How to Clone a Failing Hard Drive in Windows 10 Without Losing Data

Tracy King Updated on September 14, 2021 to Disk/Partition Clone | User Guide

How to clone a failing hard drive and transfer data to a new one? The steps for cloning a failing hard drive and transferring data to a new one may vary depending on your operating system and the tools you use, but here's a general guide: 1. **Purchase a new hard drive**: First, make sure to buy a new hard drive of the same size or larger than the old one. 2. **Backup important data**: Before cloning, if possible, back up essential files to an external storage device. 3. **Prepare cloning software**: You can use various software tools for cloning, such as Clonezilla, Acronis True Image, or tools Todo Backup. Choose a suitable tool based on your operating system. 4. **Connect the new hard drive**: Attach the new hard drive to your computer using a SATA cable, a USB-to-SATA adapter, or by installing it directly in an internal slot. 5. **Launch the cloning tool**: Install and run the chosen cloning software. It will typically guide you through the cloning process. 6. **Select source and target drives**: Within the software, choose the failing hard drive as the source and the new hard drive as the target. 7. **Start the cloning process**: Follow the software prompts to initiate the cloning. Some tools might offer options like "sector-by-sector cloning" (more precise but slower) or "smart cloning" (copies only data-containing areas). 8. **Wait for cloning to complete**: The cloning process may take some time, depending on the size of the hard drive and the amount of data. 9. **Verify the clone**: After cloning, use a disk checking tool to confirm that the data on the new hard drive is intact. 10. **Replace the hard drive**: Shut down your computer, disconnect the failing hard drive, and install the new hard drive inside the computer. 11. **Boot and configuration**: Restart your computer. If all goes well, your system should boot from the new hard drive. You might need to adjust the boot order in your BIOS/UEFI settings. In Windows, you may also need to perform some system configurations, such as activation (if applicable) and updating drivers. Keep in mind that these steps are general and may require adjustments based on your hardware and software environment. Throughout the process, ensure data safety to avoid loss.

Hello, does anyone know how to transfer or clone a failed hard drive to a new HDD or SSD? I have an issue where my secondary hard drive on the computer fails frequently, and I often can't access the files and data saved on the drive. Some friends suggested that I clone all my saved data and transfer it to a new disk. The thing is, how do I clone a failed hard drive to a new one? I have no idea about disk cloning. So if you have any easy solutions to this, please let me know. Thanks.

Most electronic storage devices – including hard disk drives – fail eventually, for any number of reasons, such as

• Sudden power failure during startup or shutdown
• Improper partition usage
• Physical bad sectors
• Damaged head assembly
• Exceeded service life due to extended usage
• ...

At best, hard drives fail gradually, giving you time to react, copy off your data, and replace the device before a fatal failure.

Five Signs of a Failing Hard Drive

There are five main signs of a failing hard drive.

• The computer runs slowly, frequently freezes, or experiences blue screen crashes.
• The computer fails to start.
• Abnormal sounds are emitted.
• Files cannot be opened or contain corrupted data.
• Bad sectors accumulate.

When your computer or hard drive is experiencing such issues, instead of fixing the hard drive, your first priority should be to get the data off the hard drive as soon as possible to ensure its safety. Disk cloning is an excellent choice. But the question is, how do you clone a bad hard drive when your computer won't boot or you can't access the hard drive? This is where a powerful disk cloning software comes in.

Best Hard Drive Cloning Software: Top Choices to Clone Your Failing Disk

Tool Disk Clone is one of the best disk cloning software on the market. It enables you to clone a disk with bad sectors, clone small disk to large disk, clone HDD to SSD, clone operating system, and more. Depending on the result of the hard drive failure, Tool Disk Clone offers different solutions to clone a failed hard drive in Windows 10.

If you encounter data corruption and abnormal hard drive noise, you can clone directly in the Windows environment. But if you have bad sectors, cannot boot up your computer, or Windows runs slowly, it is best to use a bootable disk to clone the faulty hard drive in WinPE. How? Read on for details.

How to Clone Failed Hard Drive to New HDD/SSD in Windows 10/8/7

"Disk Copy is a powerful software that enables you to effortlessly clone the data from damaged or failing hard disks to a new one, without losing any data, all done in an offline process."

You can now safely download and install this software on your Windows 10/8/7/XP or even Linux computer and activate it with just a few clicks to take full advantage of its capabilities in cloning a failed disk to a new HDD/SSD while preserving all data.

Video Tutorial: How to Clone a Failed Hard Drive to a New HDD/SSD

Here, you will learn how to clone an operating system disk to another new HDD or SSD under boot issues. Let's get started:

A Step-by-Step Guide to Cloning a Failing Hard Drive in Windows 10/8/7

Step 1: Download, install, and run a disk cloning tool on your computer.

Click “Disk Mode,” then select the hard drive you want to copy or clone. Click “Next.”

Step 2: Select the target disk.

Note: If you are copying or cloning a source disk, the target disk must be at least as large as the source disk.

If prompted, click “Erase” to erase the data on the target disk.

Step 4: Review and edit the disk layout.

If the target disk is an SSD, check the box next to “Target is SSD.”

Step 5: Click “Continue” to begin the hard drive cloning process.

How to Use Bootable Disk Clone in WinPE to Clone a Failed Hard Drive

When your computer won't boot, the operating system can't access the failing drive, or you can't read from or write to it in any way, you'll need to use a bootable disk cloning tool to copy the broken drive and move its data to a new one. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: On a PC running a functional version of Windows, download, install, and run the Disk Copy utility. Connect an external storage device, such as a USB flash drive or an external hard disk, to the computer. Select “Create Boot Disk.”

Step 2. Select your USB drive and your device, then click "Create."

Wait for the process to complete, and you'll have a bootable disk.

Step 3. Connect the bootable USB drive and your new SSD/HDD to the computer whose disk you want to clone. Set your computer to boot from the bootable drive by changing the boot order in BIOS.

Step 4: In the Disk Clone tool, click "Disk Mode," then select the source disk that you want to copy or clone. Click “Next” to proceed.

Step 5: Select the target disk to which you want to clone/copy your old disk, then click “Next” to proceed. If prompted, click “OK” to erase data on the target disk.

Step 6: Check and edit the disk layout. You can choose to “Auto-adjust according to the disk,” “Keep as source,” or “Edit disk layout.” Selecting “Auto-adjust according to the disk” is recommended.

• Choosing "Copy Source" will copy the source disk's partition layout to the target disk. • Select "Edit Disk Layout" if you want to manually adjust the partition size or location on the target disk. • If the target disk is an SSD, make sure to check the "Target is SSD" option.

Click “Continue” to begin the disk cloning or disk copying process.

Then shut down your computer, install the new drive in your machine in place of the failed one, and boot up your PC. You should now be able to access your data on the new drive. If the drive you're replacing is the system disk, you'll need to configure your computer in the BIOS to boot from the new drive rather than the old one. Then restart your machine and access your data from the new drive once again.

Frequently Asked Questions about Cloning a Failed Hard Drive

1. Can I clone a hard drive with bad sectors?

There are two types of bad sectors on a hard drive: logical and physical. You can clone a hard drive with bad sectors in either case, but the solution will differ.

2. How to clone a hard drive with bad sectors?

For logical bad sectors, if your computer can access the hard drive, you can run the CHKDSK /F command to repair bad sectors, and then clone the damaged hard drive with a disk cloning tool in Windows 10. However, if your hard drive has physical bad sectors, you need to clone the hard drive with a disk cloning tool in WinPE.

How do I back up a failing hard drive?

This article will show you two ways to clone and back up a failing hard drive. If your computer can boot up and access the hard drive correctly, you can back up the failing hard drive directly in Windows. If you can't boot into your computer, you'll need to use a bootable disk to back up the failing hard drive in a WinPE environment.

4. How do I clone a bad hard drive to a new one?

With Disk Clone, you can clone a damaged hard drive to a new one, either HDD or SSD. You can boot Disk Clone in WinPE to clone a damaged hard drive.