How to clone a hard drive - EASY step by step walk-thru!

If you have considered backing up your computer's hard drive, this method is arguably the BEST method, not only to protect your data, but also to avoid costly PC repair expenses. It's easy to do, and in this video, I walk you through each step of the process...PLUS! At the end, a serious Q&A session where I answer all of the questions you haven't thought of yet! Let's go!
*** CORRECTION: (3:05) For simplicity, I stated in the video that "you *need* a target drive equal to or larger than your source drive." It IS feasible to clone both the operating system and data from a larger drive to a smaller one, provided that the used space on the larger drive fits within the capacity limits of the smaller drive.
Products:
- Sabrent 2-bay SATA docking station/cloner: amzn.to/3toXbA9
- Sabrent HDD/SSD/NVMe offline cloner: amzn.to/46hMs9d
Links:
- Macrium Reflect FREE edition 8.1: www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html
Videos you might enjoy:
HDD vs SSD vs NVMe - should you upgrade your hard drive? How much faster is SSD vs HDD?
kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3vJgIN-ibiEbcU
Hope you guys enjoy this!
👉 If you enjoy this video, please like and share it.
👉 Don't forget to subscribe to this channel for more updates.
👉 Subscribe now: cutt.ly/mOW7myv
*** TIMESTAMPS ***
00:00 - how to clone your hard drive
01:07 - what is the best method of backing up your personal files?
01:47 - what exactly is drive cloning?
02:33 - what do I need to clone my hard drive?
04:15 - what is the difference between source drives and target drives?
04:28 - why you should format the target drive first when cloning
05:50 - how to download and install the Macrium Reflect cloning software
06:35 - how to clone your hard drive using Macrium Reflect cloning software
09:11 - standard desktop configuration with extra data and power connections
09:26 - desktop configuration with no extra data or power connections (small form factor and mini-pc's)
09:57 - laptop configuration for hard drive cloning
10:57 - all in one PC configuration for hard drive cloning
11:38 - are there any downsides to cloning a hard drive?
12:25 - can i clone to a USB flash drive or external hard drive?
13:15 - how long does it take to clone a hard drive?
13:37 - can I clone a Linux or MacOS drive?
13:52 - how do I safely store my backup clone drive?
14:12 - how often should I clone my computer's hard drive?
14:40 - can I use different software besides Macrium Reflect to clone my drive?
14:59 - how do I find out if I have extra SATA ports and power connections?
15:18 - is cloning the best way to backup my computer?
16:23 - can I insert my clone drive into another computer?
17:10 - do I need to take my laptop or my computer apart to clone the drive?
17:40 - say thanks for my hard work :)
Help support the channel!
❤️ Purchase anything on my Amazon wish list:
www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/POI6B4LK90RH?ref_=wl_share
💢 ALL the tools that I *highly* recommend and use personally every day...
Hardware ---
◼ 142-piece magnetic electronics precision screwdriver set with 120 bits
👉 amzn.to/3exdNeb
◼ StarTech 4-bay USB 3.0 hard drive docking station 6Gbps
👉 amzn.to/3z6zNpG
◼ StarTech 2-bay USB 3.0 hard drive docking station SATA 6Gbps
👉 amzn.to/3sAGZt0
◼ Netgear A6100 wifi adapter
👉 amzn.to/3DWUp5p
◼ Godshark NVME to USB adapter M.2 SSD to Type-A USB 10Gbps
👉 amzn.to/3FGw3O8
◼ Cordless, rechargeable air duster 6000mAh 10w fast-charging
👉 amzn.to/3pzJWIa
💢 Helpful/useful everyday software ---
◼ Ninite (used to automatically download and install your favorite software):
👉 www.ninite.com
◼ Defraggler (used to defragment and organize HDDs, NOT SSD):
👉 www.defraggler.com
◼ Open Office (Microsoft Office FREE replacement)
👉 www.openoffice.org
💢 Hey, do you want even MORE in-depth techie stuff? Check out my friend Nico's page, Nico Knows Tech:
👉 kzbin.info
💢 FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
✔ Twitter: AskMeComputers
✔ Facebook: askyourcomputerguy
✔ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ask-your-computer-guy-953248217/
✔ Instagram: askyourcomputerguy
✔ Discord: discord.gg/jPwMdc3MVW
*** Affiliate link notice ***
Some links included in this video are affiliate links. The creator may make a small percentage
from any products you purchase through one of these links. This comes at ZERO extra cost to you, and greatly helps to support the growth of this channel. Thanks so much for watching!

[@lixarion1885]

MAN, all of the questions that I have on my mind, u were able to answer it in the video, awesome!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thanks, I try!

[@fullsavage2743]

Just an update. All is working thanks to your helpful video and feed back. Truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me with this video and response truly is easier than it seemed!!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

So glad to hear that! Thanks for the update 👍

[@terryshipe609]

After watching multiple videos about preparing for the worst to save my desktop, you are the only one to confirmed what I thought. Cloning is a lot simpler than doing backups where the os has to be installed plus using the backup media and restoration of settings. Thanks and great video.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thanks!

[@thomas1699]

That presentation was nicely done. Clear and simple instructions, a minimum of technical jargon, well documented sources, spoken at a reasonable pace, (no meandering tales). Nicely done! After seeing this presentation, I think I will give it a try on both of my laptops.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you, I appreciate that! Good luck! 💪

[@_J.F_]

After watching this video I went ahead and bought additional 8GB RAM (my Dell desktop will run max 16GB) and a Kingston KC600 drive with an upgrade kit included. It cost me round about $100 and using Acronis, which I had on my desktop already, and following your 'how-to' video the total upgrade was super simple and only took a few hours of which my actual work time was probably around 20 minutes. The old desktop is now running like a rocket so I couldn't be more happy with going ahead and doing this very affordable and easy upgrade. I have actually ordered an additional Kingston KC600 drive now that I know how easy it is, so I can do e.g. monthly backups using the cloning method. Thanks for a great series of videos on the subject I was looking for 👍

[@usablellc6735]

Very well done introduction to disc cloning. Straight, to the point, and a minimal amount of jargon. I also very much appreciated the recommendation of which software to use.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you! Been working on making my videos more "user-friendly". I appreciate the support 👍

[@revoxjazz8317]

All I can do is thank you for the explanations you provided on the issue of cloning, something that until now I never needed (or thought I didn't need). Specifically, an opportunity came to me and that's why I came to your channel. Greetings from Portugal. Macedo Pinto

[@NicholasBarber-ov4iv]

No fooling around, clear easy to watch and easy to follow. I don't subscribe to much but I'm in. Nice job. Cloning my new 3d laptop now it's set up perfect, ready for that rainy day. Thanks

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Awesome! Thank you for the support :)

[@sleepwalker6825]

Tip before cloning :: Always do a disk cleanup then optimize/defrag the old drive before cloning .. This will tidy up all the file system before Cloning

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Great tip! 👍

[@erojohn2]

Hearing that Ssd shouldn’t be defragged. Don’t know if this is right?

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

@erojohn2 100% correct - never defrag an SSD. Windows uses TRIM technology to keep your SSD optimized 💪👍

[@melvinklassen]

I disagree with a preparatory defragging. First, do the cloning, to make a copy BEFORE the source "fails". Note that Windows automatically defragments your disk-drive, once per week. So, no real need to repeat what Windows has already done. Also, never try to defragment an SSD, because the SSD "load-balances" the wear on each "cell" of storage. If you read from a cell, and then try to rewrite that cell, the "smarts" inside the SSD will write to a different (and hopefully less-worn-out) cell, thus prolonging the life of every cell. So, defragmenting an SSD does nothing useful.

[@dukeweber723]

Note. There is no need to defrag an NVME.

[@lycanthrope8979]

Thanks Scott. I've made copies of files for years, but never cloned. My last laptop was an HP, which died twice, lost a lot of the hard drive stuff, other than Windows. My new laptop is about 7 years old and I figured I needed to upgrade to an SSD to speed it up, and also to clone for the first time. Thanks to your YT video, I got the Sabrent, followed this video and finally cloned my first drive directly from the hard drive to the new SSD, and then I cloned that using the offline cloning to a second SSD. I put the second SSD in as the new drive and it worked flawlessly. Thanks for the recommendations and great explanation to make the first time process as simple as possible.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Fantastic! Glad to hear you got good results! 💪👍❤️

[@user-ji8qt9sz1z]

Thank you very much, this video made the cloning process so easy I can't belive it!! I watched your video about 2 hours ago and here I am using the cloned drive! Can't thank you enough.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Fantastic! Glsf to hear it 👍

[@fog152]

Came back to say thank you, it worked! your recommendation and walkthrough are highly appreciated👌🙏

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Fantastic! Glad I could help :)

[@EVOLLOVEx]

THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST CLEAR SPOKEN AND TO THE POINT VIDEOS IVE EVER WATCHED. 10/10 AND SUBSCRIBED.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Wow, thank you so much for the compliment! That means a lot!!! 👍💪

[@EVOLLOVEx]

@@AskYourComputerGuy keep up the excellent work. Great video :).

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

💪

[@lenny108]

Could you boot from the cloned hard drive?

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

@lenny108 absolutely! That's the whole reason for cloning to begin with 👍

[@joewenzel5142]

You are so thorough and easy to understand. I appreciate it.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that! 💪

[@swagedelic]

@@AskYourComputerGuy Will Macrium clone the "Recovery Partition" along with the C: and System Reserve partitions? I used Samsung Data Migration which did not clone the Recovery Partition and was told I didn't need it anyway.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

@swagedelic yes it will clone the entire drive, all partitions 👍

[@RONBONIX]

That information was worth its weight in GOLD!! Thanks! Hugs from Okinawa! :)

[@kiymakid]

My laptop crashed just before Christmas on the day I was supposed to run a year end bonus payroll.... The repair shop was closed until the new year. I spent the better part of two days replacing Windows 11, downloading programs and replacing files from backups. My laptop seems to be running OK again but I wish I'd seen this video before all this happened. Thank you for a clear, easily understood explanation of my options. I've been using computers for 45 years and it's hard to keep up at times!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Sorry to hear what happened, but you're very welcome 👍

[@path6641]

Great video, I followed your instructions and cloned and replaced my 256g ssd source drive with a 2tb ssd within my laptop with no issues so far whatsoever! Currently commenting through same laptop right now. Thank you very much!!!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Boom!!!! 🎉 💪 👍 party time! ❤️

[@shawnkeys4963]

You took the time to go into alot of details in this video and i am thankful because I'm not computer savvy so the extra details helped me to FULLY understand this process, so thanks again sir.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

I appreciate that very much 👍

[@GGruba]

Superb!!! I wish I could see this video earlier before wasting time reading and trying methods and software recommended in different resources. I am really appreciate you created and posted this video.

[@1990Kronic]

I am absolutely blown away with how good Macrium reflect is, especially for free. thank you so much for this tutorial.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

I agree, and you're very welcome! 👍

[@maryjane9842]

YOU are so right, same here, used it from MAJORGEEK and I am a PETITIONMAGIC from a few years back, hehehehe dont want to date myself too much, my first system, one stick of MEM/1 MB's = $100, not kidding, now ya get GB's for less then that, much less! I think I could right now put an entire system together, that would be awesome for around $500. I remember a co-worked spending like $2,500 or so on a DESKTOP back then, WOW......I think there is much more supply out there then demand, most dont know how to build a PC let alone want to even try! and the free software back then, i used FILEHIPPO I think it was called, they still around I think! SO then, everyone have an awesome and great PC day!!! and again, thank you for the videos! HHO

[@alessandrobianchin9947]

ALL YOU NEED IS HERE. Best Backup Video Ever - If like me you have spent weeks reading blogs and watching videos on KZbin to understand how to back up your data this is all you need. Thank you, Computer Guy.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

My pleasure! Thanks for the support 👍

[@TheRynovision]

My dude was thorough af! Liked & Subscribed!

[@jonstokes21]

Great video. Very informative, no fluff, straight to the point, and imo makes the process easy enough for anyone to understand. Also thanks for the links to Marirum

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thanks, I appreciate that! 💪

[@DavidM2002]

I cloned my drive a few months ago, just as you describe. And then everything hit the fan and I needed that clone. In my case, I was trying to create a virtual machine with the clone. Unfortunately, the clone file(s) were about 500 Gb because they included all of my data. That made the whole process far more difficult and time consuming than it might otherwise have been. Since that episode, on my new computer, I partitioned the drive so that the operating system took up about 50 Gb on a small partition and my data took up residence on the Drive D: partition. Since I regularly make several data backups, I don't need a clone that includes data. Now my clones are far smaller and easier to manage for future use and can be stored on far smaller media.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Smart. That's why I made this video below, even though for different reasons, same result! 👍 How to guarantee ZERO data loss if Windows crashes kzbin.info/www/bejne/enS0mWqqndCMrKs

[@danbromberg]

The entire clone has to be dedicated to one backup whereas many backups (i.e., non-clone) can be installed on one dedicated drive (from which you can pick and choose which one you want). I prefer cloning for its convenience as well, so nicely done!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thanks!

[@itstheweirdguy]

Windows backup (called windows 7 backup in control panel in win 10-11) does a bare metal backup of your system, and also can be incremental. It's not quite a clone but it kind of is too. It does like to fail sometimes because of delays in starting VSS, might want to set it's schedule to try retrying a few times if it fails, but that's the only issue with it. Most third party backup programs that work inside windows really just use this anyways, microsoft has a VSS API that they can use for their software, but why not get it straight from MS? for free

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

@itstheweirdguy good question - as long as it's FREE and actually works with minimal tech skills, I'm all about it 💪

[@IndellableHatesHandles]

@@itstheweirdguy The only problem is that for some reason you can only have one backup of your computer at a time, even if you have enough space for multiple.

[@itstheweirdguy]

Yeah, it's incremental. The bare metal image is a base image with additionally added files added incrementally. You want that so it's not too big.@@IndellableHatesHandles It's not perfect that's why there's paid software. Windows 7 backup you might as well blow it all out and start a new backup every once in a while so you know the image backup is relevant. It's just a copy of your computer it shouldn't matter to just blow it out and start it over every once in a while. Or buy a new drive and start it over every few years external mechanical hdd's are cheap.

[@mjgrealtyandcontractingsol811]

Haven't tried it yet, but details are straight forward and on point. Very good stuff, will be back with another comment shortly

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

👍

[@Razor-gx2dq]

My SSD was showing signs of failure three days ago, this video was very helpful in the cloning process. My motherboard has two NVME slots so it was easy for me.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad to hear it! 👍

[@richardnorris4522]

I have the wavlink cloner (from Amazon) and it works with 3.5 in hard drives and SSDs in any combination. The only limitation is the target drive must be at least as big as the source drive. It can also be plugged into a USB port on your computer and used as a remote drive.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

👍

[@George10767]

I have *three* backup drives and use them in sequence, one every week. You need at least two backup drives. Otherwise with only one backup drive, suppose that during backing-up the system crashes and the operating drive gets corrupted. I agree with the Computer Guy about the concept of *simplicity* . Otherwise its like having a fire alarm notice that says: "In case of fire, consult manual". Also, after backing-up *ALWAYS* physically disconnect the backup drive from the computer. A virus attack will wreak havoc on every drive it can find.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

100% yes 👍

[@patrickarmer937]

Excellent video, thanks for taking the time to record it.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

I appreciate the support 👍

[@CrackDavidson1]

Very straight forward and easy. Thank you!

[@energy-tunes]

3 minutes 23 seconds in he still hasn't started the process

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Many people need to understand the "why" and "what" before the "how". That's what I do on this channel. You can always skip ahead if you already know the basics 👍

[@3459jason]

Thank you for you two videos on updating hard drivers. My laptop has been slow from the day I bought it. I don't have alot of knowledge about computers but from your videos I was able to get the right hard drive, clone it and just installed it today. My laptop is now a usable devices with speeds nearly equal to my phone. Thanks

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Wow, awesome to hear!!!

[@tedjohnson64]

Thanks for the tip on the location of the free Macrium install package! I've been looking for that for weeks (had to build a new PC from scratch).

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad I could help!

[@SpiritintheSky.]

What a useful video on a subject I know too little about. Thank you very much.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@feram5116]

Straight forward information and clearly explained. Thanks!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you 👍

[@oldeenglish8058]

Great video! Your how to videos are expertly presented (I have little patience for some of the failed comedy that I see that really distracts from the content!) I already have used Macrium Reflect Free to clone my two desktops and laptop. I cloned the laptop to an SSD hard drive then removed the old 1Tb HDD from the laptop (which now adds storage in my desktop) and plugged the SSD into my laptop. The laptop start up was flawless and performance speed was really noticeable! Again, grateful for the time and effort you put in to make these priceless "how to's"

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful for you 👍

[@HideOut55007]

What an awesome video! I've been an IT professional for over 35 years & use a lot of hardware disk cloners. Unfortunately with the advent of so many flavors of NVMe type SSD dives, this cloning method is far easier & cost effective. The way you go through this lesson & even explain Disk Manager, is the best I've ever seen.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Wow, HUGE compliment! Thank you so much...truly appreciate it! ❤️

[@michealodrisceoil6595]

Well done! With the help of your tutorial just got done replacing the default HP 128G SSD drive with a 1TB SSD. Pretty smooth process!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Nice work!

[@RUAGoodNurse]

Yay I figured it out! Perfect clone and perfect movement and of recovery partition and then re-sizing of the system partition to the unallocated space. The key was NOT to create a partition of the unallocated space. I have learned so many fun things from you: have upgraded ram from 4GB to 16 and cloned and properly handled transition from 128 SSD to 500 GB SSD. Yahoo!! Thank you

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Awesomeness! 💪

[@Robert8455]

Great video and an important topic. The only thing I would add is adding an external label to your disk that would include what it is and the date. Perhaps obvious but if you have several copies, it might be nice to know which one is what. I've watched several of your videos and you provide good content that is easy to follow and understand. You also provide links and chapters and really make a nice effort to organize things. So thank you for doing what you are doing. Another topic you might consider covering is how to best setup a new drive to more easily allow a separation of o/s files & programs and personal content like documents, photos, videos etc.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Did that! How to guarantee ZERO data loss if Windows crashes kzbin.info/www/bejne/enS0mWqqndCMrKs

[@garageworker]

Video helped out so much, The software you point to is such a great service by them. Thank you!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Good deal!

[@genecan8045]

Excellent guidance. I had already bought an external case for an SSD with a C connector to back up my laptop's SSD (laptop has 2 C conenctors) to have in case of disaster to just be able to swap drives. This gave me the confidence to proceed, with the video showing all of the screens that I would see. It's proceeding nicely. Thanks also for the Macrium link.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Awesome, thanks! LMK how it works out 👍

[@Mr-qt4xr]

I didn't even know external drive readers were a thing. I have an old MB with just one m.2. and I've been worrying about how to clone this old 500gb drive for months. Thank you!!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

You're so welcome! Glad I could teach you something new 👍

[@thomas1699]

I got a "round-tuit" (continued). I cloned and installed a Samsung 980 Pro in my Acer Predator Helios 300 (etc., etc.) to replace the OEM drive. I used the same Macrium Software provided by SK Hynix. It seemed less complex than the version you suggested. Gonna have to get a new PC now. I am out of things to upgrade. 😅 Muchas Gracious. Keep up the good work.

[@dominicdavison8590]

Excellent straight forward advice. Many thanks.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you so much! I appreciate that

[@jeymslorenz7349]

Thank you, sir, for this video. I've been looking for a tutorial on how to transfer my OS to a new drive since my old HDD is failing. Most of the videos I've watched are confusing and add unnecessary steps. Your video has been a great help to me. Now, I'm waiting for my drives to clone for 5 hours.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad I could help

[@inevitable408]

Everything in this video worked perfectly for me on my 2nd try. Great vid and thank you!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Fantastic!

[@everydaybubbly]

I can't say thank you enough. My laptop died on me. I've been working in information technology for over 30 years. However I am far removed from desktop and laptop systems and applications. So when my laptop which is also my main machine for work, died and I needed to rebuild it, I ran into the usual problems with installing from a corrupted hard drive. I spun my wheels for almost a week trying to get Windows loaded on the laptop running into a myriad of problems. It never dawned on me until I ran across your channel that I could take a clone from another machine and utilize that. Excellent video, wonderful content, clear concise easy to follow and accurate. Can't thank you enough

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Wonderful! Glad you're up and running again!

[@BABBLEBOAR]

Thank you for the link to this great free software and for taking this subject slow and clear.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

You're very welcome!

[@PhilWithCoffee]

Great tutorial. Updating my HDD to an SSD, and this was very helpful.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Excellent! 👍

[@hdwood76fxe]

Used your link to Amazon. Ordered the Sabrent 1 port & M2, plus a Sabrent 4 Port C plus M2. 👍😊 Thanks for the info. I will be cloning upon arrival. 👍😊

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you, good luck 👍

[@contegolupus]

That was great!!! Thank you very much. I'm going to watch all your videos

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@albertoke3930]

Wonderful video. Just saved me alot of stress and work. Actual life saver

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Great to hear!

[@ryanraynor3248]

I did this for my Dell Inspiron 5570 and your instructions worked well. I had to google a few other things and needed a minute to wrap my head around a couple others but your video was for a guy that only dives as deep as he has to to fix his own laptop. For my new M.2 drive to be recognized I had to remove the old HDD (in my case it was a newer 3.5 SSD in that spot) Than you.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad it worked out for you!

[@dennissmith1469]

Awesome Video!! This video came just in time.Cause my old Toshiba has a mechanical drive and now updating to a kingston digital drive and adding ram to the old laptop your two jump drive video saved me on. Thanks aging.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Excellent! Great to hear 💪

[@dennissmith1469]

@@AskYourComputerGuy hey question with the cloner tool which you described and with the link! this cloning process is done first by removing old disk hard drive and putting into the cloning device then installing your new digital hard drive into Cloning device to rewrite new drive? Say for my oldToshiba satellite laptop?

[@dennissmith1469]

Awesome video! This is something i will be doing even with equipment from your links! Need the upgrades big time

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

@dennissmith1469 fantastic! 👍💪❤️

[@erojohn2]

Scott ,Wish list item coming your way. Thanks for all your help.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you, my friend! That's very generous of you! ❤️💪👍

[@wandelust]

I think this is the best video ive watched re. backing up. So clearly explained and easy to understand. You've convinced me to clone as the best method. New subscriber btw. Great channel 👍. Looking forward to getting through all the rest of your videos Scott.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you so much! I appreciate that! 💪

[@deathvalleybro9320]

@@AskYourComputerGuy brilliant video. brilliant channel.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Wow, thank you! I appreciate that! 💪 ❤️

[@deathvalleybro9320]

@@AskYourComputerGuy fast becoming my favourite i.t / pc guy channel.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

@deathvalleybro9320 thank you! Much appreciated 👍

[@irshadwahab]

Thank you for the clear and simple instructions! I was able to successfully clone a 240GB SSD to a 1TBSSD.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Heck yeah!!!

[@user-du5lt5ij7h]

Thank you!!!this was great and after watching your vid i did it,very easy.Thanks again.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Fantastic!

[@glennbokma6182]

Hello. Great video. Thank you very much for the fast reply. Have a great day. Glenn

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

You bet 👍

[@rogriguezaadj1]

Thank you so much for your help on cloning my hard drive.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad I could help!

[@thatspamboi]

Thanks so much for the help. I tried other guides but they all recommended software that wanted me to purchase the full version even when I was using a trial version.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

👍

[@makemyday365ed]

I bought a SSD drive yesterday for a laptop that has been sitting for 5 years. Dowloaded the Macrium software and cloned the Hard Drive to the SSD overnight. Woke up and the clone was done, disconnected hard drive and installed the SSD and it booted right up. Now I have a SSD W10 laptop that booted up very fast! I just have to finish putting it back together. Thank you!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Fantastic!!!

[@AndyHayes1]

Thanks liked and subscribed! You have a great way to explain for the average joe like me. You could have touched on different size of drives and what to do if drives a few gigs different. Looks like you 2 drives where exactly the same sizes. However I followed along and going to bed while its cloning. I'm upgrading a hp15 to an ssd so hopefully it will boot up when it's done and installed. Great guide thank you.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

I appreciate that. I'll probably make a similar video going more in depth about drives, types and sizes and such down the road 👍

[@haydenmurray9696]

Thank you so much! Finally a software that you don't need to pay for!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

And it works pretty well, too! User friendly and FREE! 💪

[@juanarmas86]

Gonna try it once my new hard drive arrives.

[@gsxrsquid]

Another helpful video! Thanks!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad you found it useful! 👍

[@songsan807]

This is a very good video tutorial on cloning drives. Personally either because I am impatient, too cautious, or experience many cloning failures before, I would clone the main drive as an image on another internal drive. Depending on the size of the filled drive, it would take 30 mins to an hour and half. Would then use the image to clone into the new blank drive. This way if the cloning process fail toward the end you would not need to restart from the beginning for another 5 hours or so. Plus you now have an image that you can use for additional cloning or as another backup.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Good tips! 👍

[@theclearsounds3911]

This doesn't account for 2 scenarios: physical or electrical trauma to your PC that both your system drive AND your backup will succumb to, and the possibility of being infected by a virus while in your PC. Plus, longer term, it's wearing itself out being on all the time. Inconvenient as it sounds, you should get a USB drive and store it as described in this video.

[@videodude8137]

Fortunately, I have four drives in my PC. Drives D, E & F are where I store all of my Data. So if drive C dies, I only have to replace it with the Cloned drive. That also dramatically reduces the cloning time. GR8 video. Thanks

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Nice! And thanks! 👍💪

[@robertpavlik7229]

@bobpavlik85 Your presentation was very clear and easy to understand up to answering questions at which time I waited for my question to be answered. Unfortunately, I still do not know if I could use the cloud to back up my laptop.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Depends on what you mean by cloud backup of your laptop. If you're talking about just backing up your personal files, there are tons to choose from. I don't know of any offhand that essentially backup your entire drive image to the cloud automatically, as those images would be huge and take a LONG time to upload. I'm sure they exist, but I can't recommend any. Perhaps other viewers might know of one that would work for you 🤷‍♂️

[@user-gg2fc6gy7t]

thank you for your step by step instructions i was ready to get rid of my computer since i am not a computer guy. the last one i had a problem and i junked it since a computer repair said it cost to much to repair and again i was at that point again . i got a new hard drive copied the os to the new drive and the computer would not start i knew that there was something wrong with what i was doing and got to you video and said i will give it one more try before the dump. i id the steps as you showed and took the new hard drive and replaced it after cloning it and the windows started and stopped for a minute. then adjusted and started and works just like the old drive. thank you for your help.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Awesome! Great job!!! 🎉 💪

[@amit_dhami]

Very well presented video. Thanks.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you 👍

[@Carl-fl6wl]

Thank you so much for making this video

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad you found it useful!

[@StanSuchman]

Hurrah! It worked! Thanks!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Yay, awesome!

[@StanSuchman]

Now I have a problem related to the cloning. I cloned a 256gb had onto a 512gb ssd. Now I cannot see or access the excess 250gb or so leftover disk space. How do I fix this? Again, thanks.

[@user-qc6yw7cw9i]

Excellent instructional video, 6 stars.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Wow, thank you! 👍

[@ghpcog]

wow you're the best man! great info!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

I appreciate that!

[@alanjohnson6369]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you so much! I appreciate that! 💪

[@KosiRevaya]

Thank you!

[@ccmcgaugh]

Thanks! Excellent tutorial! 👍😉👍

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@TheNebulousBrother]

Thank you for the most derect answer to cloning without all the filler fluff!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

I appreciate that very much 👍

[@TheNebulousBrother]

All the previous videos wanna talk to much and not get to the point. You info was direct on the how to. I appreciated that cause you didn't speak like to were talking to idiots@@AskYourComputerGuy

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

@TheNebulousBrother thanks! I try to not waste my viewers' time and address quirks and questions via the comments 👍

[@TheNebulousBrother]

Those are the answers i like, and the only channels i like and subscribe to when it comes to learning.@@AskYourComputerGuy

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Awesome, thanks for the support! 💪

[@thomas1699]

I finally got a "round-tuit." I cloned and installed an SK Hynix Gold 31 in my Aspire 5. Used the free Macrium software provided. It was very easy. The hardest part was getting the back of the laptop open. Thanks again.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Good deal! 👍

[@mr.pigeon0]

thanks help me alot with updating my ssd to a one with over 10x the storage

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Awesome!

[@kevinlegobrickmaster8015]

Dropped a sub, finally KZbin actually refers a topic I'm interested in. My friend working in IT told me about how they clone drives using clonezilla which have piqued my interest as my way of cloning OSs is by turning it into an ISO which is a hassle as I can only do so with a fresh install. I think I'll be using this method for personal backups thanks!

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Awesome! Glad you found value in it 👍

[@reo1994]

thank you so much. this worked for me.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Great!

[@ChriisSky]

Awesome bro ❤

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thank you!

[@juriegildenhuys4336]

Very good - i would like to clone specific software on my pc where the software keys is also somewhere on the hdd

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

As far as I know, you can't clone specific programs without creating an image or cloning the drive. I would love to be corrected, because the only program I've ever seen that can do this is all PickMeApp. Not even sure it's still available

[@mrk4510]

Great Video, thanks

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@johnlockyer8402]

Brilliant, many thanks. John, Australia

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thanks, John! Cheers! 🍺

[@Reikoku.]

Thanks for the video, just upgraded from a 8 year old hard drive to ssd.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Awesome!

[@ChronicArthritis]

Thank you. Only useful video I've found.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

I appreciate that 👍

[@MrMockingbird1313]

Hey, this was excellent. I always buy old and refurbished machines. It saves money, right? But I am always prepared for a motherboard failure. I have a couple boxes of drives. This will help me to rehab that mess.

[@cliffmathison2991]

Thank you very much, timing is impeccable as I'm updating an older Optiplex 7010 and want to swap to SSD OS drive. I also want to clone drives from our newest (2) Win11 machines, 1 laptop and 1 miniTower PC

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Glad to help!

[@alanb6401]

great video, should show how to setup once you cloned, I just swapped and worked for me, used a bigger drive then kept old one for backup

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

That's the beauty of a clone, no setup needed. It's an exact copy of the existing setup you already had 👍

[@specialkcitizen6263]

Excellent! 1: I refused to pay $30 for a one time use software to clone my drive. I tried four which said FREE - and nothing of the sort. Such companies would get my business if they offered a monthly sub of around $8. I use once, unsub, maybe use again and have to sub. They get some money. 2. So I looked around and came across this video. Downloaded, follow instructions, cloned drive and as soon as it was done, plugged in, fired up the PC and it worked brilliantly. 3: Literally every other video on YT about this is a sneak promotion. The youtubers know very well the software they are using isn't free. Their getting kick back income. Nothing wrong with that, but see point 1. So, this works. I'm a PC amateur and I managed to do this.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Fantastic! Thx for the support and affirmation. I try to be 100% honest with my viewers at all times, good or bad. If I get incentivized by a recommendation, I always disclose that 🫡

[@StarvingMorlock]

Great video worked great in my case, just a litle drawback, I did the cloning overnight but in the morning when I checked up, system wasn't copied, so I selected again the lacking partitions, it took in total 9 hours of cloning but I already installed the drive and it's working flawless even whe I did the cloning in two parts.

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Odd, but glad it's working

[@StarvingMorlock]

@@AskYourComputerGuy My theory is an update was installed and the computer restarted, that interrupted the cloning, that's why I found my screen locked in the morning. I thought I had to format the drive and start over but no.

[@thelitepredator]

OMG THESE MFN videos r sofaking HELPFUL G thank you I LOVE UUUU

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

I'm so glad!

[@TheSoundmanPete]

Your method was easy to follow. Didn't end up quite how I expected it but I'm still thrilled. I replaced a 500g HDD to a 1t SSD. The old drive was getting tired. I only had around 200g on the drive. Now after the clone I'm seeing 1) system reserved (T) 28.2 out of 100 used.... and 2) primary (C) 148 of 465 used. A 3rd box on the right is grayed out and shows 465g

[@danielzee]

My new 2 TB ended up being the same as my source 1 TB?? How do I access my other TB?

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

@danielzee you can either expand the drive to full capacity using Windows disc management or use Aomei Partition Assistant free to do it, guaranteed no data loss: REAL-TALK review of AOMEI FREE Partition Assistant | FREE disk cloning and no data loss software kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3PQlYB-oredeK8

[@danielzee]

Thank you for your quick reply, I'll try that out right now.@@AskYourComputerGuy

[@danielflorea8834]

You deserve a subscribe, thank You

[@AskYourComputerGuy]

Thanks for the sub! ❤️

[@francosilvestri123]

Thanks for the very informative video! I have a question: what is better: 1) to clone multiple operating systems to the same external HDD where I have backups of my documents (one separate partition for each OS and another separate partition for my backup)? 2) Or is it better to clone my operating systems (I have 4 of them) to one HDD for each OS, 3) or last option, to backup my documents to HDD #1 and to clone my OSes in one HDD #2 with as many partitions as OSes ? And if so, why?