How to: Disk and Partition Cloning, Backup, Restoration, & Migration
All software listed here will be freeware mainly due to my love of free software.
Windows 7 system imaging:
Windows 7 - Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup: (link)
Macrium Reflect system imaging:
Create an Image Backup: (link)
Acronis True Image:
Acronis True Image WD Edition Software: (link)
Acronis True Image WD Edition Software helps you to completely clone your current system drive onto your new WD hard drive. Cloning makes an exact copy of your old system drive on your new WD hard drive, including the operating system, applications, data, preferences, and email settings. Everything will be present and operate exactly as it did on your old hard drive. Acronis True Image WD Edition now supports WD Advanced Format Drives and ensures that all partitions are optimally aligned.
Seagate DiscWizard: (link)
DiscWizard makes adding a new hard drive much easier. It can be used in several different ways. For example, you can use it to copy all the data from an old drive to the new one. The new drive will have the operating system, and will be bootable. DiscWizard can also partition and format a new drive for additional storage.
We have updated DiscWizard to better fit the needs of today's technology (improved USB support, improved support for diagnostic partitions, and Windows Vista/Windows 7 support).
Intel® Data Migration Software: link
The Intel® Data Migration Software copies your drive's contents from your old storage device to your new Intel® Solid-State Drive. The software can help make this transition smooth and painless.
Before using the Intel® Data Migration Software, please download the Data Migration Software Guide.
After you install your Intel® SSD and the Intel® Data Migration software, the software will detect both your old and new drives and guide you through the cloning process, i.e. show you how to move all of your data from your slower HDD to your fast new SSD. Before you begin, however, make sure the amount of data on your old drive doesn't exceed the size of your new SSD.
EaseUs ToDo Backup:
* To make a WinPE bootable disc you need ToDo Backup version 4.0.0.2: (link) or (link)
How to: Back up your OS and recover it
How to: Migrate from OS install on old HDD/SSD to a smaller new SSD/HDD
How to: Clone your OS to a new larger or equal size drive
How to: Use old OS HDD as a data drive after installing a new SSD/HDD
Clonezilla:
How To Backup and Resurrect a Dead or Dying System Disk With Clonezilla (link)
XXClone: (link)
Data Recovery:
Test Disk: (link)
If you lose a partition or accidentally format a drive try using TestDisk to restore the partition(s).
PhotoRec: (link)
Recuva: (link)
NOT FREE:
Get Back Data: (link)
All software listed here will be freeware mainly due to my love of free software.
Windows 7 system imaging:
Windows 7 - Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup: (link)
Macrium Reflect system imaging:
Create an Image Backup: (link)
Acronis True Image:
Acronis True Image WD Edition Software: (link)
Acronis True Image WD Edition Software helps you to completely clone your current system drive onto your new WD hard drive. Cloning makes an exact copy of your old system drive on your new WD hard drive, including the operating system, applications, data, preferences, and email settings. Everything will be present and operate exactly as it did on your old hard drive. Acronis True Image WD Edition now supports WD Advanced Format Drives and ensures that all partitions are optimally aligned.
Seagate DiscWizard: (link)
DiscWizard makes adding a new hard drive much easier. It can be used in several different ways. For example, you can use it to copy all the data from an old drive to the new one. The new drive will have the operating system, and will be bootable. DiscWizard can also partition and format a new drive for additional storage.
We have updated DiscWizard to better fit the needs of today's technology (improved USB support, improved support for diagnostic partitions, and Windows Vista/Windows 7 support).
Intel® Data Migration Software: link
The Intel® Data Migration Software copies your drive's contents from your old storage device to your new Intel® Solid-State Drive. The software can help make this transition smooth and painless.
Before using the Intel® Data Migration Software, please download the Data Migration Software Guide.
After you install your Intel® SSD and the Intel® Data Migration software, the software will detect both your old and new drives and guide you through the cloning process, i.e. show you how to move all of your data from your slower HDD to your fast new SSD. Before you begin, however, make sure the amount of data on your old drive doesn't exceed the size of your new SSD.
EaseUs ToDo Backup:
* To make a WinPE bootable disc you need ToDo Backup version 4.0.0.2: (link) or (link)
How to: Back up your OS and recover it
You will need:
Create the Backup Partition(s)
Now this is when you actually back up the partition(s). If you have a Microsoft System Reserve Partition (usually 100MB) you can either choose to back it up with your C: partition or delete it before. To delete the Microsoft System Reserve Partition follow this guide: (link)
How to back up the system partition(s): (link)
Make the bootable emergency disk: (link)
Boot from the emergency disk and recover the system/partition(s): (link)
- EaseUs ToDo Backup (link)
- A place to backup the data/partition(s)
- A USB (2GB or larger) or a CD to burn the bootable emergency disk
Create the Backup Partition(s)
Now this is when you actually back up the partition(s). If you have a Microsoft System Reserve Partition (usually 100MB) you can either choose to back it up with your C: partition or delete it before. To delete the Microsoft System Reserve Partition follow this guide: (link)
How to back up the system partition(s): (link)
Make the bootable emergency disk: (link)
Boot from the emergency disk and recover the system/partition(s): (link)
How to: Migrate from OS install on old HDD/SSD to a smaller new SSD/HDD
- You will need:
- Before you back up your system partition(s):
- Shrink the old OS partition if your new drive is smaller than the old OS partition.
- If the partition is larger than the new drive after you shrink it then you have to move all your personal data off the partition.
- Move all personal files to another drive such as pictures, videos, music, documents, and Steam, gamesaves, etc. Check out my maintenance section, run ccleaner, discleanup, etc. and disable the hibernation file and disable/shrink the page file. If still not small enough you have to uninstall large programs and/or games and re-install them after you restore the system image.
- If you do not have a secondary drive to move your data to you will have to make a new partition on the in the unallocated space. Then do the above and move your data. You may have to keep shrinking and expanding the partitions as you do this depending on how much free space you have on your drive.
- When you are done moving the data then you should be about the right size to make system image to restore to the drive.
How to: Change the size of a drive's partition(s):
- Shrink the old OS partition if your new drive is smaller than the old OS partition.
- Backup the system partition(s):
Now this is when you actually back up the partition(s). If you have a Microsoft System Reserve Partition (usually 100MB) you can either choose to back it up with your C: partition or delete it before. To delete the Microsoft System Reserve Partition follow this guide: (link)
How to back up the system partition(s):
- Restore the partition(s) to the new drive:
Now here is where you will be changing out the old drive and the new drive.
- Make the bootable emergency disk.
- Shut down and change out the drives.
- Boot from the emergency disk and start the recovery.
How to make the bootable emergency disk and recover the partition(s):
- System setup after restoration:
Finally, go through my "Now It's Time For The System Set Up!" section of my optimization guide and make sure you run W.E.I.
How to: Clone your OS to a new larger or equal size drive
You will need:
Tips:
- EaseUs ToDo Backup (link)
- Your new drive
- Launch EaseUS Todo Backup and click Disk clone.
- Select source disk you want to clone, click Next.
- Select the destination disk. Sector by sector clone option enables you to clone all sectors from source disk to destination disk.
- Preview the disk layout after cloning.
- Click Proceed to execute GPT disk cloning
Tips:
- If the source disk contains the system partition, please shut down the computer after the clone.
- To remove either the source disk or destination disk from the computer to make the computer boot normally if the source disk contains boot partition.
- If you want to boot from the destination disk, we recommend you to replace the source disk with the destination disk.
- If the computer fails to boot from the destination disk after the clone, we suggest you clone the source disk to another disk with the same HDD interface.
- If you choose to clone a hidden partition, the cloned one will be unhidden.
How to: Use old OS HDD as a data drive after installing a new SSD/HDD
What is this?
This how you can migrate your data from your old OS HDD into your system once you have reinstalled a new SSD or HDD.
This how you can migrate your data from your old OS HDD into your system once you have reinstalled a new SSD or HDD.
- If your personal data is backed up to another drive then
- Open the Start Menu, type diskpart, press Enter
- Type list disk, press Enter
- Type select disk X (where X is the number your drive shows up as), press Enter
- Type clean, press Enter
- Type create partition primary, press Enter
- Type format quick fs=ntfs, press Enter
- Type assign, press Enter
- Type exit, press Enter
- If you can't save your personal data to another medium you can do...
Option 1: Okay option
Once you have windows installed you can usually just delete all the folders on the HDD that are part of the old OS and the ones you don't need. (make sure you delete hidden files and partitions that may be on there as well)
Option 2: Better option to me, will take longer.- Shrink the old HDD OS partition. (link)
- Then make a new partition on the HDD in the free space. (link)
- Then move the personal files to the new partition, like you movies, documents, pictures, etc.
- Now you may have to keep shrinking and expanding the partitions as you do this depending on how much free space you have on your drive.
- When done moving your files delete the older OS partition and the MSR one if it is there too.
- Then expand the new partition into the left over free space.
- Next redirect your user folders to the storage HDD.
Move user folder locations to Secondary HDD:- Right click your folder (ex. My pictures)
- Click Properties
- Click the Location tab
- Change the destination to your other HDD (ex. D:\Pictures)
Note 1: Recommended, I do this myself for my user folders (ex. My Documents, My pictures, Desktop, etc.)
Note 2: If there are two of the same folder in teh User folder after the move (ie. My Documents "A" and My Documents "B") you should delete the empty one located on the C: drive. (May need to go into safe mode to delete it) Do not delete the other User folders, only duplicates that come up after the move within the User folder.
Note 3: If the folder already exists that you are linking it to you may want to merge the folders.
Video Tut:
Clonezilla:
How To Backup and Resurrect a Dead or Dying System Disk With Clonezilla (link)
XXClone: (link)
Data Recovery:
Test Disk: (link)
If you lose a partition or accidentally format a drive try using TestDisk to restore the partition(s).
PhotoRec: (link)
Recuva: (link)
NOT FREE:
Get Back Data: (link)