Question Software to clone OS HDD to USB flash drive?

[pete6032]

I'm dealing with a little bitch of a bug with Windows update that has forced me to reset a computer multiple times. I finally got Windows Update to stop trying to download the update that kept bricking the computer, but I still need to do some diagnosis and it's likely I will try to install the update again to confirm is what that particular update that crashed the system. Before I do this I would like to make a backup of the clean Win 10 install as it is now, with all the drivers installed and all updates installed up to the last round. Is there some kind of software I can use to copy my clean Win 10 install onto a USB flash drive and then easily re-deploy that backup if I brick the computer?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Macrium Reflect? Really, any image-backup software will do. Don't use a USB flash drive, use a portable external USB3.0 HDD.

 

[TheELF]

Also practically every ssd maker has a version of acronis true image available for free on their site. If you have a disk of their brand you can run it and it will have the option to create a bootable version.

 

[deustroop]

Macrium Reflect? Really, any image-backup software will do. Don't use a USB flash drive, use a portable external USB3.0 HDD.

Actually Macrium will store an image on a USB flash drive so long, of course, that the drive has the available space. You can verify the Flash drive's availability by inserting the drive so windows recognizes it as a device and then open macrium and select the C drive as a disk to " image". The drive should show up as an available storage location. Where a HDD is necessary is to hold a clone.

 

[pete6032]

Macrium Reflect? Really, any image-backup software will do. Don't use a USB flash drive, use a portable external USB3.0 HDD.

I do have an external drive at home I could try that on. Unfortunately the computer is only USB 2.0.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Also practically every ssd maker has a version of acronis true image available for free on their site. If you have a disk of their brand you can run it and it will have the option to create a bootable version.

Does the disk of their brand have to be the destination or source? That is, does it have to be the new SSD or an older SSD and what if one of the drives is not the same brand?

 

[TheELF]

Does the disk of their brand have to be the destination or source? That is, does it have to be the new SSD or an older SSD and what if one of the drives is not the same brand?

Mostly there just has to be a drive of the brand connected and recognized and it doesn't even have to be either target or source, it just has to be there.
Of course I did not try with all of them but I guess it's the same for all.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Mostly there just has to be a drive of the brand connected and recognized and it doesn't even have to be either target or source, it just has to be there.
Of course I did not try with all of them but I guess it's the same for all.

Thanks. I been only buying Samsung brand SSD because of this certainty of source vs. destination. Now, I be willing to risk it and check the mfr. website to make sure they have the cloning software before buying the item. Only a couple more days till BF/CMD is upon us......again!

 

[pcgeek11]

Note: There is a difference between an Image of a hard disk and a Clone of a hard disk.

Techie Tuesday: image or clone?

Macrium Software - the creators of Macrium Reflect backup, imaging and cloning software.

blog.macrium.com

Macrium Reflect will do either. You just need to know what you want first.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Cloning, so I can boot the new drive! Is Macrium Reflect a freeware, last time I check you have to pay a subscription but has type of trial offer built in. I just ignore software like that since you end up have pay to use it at the end.

 

[TheELF]

Clonezilla is free and open source.
You can also just live boot into any linux distro and use the dd command if you are feeling safe enough with command line.

 

[Harry_Wild]

After talking to Best Buy Geek, I going to continue with buying Samsung drives! Scare my straight back to Samsung! He is the guy in charge of upgrading hard drives/SSD to NvMEs.

 

[pcgeek11]

Cloning, so I can boot the new drive! Is Macrium Reflect a freeware, last time I check you have to pay a subscription but has type of trial offer built in. I just ignore software like that since you end up have pay to use it at the end.

Macrium has a free version and no payment required. I have used it for many many years.

Macrium Reflect Free Trials

Macrium Reflect - Incredibly powerful software that allows you to create and schedule effective backups

www.macrium.com

 

[Harry_Wild]

Macrium has a free version and no payment required. I have used it for many many years.

Macrium Reflect Free Trials

Macrium Reflect - Incredibly powerful software that allows you to create and schedule effective backups

www.macrium.com

I will check it out! Thanks!

 

[xgsound]

I have used free Aomei Partition assistant (ver 6.0) to clone for many years. 20 minutes to clone an old 4500 RPM HDD laptop with 125 GB data to SSD. Less when it's 2 SSDs. It has worked too great to upgrade. I assume the current version is many generations newer than mine.
They have a backer upper also, but I never restored from mine since I keep a clone.

I have used the clone function at least 20 times for friends and family to change HHD for an SSD on old machines.

AOMEI Download Center

Download free AOMEI products to manage hard disk and protect data on your computer. Free (Standard) and free trial are available to Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista XP and Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019 and the latest Windows Server 2022.

www.aomeitech.com