What is Seagate DiscWizard? How do I use it, and what are its alternatives?

• What is Seagate Disc Wizard used for?
• Does Seagate Disc Wizard support non-Seagate drives?
• How to clone with Seagate Disc Wizard?
• Professional Alternative - Try other disk/partition cloning tools

Introduction

Seagate DiscWizard is a program for Seagate and Maxtor hard drives created by Acronis. You can download and use it to back up or clone a disk, move a hard drive to another computer, recover from a disaster, and more.

While it's a useful and straightforward disk cloning tool, it's limited in many ways. Don't worry – we'll provide an alternative to Seagate DiscWizard later in this article. Read on to learn more!

What is Seagate DiscWizard used for?

Seagate DiscWizard is a software that can help ensure the safety and security of all the information on your computer. The package may include backups of your operating system, applications, settings, data, drives, and partitions.

Additionally, Seagate DiscWizard offers recovery solutions in case of a disaster, such as lost data, accidental deletion of important files or folders, or a complete hard drive crash.

As a bonus, Seagate DiscWizard includes a disk-cloning tool that you can use to move all your information and data – including the operating system, applications, documents, and personal settings – from your old system and application drive to the new one.

Does Seagate DiscWizard work with non-Seagate drives?

Backup and cloning software like Seagate DiscWizard can help you back up your entire hard drive, including the operating system and applications. It can also create a bootable rescue disc that comes in handy when the OS won't start. Seagate DiscWizard has all the features and tools you need to backup, restore, and recover data. However, some users reported that Seagate DiscWizard doesn't recognize drives. You should know that Seagate DiscWizard is only compatible with Seagate and Maxtor hard drives.

Seagate hard drives come preloaded with a disk cloning tool called Seagate Disc Wizard, which allows you to clone your entire drive without needing any extra software in Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1, or 10.

One user said, “As for my drives, I have Seagate, Western Digital, and Samsung HDDs, with an 840 EVO as the main OS boot drive. I cloned C: to it with DiscWizard without a hitch.”

If Seagate DiscWizard does not recognize your drive, the cause might be one of the following:

• The problematic hard drive is neither a Seagate nor a Maxtor disk.

Note: Remember, Seagate DiscWizard is compatible only with Seagate and Maxtor hard drives.

• The hard drive is identified as a dynamic disk. Seagate DiscWizard does not support dynamic disks. • The hard drive does not have a valid Master Boot Record (MBR). In this case, you might need to reinstall the MBR.

Antivirus software or a third-party program might be blocking access to the hard drive. In this case, you can choose to disable the program temporarily.

How do I use Seagate DiscWizard for cloning?

Seagate DiscWizard is an integrated software that includes cloning features, allowing you to migrate your operating system, applications, and data from one disk to another without restarting your computer. Here are some tips for using the software: 1. **Download and Install**: Visit Seagate's official website to download the latest version of DiscWizard. Make sure your computer meets the system requirements before installing. 2. **Create a Backup**: Before proceeding with cloning, it's always a good idea to back up your important files and data to an external drive in case anything goes wrong during the process. 3. **Prepare the Destination Disk**: Ensure the destination disk is larger or equal in size to the source disk. If not, you'll need to resize the partitions on the target disk to accommodate the data. 4. **Launch DiscWizard**: Run the software and select the "Clone Disk" or "Disk Copy" option from the main menu. 5. **Select Source and Destination Disks**: Carefully choose the source (current) disk and the destination (new) disk. Make sure you don't mix them up, as the data on the source disk will be overwritten. 6. **Choose Clone Options**: Depending on your needs, you may have options like sector-by-sector clone or intelligent clone. A sector-by-sector clone copies everything, while an intelligent clone only copies used sectors, which can save time. 7. **Start the Cloning Process**: Once you've confirmed your selections, initiate the cloning process. This may take several hours, depending on the size of your data. 8. **Do Not Interrupt**: During the cloning process, do not turn off your computer or disconnect either disk. This could lead to data loss or corruption. 9. **Verify the Clone**: After the cloning is complete, use the software's verification feature to ensure the cloned data is identical to the original. 10. **Boot from the New Disk**: To test if the cloned system works correctly, restart your computer and change the boot order in BIOS to boot from the new disk. If everything is fine, you can now use the new disk as your primary drive. 11. **Erase the Old Disk**: If you're satisfied with the cloned system, safely erase the old disk. However, keep in mind that this step is irreversible. Remember, cloning is a delicate process, so always exercise caution and be prepared for potential issues.

In addition to cloning individual partitions, you can use the cloning feature to copy an entire disk. However, you cannot clone dynamic disks; only primary disks can be cloned.

Step 1: Download and run the Seagate DiscWizard software.

Step 2: On the left panel, click the Tools tab.

Step 3: Select “Clone Disk” from the menu.

Step 4: Choose the cloning mode you want to use: Automatic or Manual. Then, click on the "Next" button.

As shown in the following graphic, we select Automatic (recommended):

Step 5: Proceed to the next screen and select the source drive from the list. Choose the disk that you wish to clone, then press Next.

Step 6: Select the target disk and click Next. Confirm the warning in the next window.

Professional Alternatives – Try Other Disk/Partition Cloning Tools

Having problems with Seagate DiscWizard for disk cloning or partition management? Don't worry, we have a more powerful solution, that is, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.

AOMEI Partition Assistant has long been a popular choice for a powerful and user-friendly disk management app. It comes with a comprehensive user manual and plenty of on-screen help, making it easy to get started. In terms of formatting, copying, resizing, moving, and managing disk partitions, its features are on par with competitors. It also supports hardware RAID and external disks.

Best of all, it lets you perform disk partitioning, resizing, cloning, and copying with just one click!

Step 1: Select the source disk.

Click "Clone" on the left menu. Choose "Clone System Disk" or "Clone Data Disk," then click "Next." Select the source disk and click "Next."

Step 2: Select the target disk.

Choose the needed HDD/SSD as the destination, and click “Next” to proceed. Read the warning info and confirm by clicking the “Yes” button.

Step 3: Look at the disk layout and edit the target disk partition sizes if needed.

When the installer warns you that it will erase everything from the target drive, click “Continue” (make sure to back up your target drive if it contains important data).

Here you can choose “Adapt to disk automatically”, “Clone as source”, or “Edit disk layout”. (If you want to reserve more space for the C drive, choose the last option.)

Click “Start” to begin the cloning process.

The paid version adds tech support and the option to resize dynamic volumes. Are you planning to migrate your OS to a super-fast SSD or a new hard disk? Or maybe clone or copy a partition? There's a wizard for that (and more) on the toolbar. And, worry not, Partition Master is SSD-compatible. Here are some of its features:

• Combine two SSDs into one without losing any data.
• Organize and optimize content on your hard drive.
• Windows will run faster if the OS is moved to an SSD.
• Aid in cloning or migrating partitions to unallocated space.
• Easily resize, extend, shrink, and create dynamic volumes.

Last Words

If you have a Seagate or Maxtor hard drive, Seagate DiscWizard is a useful tool. If you don't have one of these drives, or you're not satisfied with what the program offers, consider an alternative like Partition Master.

It's also one of the best disk wiping software with many advanced features compared to other backup and clone software. It serves as an alternative to Seagate DiscWizard and fills in where that program falls short. In addition to basic operations, the Partition Master tool lets you replace your hard drive without losing data, recover Windows from a bootable disk, clone dynamic disks, and perform other tasks.