How to Copy Data from One Hard Drive to Another | The Simple Way

Key takeaways:

Cloning a hard drive is the best way to make an identical, lossless copy of data from one hard drive to another. Using a professional disk cloning tool like Disk Copy, the process can be accomplished with just a few simple steps.

1️⃣ Launch the "Disk Clone" tool and select Disk Mode. 2️⃣ Choose the source hard drive and click "Next." 3️⃣ Then select the target disk and click "Next" again. 4️⃣ Click on Proceed to initiate the automatic cloning process.

When replacing an old hard drive (HDD or SSD), transferring data from one drive to another is crucial for securing your data. Wondering how to transfer data between two drives? If you have no idea, read this article from Tool. Here, you'll learn 5 different ways to copy data from one drive to another. Let's get started.

Can I transfer data from one hard drive to another?

You may need to copy data between two disks when upgrading to a larger one, or when you buy a new laptop and want to migrate data from your old computer. Besides, you also need to transfer data from one disk to another to replace HDD with SSD or back up data from one hard drive to another. But can you move all data from one disk to another?

The answer is yes. You can transfer data from one hard drive to another, and there are several ways to do it. For instance, you can manually copy and paste the data from one drive to the other. But what if you have a large amount of data to transfer? So, if you're looking for better methods to move your hard drive content, keep reading.

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5 Ways to Copy All Data from One Hard Drive to Another

A quick online search shows plenty of ways to move data from one drive to another. This article gives you five proven, straightforward methods to easily transfer all your data from one hard drive to another. Let's dive into the specifics.

Method 1: Using a Professional Cloning Software

The most efficient and practical way to transfer data from one hard drive to another is by using PC cloning software, as such tools assist you in moving everything from one drive to another, including the system (boot files), settings, installed applications, data, and so on. For this purpose, you can use professional disk cloning software like Disk Copy or similar tools to aid you.

Disk Copy Home Edition is a user-friendly and versatile cloning tool for Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7. It facilitates the migration of your operating system from one disk to another and enables you to transfer data from one SD card to another. Furthermore, it allows you to replace your laptop's hard drive without losing data and create an image of a USB drive.

Utilizing a disk cloning tool enables you to copy everything on one drive, including the boot drive, to another drive, making the target drive bootable without the need to reinstall Windows. Additionally, it offers faster cloning speed and a user-friendly interface, facilitating a quick and effortless data migration process.

Just download it to help you migrate data from your computer. After downloading, you can use the disk cloning tool to copy data from one drive to another by following these steps:

Advance notice:

• "Clone by Sector" requires the target disk to be the same size or larger than the source disk. Uncheck this if you don't plan to clone a large hard drive to a smaller one. • All data on the target disk will be erased. Proceed with caution.

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

Step 2. Select another disk as the target disk.

Step 3: Check the disk layout of both source and target disks. You can customize the layout of the target disk by selecting "Adjust Automatically to Disk Size," "Keep the Same as Source Disk," or "Edit Disk Layout."

• "Fit to disk" makes some modifications to the manual layout to optimize it for the target disk by default. • "Copy as is" makes no changes to the target disk, so its layout will be identical to the source disk. • "Edit disk layout" lets you manually adjust/move the partition layout of the target disk.

Check Optimize for SSD if your target is an SSD for best performance.

You'll see a warning that your data will be erased. Tap “OK” to confirm, then “Next.”

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

Method 2: Use Windows Easy Transfer

If you're using Windows 8 or 7, you can also use the built-in Windows Easy Transfer tool to back up your data, including Windows settings, user accounts, desktop, taskbar options, email, documents, and pictures, and then transfer them from one computer to another, or from one hard drive to another. Here's how:

Step one: Connect both the old and new hard drives to your computer.

Step 2: Click the Start button, type “Windows Update Assistant” in the search box, and then click it to open the app.

Step 3. When the Windows Update Assistant opens, click Next.

Click "Next".

Let the program run for a while, as it will search through your files and estimate their sizes. Follow the prompts on-screen to select the files you want to migrate from the old hard drive.

Step 5. Choose the new drive as the target for the migration.

Step 6. Click Transfer to begin the transfer process.

Method 3: Use a Hard Drive Backup Program

Furthermore, you can use hard drive backup software to move data from one disk to another. Such tools can help you easily and quickly transfer data from one hard drive to another. You can utilize professional backup software like Todo Backup to assist you in moving all your content from one disk to another.

Todo Backup is a versatile backup and recovery tool for Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7. It enables you to back up your system, files, applications, emails, and even multiple hard drives simultaneously. It also assists in performing full backups, incremental backups, and differential backups.

It also helps you to install Windows on another computer's hard drive and offers 250GB free cloud storage to back up your data to the cloud and restore the backup from there.

Method 4: Use cloud storage

Cloud storage can also help transfer data from one drive to another. To do this, you'd upload the data from your original drive to the cloud. Then, you'd download it onto your new drive from the cloud.

You can get free cloud storage from services like OneDrive (2 GB) and Google Drive (15 GB).

Step one: Create an account with a cloud-storage service such as OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox.

Step two: upload your files from the old hard drive to the cloud.

Step 3. Log in to your cloud storage service with the new drive.

Step Four: Download your files from cloud storage to the new drive.

Method 5: Manually Copy and Paste

The most direct and straightforward way is to copy the data from one hard drive and paste it onto another. You can do this by connecting both hard drives to your computer and then copying the files over to the new one. It's a simple process that almost anyone can do. Here's how:

Step one: Connect both hard drives to your computer.

Step 2: Open File Explorer and locate the drive.

Step 3: Right-click the file you want to transfer and select “Copy,” or press “Ctrl+C” after selecting the file.

4. Switch to the other drive, and simultaneously press Ctrl+V, or right-click and select Paste.

Step 5: Repeat the process until you've transferred all your data from the old drive to the new one.

And here's a video that shows you how to clone one hard drive to another.

In short

This guide will walk you through how to copy the data from one hard drive to another. You can use disk cloning software like Disk Copy, manually copy and paste the old hard drive to the new one, use Todo Backup, use Windows Easy Transfer to move your files, or transfer data between two hard drives through cloud storage.

Among the 5 methods, using Disk Copy to clone external hard drive to another external hard drive is highly recommended. It helps you transfer everything from one hard drive to another easily and quickly, and also makes the target drive bootable if your original drive is a boot drive. Just download and give it a try – it won't let you down!

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Copy Data from One Hard Drive to Another

**1. How do I transfer data from an old hard drive to a new SSD?** To transfer data from an old hard drive to a new solid-state drive (SSD), you can use one of the following methods: 1. **Clone the hard drive**: - Use a disk cloning tool like Clonezilla, Acronis True Image, or Disk Utility on a Mac. These tools create a complete copy of the old hard drive and transfer it to the SSD. - Connect both drives to your computer, set the SSD as a secondary drive, and follow the software's instructions. 2. **Use built-in operating system tools**: - **Windows**: Utilize the "Create a system image" feature, or in "Settings" > "Update & Security" > "Recovery," choose "Reset this PC" and opt for "Keep my files." This will migrate the system and personal files to the SSD. - **macOS**: In "Disk Utility," format the SSD, then under the "Restore" tab, drag the old hard drive onto the SSD to copy it. 3. **Manual migration**: - Connect both the old hard drive and the SSD to your computer, and then within the operating system, move folders and files individually to the SSD. This is suitable when you don't need to transfer the entire system. 4. **Use an external hard drive enclosure/USB-to-SATA adapter**: - If your old hard drive is a desktop drive, you might need an external hard drive enclosure or a USB-to-SATA adapter to connect it to your computer. - After connecting, proceed with one of the data migration methods mentioned above. Before performing any of these methods, make sure to back up important data to avoid accidental loss.

You can clone your HDD to the new SSD. For this, you'll need a third-party cloning tool like Macrium Reflect Free and a disk duplication utility. Connect the SSD to your computer using a SATA-to-USB adapter or enclosure, then follow the software's instructions to clone the HDD to the SSD.

How do I transfer data from the C drive to the D drive?

To transfer data from the C drive (usually the boot drive) without reinstalling Windows or losing data, you can use professional disk cloning software like the Disk Copy tool. This will enable you to move everything on the C drive to the D drive without any hassles.

How can I transfer Windows 10 from HDD to SSD without losing data?

To move Windows 10 from HDD to SSD without losing data, you need a professional cloning software to help you clone HDD to SSD. Such a tool can move everything from one disk to another without losing data or reinstalling Windows.