Best free cloning software for Windows

Abraham Brody 1 Reputation point
2022-01-15T17:56:22.047+00:00

I have an HP laptop with 3.5" SATA platter drive I want to replace with a SATA SSD.

I have a USB-SATA adapter and want to clone the contents of the internal drive to SATA SSD and then swap the SSD into the laptop.

What's the best free cloning software to make it remember all the important information.

Will I need to enter the BIOS to make sure the drive is bootable at anypoint, and if so what exactly do I need to do?

It is running Windows 10.

Are there any gotchas with formatting before I start the clone, and where do I need to go with the formatting?

Windows Hardware Performance
Windows Hardware Performance
Windows: A family of Microsoft operating systems that run across personal computers, tablets, laptops, phones, internet of things devices, self-contained mixed reality headsets, large collaboration screens, and other devices.Hardware Performance: Delivering / providing hardware or hardware systems or adjusting / adapting hardware or hardware systems.
1,541 questions
0 comments

3 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Andreas Baumgarten 95,411 Reputation points MVP
    2022-01-15T18:10:41.337+00:00

    Hi @Abraham Brody ,

    two free cloning tools are Clonezilla and AOMEI Backupper
    https://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live.php
    https://www.aomeitech.com/aomei-backupper.html

    If you swap the SSD into you laptop it could be possible you need to enter the BIOS of the laptop to detect the new SSD. But this depends on the BIOS and if it is maybe autodetecting the new SSD.

    If you follow the steps of the cloning tools you will notice if any formatting is required.

    I strongly recommend to create a backup before starting anything with cloning and working on filesystems. Better be safe than sorry.
    Also I recommend to keep the "old SATA HDD" and don't format this drive or delete partitions before you are 100% sure your new SSD is working as expected.

    ----------

    (If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

    Regards
    Andreas Baumgarten

    0 comments
  2. Abraham Brody 1 Reputation point
    2022-01-16T23:56:25.4+00:00

    Hi Andreas, Thank you. Aomei for some reason tells me its backups are bootable. Are you sure CloneZilla will be?

    0 comments
  3. Andreas Baumgarten 95,411 Reputation points MVP
    2022-01-19T21:13:07.507+00:00

    Hi @Abraham Brody ,

    Clonezilla isn't a software to create backups. Clonezilla will just clone a drive to another drive.

    ----------

    (If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

    Regards
    Andreas Baumgarten

    0 comments