Clonezilla is a free tool renowned for its excellent disk imaging and cloning capabilities. It supports cloning HDDs or SSDs on both Windows and Linux. It simplifies the system cloning process and offers reliable backup and recovery options. Hence, many users download Clonezilla to help them clone their hard drives.
But is Clonezilla safe, and does it really have all the features you're looking for? This article will introduce Clonezilla, how to use Clonezilla, as well as some Clonezilla alternatives. Let's dive right in.
Clonezilla offers “device to image” and “device to device” cloning modes, both of which are command-line based. As a free and open-source disk imaging and disk cloning software, Clonezilla seems adequate for most people's needs to clone a hard drive or partition for free.
Let's go through a very simple guide on how to clone your hard drive with Clonezilla.
Step 1. Download Clonezilla Live and prepare a bootable medium as needed.
Step 2. Connect the second hard drive to your computer and boot from the Clonezilla Live USB or DVD you created. When Clonezilla first loads, accept the default settings by pressing Enter.
Step 3: To launch the cloning wizard, you will need to go through a series of configurations. Choose your language, select the default option “Don't touch the keyboard mapping” when asked, and choose “Start Clonezilla” when prompted to select between “Start Clonezilla” or “Enter Shell.”
Step 4. Choose the cloning mode, which can be "Device to Image" or "Device to Device."
Select the device to clone or create an image from.
Step 5: Press Enter again to get to the Clonezilla main menu. Clonezilla will ask you if you want to use "Simple" or "Expert" mode. Since this is a command-line program, the advanced options are only available in Expert mode. For the sake of simplicity, we'll continue with the wizard in Simple mode for this guide.
Select “Beginner Mode” to clone
Step 6: Choose how to clone the disk. The first option is to make an exact copy of everything on your hard drive; the second option is to clone just one partition to an external drive.
Step 7: Select the source drive to clone. The disk name is the device name in GNV/Linux. The first disk in the system is "hda" or "sda", the second is "hdb" or "sdb", and so on. It can be hard to identify your drive this way, but make sure you choose the right one!
Select the source disk to clone
Step 8. Select the target disk according to its name. All data on the source disk will be copied to this disk.
Select the target disk to clone:
Step 9. Finally, set an option to restart your computer after the clone or later, and start the cloning wizard to begin the process once all your settings are in place.
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- It has no graphical user interface, which makes it very unfriendly to beginners.
One look at a screenshot of the Clonezilla disk cloning process and you'll probably agree that it's not the most beginner-friendly tool out there. It's all text and command-line based, which can be difficult to illustrate in a guide. And, without a solid grounding in IT knowledge, it's easy to get wrong. Incorrectly cloning your hard drive, or failing halfway through the process, could have disastrous consequences for your system and data!
- Different downloads for computers with Legacy BIOS and those with UEFI-based systems.
Choosing the right Clonezilla version to install on your computer can be tricky. All versions of Clonezilla live support legacy BIOS computers. If your computer is set up to boot in UEFI Secure Boot mode, you must use the AMD64 (X86-64) version of Clonezilla Live (either Debian-based or Ubuntu-based). Most users would not even know which BIOS mode they are using.
- Free and open-source software with no customer support.
Since Clonezilla doesn't offer any customer support, you're on your own if something goes wrong, and you'll have to search the forums for answers and solutions. As such, Clonezilla isn't a foolproof method for backing up or cloning your hard drive unless you're confident you can troubleshoot any issues that arise.
It would be perfect to have a Clonezilla alternative that makes up for all its shortcomings. The Disk Copy Tool is a reliable disk cloning software for Windows users. You can consider it a full Clonezilla disk cloning alternative that simplifies the entire cloning process with just a few clicks. You can use it to copy data from one hard drive to another and clone a hard drive with bad sectors.
In fact, it surpasses Clonezilla in many ways, apart from ease of use.
First, it is easy to download and install.
Clicking the Download button will install the Disk Copy tool on any version of Windows. It's fully compatible with Windows 11, and it works whether your PC boots via BIOS or UEFI.
- Cloning a hard drive or individual partition is simple. It only takes a few steps.
You don't need to do anything or make any settings for the clone to work; Disk Copy does it all.
Advance Notice:
Step 2: Select another disk as the target disk.
Step 3. Check the layout of both disks. You can choose to "Adapt to disk", "Match source" or "Edit layout" to manage the layout of the target disk.
Check the "Optimize for SSD" box to ensure your SSD performs at its best.
A warning message appears, telling you that your data will be lost. Confirm the information by clicking OK, and then click Next.
Step 4: Click “Proceed” to actually perform the task.
As an excellent Clonezilla alternative, Disk Copy stands out with its user-friendly interface, straightforward operation, and versatility, making it the go-to choice for cloning HDD or SSD.
A great alternative to Clonezilla, the **Disk Copy Tool** has many uses. For example, it can help you transfer an operating system from one hard drive to another, create a WinPE boot disk, and even **clone disks of different sizes**. So what are you waiting for? Give it a try!
1. Is it safe to clone Windows from HDD to SSD?
Cloning the Windows operating system from an HDD to an SSD is totally safe. However, you'll wanna use a pro cloning software like the Disk Copy tool to get the job done. This kind of tool lets you move your Windows 10 from the HDD to SSD without losing any data and without needing to reinstall Windows.
2. How much does Clonezilla cost?
Clonezilla is a free and open-source disk cloning tool, so you won't have to pay to use it.
3. Can Clonezilla clone to a USB drive?
You can use Clonezilla to clone your system to a USB flash drive. Clonezilla is a free disk cloning software that lets you create an image to copy to a USB drive or external drive in case of a data disaster.