A Reliable Way to Clone Linux HDD to SSD Without Reinstalling | 2022

Updated by Linda on February 17, 2022 ，Categories Disk/Partition Clone | How-to Guides

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Are there any reliable ways to clone a Linux HDD to an SSD?

There are still millions of users running Linux or a dual-boot system. However, there are far fewer applications available for Linux than for Windows. For instance, when Linux users want to clone Linux HDD to SSD, it's hard to find compatible or exclusive Linux disk cloning software.

You may wonder how to clone Linux disk to SSD? To save your precious time, we will introduce two reliable methods – using disk cloning tools and the dd command.

Most of the time, seasoned Linux users would recommend using the 'dd' command to clone Linux HDD to SSD or clone Linux to a smaller/larger SSD. But can you understand what each command does if you are an average user like me?

Though not Linux-based, the disk cloning tool supports Linux disks and can easily replace the use of dd for cloning Linux drives in an automated fashion. It's simple and fast, transferring the contents of one drive to another with just a few clicks.

Method 1: Cloning Linux Hard Disk to SSD Using Disk Copy Tools

"Disk Copy" is an outstanding disk cloning tool based on the Windows OS, and it fully supports cloning from HDD to SSD, so you can achieve the purpose.

- Effortlessly clone your operating system from HDD to SSD without reinstallation. - Upgrade your Linux hard drive to a larger capacity drive, or migrate from an old disk to a new one. - Replace a failing hard drive with a functional new one. - With sector-by-sector cloning, the entire HDD can be copied to an SSD, making both drives identical in use.

If you're looking for a way to clone Linux HDD to SSD, the Disk Copy tool should be your go-to choice. On this page, you'll learn how to clone HDD to SSD in detail with a step-by-step guide to copy all your Linux installations to the new SSD.

How to Clone Your Linux HDD to an SSD Using a Disk Duplication Tool

Clone Linux HDD to SSD in 4 Easy Steps

1. Clean up the source hard drive (optional) 2. Connect the source hard drive and target SSD to your desktop or laptop 3. Initialize the SSD (optional) 4. Start cloning the Linux hard drive using a disk cloning tool

Since the cloned SSD will definitely be an exact copy of the old hard drive, you need to clean up the disk to minimize the space consumption on the new SSD. By deleting junk files and unnecessary large files in advance, you can keep the cloned drive clean. Then, connect both drives to your Windows computer with the right method. For desktop computers, you can connect two hard drives either by installing them in the tower case or via SATA-to-USB cables. As for laptops, they only allow you to connect via a cable or an external hard drive enclosure. By the way, if your SSD is newly purchased and currently uninitialised, initialise the SSD before the cloning process so that your computer can recognize it without any issue.

Finally, we're ready to clone our Linux disk to the SSD:

Video Tutorial - Cloning a Hard Drive to an SSD

This tutorial is also applicable if you want to clone an HDD to an SSD with a disk cloning tool under Linux.

Step-by-step guide

Step one: Remove the hard drive from the Linux computer and connect it to the Windows machine with the cloning software and your SSD installed.

Step 2. Select “Disk Clone” from the Tools menu. Click on “Disk Mode,” and choose your source Linux hard drive. In the bottom left, make sure to check the box in front of “Clone sectors directly,” so you maintain the same disk layout in Windows when cloning your Linux EXT hard drive to the SSD. Click “Next” to proceed.

Step 3. Select the target SSD where you want to clone/copy your old disk, then click “Next” to proceed. If prompted, click “OK” to erase the data on the target drive.

< strong > Step 4. < /strong> Verify and edit the disk layout, choosing either "Auto-adjust to disk," "Match source," or "Edit disk layout." Selecting "Auto-adjust to disk" is recommended.

• Selecting “Copy as source” will copy the partition layout of the source disk to the target disk. • Editing the disk layout allows you to manually adjust the size or position of partitions on the target disk. • If the target disk is an SSD, remember to check “Apply this option if the target is SSD.”

Click “Proceed” to start the Linux disk cloning process right away.

Please read:

Method 2: Cloning Your Linux Hard Drive to an SSD - Using the dd Command

In Linux, what is the `dd` command? In simple terms, `dd` is a command-line utility in Unix and Unix-like operating systems primarily used for converting and copying files. In Unix, hardware drivers (like hard disk drives) and special device files (such as `/dev/zero` and `/dev/random`) behave like regular files within the file system. With a grasp of the basic `dd` command concepts and a clear understanding of the process, you can perform about twenty steps to migrate a Linux operating system and its applications between different drives.

Steps to clone a Linux hard drive:

Bootstrap 0:
Normal boot
Copy the contents of /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s2 to /dev/rdsk/c0t2d0s2 with a block size of 128K:
Check the file system on /dev/rdsk/c0t2d0s2:
Mount /dev/dsk/c0t2d0s2 on /mnt:
Change to the /mnt/etc directory:
Edit the vfstab file with vi (modify the entry for the new disk):
Return to the root directory:
Unmount /mnt:
Bootstrap 0:
Boot from disk 2 using the -s option:
Run sys-unconfig:
Boot from disk 2

How to Clone an HDD to an SSD in Linux? You've Come to the Right Place!

In this article, we listed two solutions to clone a hard drive in Linux. The second one about the dd command could be a bit complicated but will do the job. If you're new to computers, we believe that a disk cloning software would suit you better with its simple steps and intuitive interface.