How do I clone a hard drive with multiple partitions?

The main takeaways

• A hard drive may contain multiple partitions, including system or data partitions. When your hard drive is full, you need to move all the data from these partitions to another drive.
• Cloning is the best approach, as it allows you to transfer all partition data to another drive without losing data or reinstalling Windows.
• Since Windows does not have a built-in cloning feature, you will need to use a third-party disk cloning software, such as Disk Copy, to help clone all partitions to another drive.

How to clone a hard drive with multiple partitions – What do you need?

To clone all partitions on a hard drive successfully and smoothly, you need to do some preparation work.

• You need to back up data on the old hard drive with free backup software like Todo Backup to prevent data loss during cloning.
• You need a SATA to USB cable to connect the new HDD or SSD to your computer for cloning.
• Most importantly, you need to download a disk cloning tool since Windows itself doesn't have a built-in cloning feature. The Disk Copy utility works with all manufacturers' HDDs or SSDs.

There are many scenarios where you might need to clone a hard drive with multiple partitions. Quickly find the right solution for your situation by browsing through the options that suit you.

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Use Disk Copy to clone a PC hard drive with multiple partitions

As mentioned above, if you want to copy data from one hard drive to another or clone a hard drive with multiple partitions on a computer, you must use a third-party disk cloning software. For this, we must mention the tool in the cloning field, Disk Copy, which can meet your needs in every way.

This is a practical and user-friendly disk cloning tool for Windows PC. It can help you clone your system, disks, and partitions, as well as clone the boot drive to a new SSD. Moreover, thanks to its advanced sector-by-sector cloning technology, it can also assist in cloning a disk with bad sectors. Here are some highlights of the disk cloning software:

"Disk Copy" is a versatile disk cloning utility that helps you address various hard drive issues. Make sure to download it to your computer so you can clone your hard drive or migrate data from one drive to another.

Advance notice:

• "Clone by sector" requires the target disk to be the same size or larger than the source disk. If you want to clone a larger hard drive to a smaller one, do not check this option. • All data on the target disk will be completely erased. Proceed with caution.

Step 1: To start copying/ cloning an entire disk to another, select the disk in Disk Mode, then click Next.

Step 2: Select another hard drive as the target disk.

Step 3. Check the layout of the two disks. You can choose to “Adapt to disk,” “Copy as source,” or “Edit disk layout” to manage the layout of the target disk.

• "Automatically adjust partitions" makes some changes to the target disk layout for optimal performance.
• "Copy as source disk" leaves the target disk unchanged, with the same layout as the source disk.
• "Edit partition layout" lets you manually adjust/move the partition layout on the target disk.

Check the “Perform this check if the target is an SSD” option for best performance from your SSD.

A warning message appears, telling you that data will be lost. Confirm this by clicking OK, and then click Next.

Step 4: Click “Proceed” to actually carry out the task.

Yeah, you absolutely can clone a hard drive with multiple disk partitions. The cloning process duplicates the entire drive, including all the partitions and the data on them. This is often done to create an exact replica of a hard drive for backup, system migration, or for fault recovery. There are several cloning tools out there like Acronis True Image, Clonezilla, and Macrium Reflect that support cloning of multi-partition hard drives.

After long-term use, a disk with multiple partitions (usually a system partition (C drive) and several data partitions) stores more and more data, causing slower read and write speeds. To make matters worse, you may find that it takes longer to load games or programs, and your PC experience is on the decline.

In this case, you may want to migrate data to a larger HDD or SSD for better performance. But the question comes: how to clone a hard drive with multiple partitions, or how to clone a hard drive with multiple partitions to another? Or can I clone a hard drive with 2 partitions?

The answer is yes, you can clone a hard drive with multiple partitions. However, you'll need to use a third-party cloning tool, such as Disk Copy or similar software, to assist you in the process.

wrap-up work

Got stuck on how to clone a hard drive with multiple partitions? You've come to the right place. This article elaborates on how to clone a hard drive with multiple partitions. Whether you want to clone a disk with multiple partitions to a larger or smaller HDD/SSD, a Disk Copy tool can help.

AOMEI Backupper is a professional disk cloning software that can help you clone your hard drive or partition with just a few simple steps. It also allows you to adjust the layout of the target disk and merge two partitions into one. Besides, it lets you fix the issue of cloned hard drive showing wrong size. Download it now and give it a try - it won't disappoint you!

Frequently Asked Questions About Cloning a Hard Drive with Multiple Partitions

1. Do I need to clone all partitions to the SSD?

If you want to move the entire hard drive, including the installed operating system and saved data, clone all partitions. However, if you only want to transfer select data, like just the operating system, you can choose to clone individual partitions.

How do I clone multiple hard drives at once?

You can't clone multiple drives at once. Both free and paid disk cloning tools like Disk Copy and Macrium Reflect only let you clone individual drives with multiple partitions on them.

3. Do I need to partition the SSD before cloning?

Usually, you need to initialize and partition the SSD before cloning. Because if the SSD is not initialized, your computer will not recognize it. However, tools like Disk Copy can recognize an SSD even if it's not initialized.