you're going from a hard drive or a spinning disc to an SSD.
- Be patient during the process as it could take up to an hour depending on your drives.
- If your system loses power or restarts, nothing was damaged because no partitions have been removed until the analyzing process is done and it starts copying data.
Progress Tracking
- Clicking "Copying Data" allows you to see the progress of the cloning process so that you don't think it's frozen or stuck on one percentage.
- It's been about an hour since we started copying data, and we've copied 362.97 gigabytes of data at a speed of 36.67 megabytes per second which will take us about two hours in total time for completion.
Cloning Windows 10 for Free
In this section, the speaker explains how to clone Windows 10 for free using a specific program.
Cloning Process
- The cloning process involves analyzing the disk, verifying there is enough space, and copying all files byte for byte.
- The process can take several hours but ensures that every single file is copied correctly.
- Once completed successfully, the cloned drive will have an identical file structure to the original drive.
Unallocated Partition
- If the new drive is larger than the original one, there will be an unallocated partition on it.
- To fix this issue, use a free utility called O-E-M-I Partition Assistant 9.0 to extend or remove the partition as needed.
Testing the Clone
- To test if everything worked correctly, attach the cloned drive to a SATA cable and plug in SATA power. Then turn on your computer and go to BIOS to do a forced boot on that drive.
- If successful, you should see that Windows has loaded and everything looks identical to your original system except for broken links due to remapping of drives.
- You may need to re-log into your Microsoft account since user accounts are not cloned over with this method.
The speaker recommends using a specific program called Macrium Reflect Free Edition which allows users to clone their Windows 10 operating system without having to pay for it.
Cloning Windows 10 with Ease
In this video, the speaker demonstrates how to clone a Windows 10 drive using a program that also has backup features built-in. The speaker also discusses the ethics of cloning and reactivating keys.
Cloning and Backing Up Drives
- The program used in the video can create backups by saving an image or ISO of your drive to another drive.
- Systems at the speaker's workplace are backed up every day, and it is possible to automate this process through the program.
- Cloning a Windows 10 drive is possible, despite what some people may say. It took about four hours to complete.
Ethics of Cloning and Reactivating Keys
- If you put a cloned drive with different hardware into another system, it will prompt you to reactivate. How you handle this is up to you.
- The setup process took about five minutes, while actually cloning the drive took four hours.
- It is important to make sure that the cloned drive is set as your main boot drive in BIOS.
Conclusion
- The speaker encourages viewers to clone their drives if they need to do so.
- The video ends with music playing.