How to Clone a Hard Drive to a New Computer

• Windows Easy Transfer - Built-in Windows file transfer software
• Disk Copy Tool - Best hard drive cloning software

To begin with, we will introduce you to two software options for cloning your hard drive to a new computer. Brief supplementary information will easily acquaint you with their specific purposes.

Specifically, you can choose an aide according to the following rule.

1. Copy Only Data/Folders

This is something you might do if you have a new computer with Windows already installed and you want to move your personal files from your old hard drive so you can access them on the new PC.

Alternatively, you might want to do a clean install of Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 on the new PC and not migrate the system configuration from the old hard drive.

By the way, Windows Easy Transfer is not available in Windows 10. If you need to transfer files in Windows 10, you can use alternative software like Todo PCTrans to perform file transfer in Windows 10.

Second, it cloned the operating system, programs, data, and files – in other words, everything.

In fact, over 60% of them don't want to lose the Windows environment they are used to. Even when they get a brand new computer/laptop with a fresh HDD/SSD, they wish to migrate everything from the old hard drive to this new device.

We're not just talking about moving data from one drive to another, but everything: the data, folders, operating system, and all custom settings. That's where a disk cloning tool comes in.

Guide: How to Transfer Your Hard Drive to a New Computer

Connect the new drive to your computer with an appropriate cable, then use cloning software to copy the contents of the old drive to the new one. This way, you can put the new drive in your new computer without losing your familiar operating system, data, and apps.

Video Tutorial:

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Step-by-step guide:

Fire up the Disk Copy utility for a smooth disk duplication or cloning process.

1. Download, install, and run the "Disk Clone" tool on your computer. Click the Disk Mode, select the source disk that you want to copy or clone, and then click Next to proceed.

2. Select the target disk to which you want to clone/copy the old disk, then click "Next" to proceed. If the program prompts you to delete data on the target disk, click "OK" to confirm.

3. Check and edit the disk layout, where you can choose to “Autofit the disks”, “Copy as on source”, or “Edit disk layout”. It is recommended to select “Autofit the disks”.

• Selecting “Copy as source” will copy/clone the partition layout of the source disk to the target disk. • Choosing “Edit disk layout” lets you manually adjust or move the partition layout on the target disk. • If your target disk is an SSD, remember to check “Optimize for SSD if target is SSD.”

Click Continue to start the disk cloning or disk duplication process.