Clone hdd with larger capacity to smaller one. Best ways to clone hard drive and OS memory from HDD to SSD. Working with target hard drive space after cloning

Often, users of computers and laptops have a situation where old hard The disk must be replaced with a new one, faster or with greater capacity. Therefore, there is a need to copy existing information from one disk to another. Then it becomes relevant to simply clone the old hard drive.

Computer hard drive

Hard drive cloning

Process cloning hard disk drive is an operation in which all data from one hard drive is transferred to another. Since cloning a hard drive is a procedure for low-level sector-by-sector data transfer from one storage medium to another storage medium, the clone hard drive will be completely identical to the original hard drive.

In this case, transferring all user files, personal photos, films, documents can take a lot of your time. It is also worth knowing that if you transfer operating system files manually, then it will not be copied to the new hard drive in working condition, that is, you will need to go through the installation process again. The cloning process allows you to copy the structure hard sections disk, a working active operating system, and installed programs and saved settings.

Hard drive cloning

Hard drive cloning programs

In order to quickly and efficiently copy all data from one hard drive to another, while keeping the operating system in working condition so that after copying it can be easily launched, you should use special cloning programs hard drives.

Quite a lot of programs, both free and paid, have been developed for the purpose of creating clone disks. Among this variety of software, there are highly specialized programs that work only with hard drives of a certain brand, but there are also universal programs, which allow you to clone any HDD and SSD drives.

Programs that include the hard drive cloning function include Paragon Hard Disk Manager, Acronis True Image, AOMEI Backupper, EASEUS Disk Copy, etc. But the most popular program among users is Acronis True Image.

Acronis True Image program

True Image is a modern software product from Acronis. It is compatible not only with old Windows versions such as Windows XP and 7, but also with the new OS Windows 8, 10. Acronis True Image can be called a panacea for all problems with Windows because, in addition to the cloning function, the program has a lot of additional advantages such as:

creating Windows backups;
it acts as a system cleaning tool;
allows you to test Windows operation in trial mode with the ability to cancel changes made;
saves backups in cloud storage;
disaster data recovery.

Additionally, when cloning a hard drive using Acronis programs True Image has the ability to exclude individual unnecessary files. At the user's request, you can configure cloning not only the entire disk, but also individual files or partitions. Other programs do not offer this option. This program not only is it multifunctional, it also has high speed work, convenient interface in Russian, automatic and manual mode work.

Acronis True Image 2016 program interface

The disadvantages of Acronis True Image include only a paid license. It can be purchased on the official website of the developer. But, despite this, Acronis True Image remains the most popular program for cloning hard drives.

Features of Acronis True Image terminology

Before cloning disks, you need to familiarize yourself with some features of the Acronis True Image software package. So, in the process of preparing to clone a hard drive, you will come across the concepts of “source” and “destination” disks. The source disk in Acronis True Image is the disk from which important data is transferred, that is, this is the disk from which the clone is created. The target disk in this program is considered to be HDD, which will become a clone of the original disk, that is, the disk to which user data is transferred, system files and software.

Identification of hard drives in Acronis True Image

When cloning a hard drive with Acronis True Image, the discrepancy between the disks in terms of volume is not critical. With the ability to exclude unnecessary files from the cloning process, the target drive can be much smaller in size than the source drive. At the same time, the main thing is that there is enough free space for necessary information from the source disk.

Cloning a hard drive with Acronis True Image

Let's look at the process of cloning a hard drive using the Acronis True Image 2016 version as an example. To do this, follow the instructions below step by step.

Step 1. Launch the program, this version prompts you to log in account To use Acronis cloud storage, the login window can be closed.

Step 2. In the side ribbon of the interface, select the “Tools” tab, then in the menu that opens, select the “Clone disk” item.

Acronis True Image interface

Step 3. Follow the prompts of the Disk Cloning Wizard, at the point where you need to select the cloning mode, click “Automatic”. It is always selected by default as a preset mode, click on the “Next” button.

Selecting a cloning mode in the Disk Clone Wizard

Step 4. After this, a window for selecting the source hard drive opens in front of you. In this window, you need to left-click on the disk from which we will transfer data. Disk names in Acronis True Image differ from disk names in the built-in Windows utility. In this case, it is better to navigate by the volume or model of the disk. Having selected the hard drive to transfer data, click the “Next” button.

Selecting the source hard drive

Step 5. In the window for selecting the target disk that opens, left-click on the name of the hard disk to which you want to transfer the data, Windows OS and partition structure. Click on the “Next” button.

Selecting the target hard drive

Step 6. Since in this case the target disk is not new disk with unallocated space with information stored on it, the program displays a warning window with information about the possible loss of important data. If all the most necessary files have been saved, you can click on the “Ok” button.

Acronis True Image warning window

Step 7. After this, a window for selecting a recovery method opens. By default, the checkbox “Copy partitions without changes” is checked, change this setting no need, just click “Next”.

Selecting a recovery method

Step 8. The Disk Clone Wizard enters the final stage of the data transfer process and displays the Summary Window. This window allows you to start cloning your hard drive by clicking the “Proceed” button, but this is relevant if there are no files that need to be excluded, so as not to take up space on the target disk with unnecessary data and not increase the time required to complete this procedure. If you chose the method of cloning the source disk not in full, then click on the “Exclude files” button.

Summary window in the Disk Clone Wizard

Step. 9. In the File Exceptions menu that opens, we see a tree structure of the entire contents of the hard drive. Thanks to this structure, system files that cannot be excluded are immediately visible. In our example, we exclude non-system video files from section E by checking the appropriate boxes next to their names. You need to wait a little while for the process of excluding these files to complete.

File exclusion window in Disk Clone Wizard

Step 10. We exclude partition F of the source disk in its entirety by checking the box next to its name, and all included files and folders are then selected automatically. After the cloning operation is completed, this partition will be created on the target disk, but will not contain any data. When all partitions and files that we do not need on the target disk are excluded from cloning, we can start the whole process by clicking on the “Proceed” button.

Excluding source hard drive partition when cloning

Step 11. After all the preparatory steps have been completed, Acronis True Image will ask you to reboot the system. And it carries out the cloning process itself in the operating room preload mode Windows systems. In Acronis True Image preboot mode, you can see the default function of shutting down the computer immediately after the cloning process is completed.

Cloning is carried out in Windows preboot mode

The next time you turn on the computer, you will be taken directly to the BIOS menu, where you can set the priority of loading the operating system from the created clone disk. In addition, this window shows the remaining time until cloning is completed and the progress of the task.

Hard drive cloning progress window

Step 12: Once cloning is complete, you can boot from the target drive.

Selecting boot from target disk

Moving your desktop to another drive in Windows 7, 8, 10

Copying the desktop along with shortcuts and files to a non-system drive is a very beneficial solution from all sides. After all, this will not only preserve the previous appearance of your desktop after reinstalling the operating system, but will also allow you to save it in the event of a sudden system failure resulting in the inoperability of your OS. In addition, there is much more free space on the system disk for your documents. When your computer is infected malware most often the damage is caused to the system partition, and since the desktop directory will no longer be on the system disk, it will be completely protected from this kind of sabotage.

In order to copy the “Desktop” folder in such major operating systems as Windows 7, 8 and 10, there are two ways - through Windows Explorer and using the editor Windows registry.

Worker Windows table

Copying desktop in Windows 7, 8, 10 via Explorer

In order to copy the desktop with all the files and folders it contains to a non-system local drive, you need to follow the instructions below step by step.

Step 1. Create a folder to store data from the desktop on a local drive with user data (in our case, drive D).

Creating a new folder on drive D to store desktop data

Step 2. Then open the user's folder. In Windows 7, click on the “Start” button and in the left column, select the user name and left-click on it. For Windows 7 users, follow the path Drive C:\Users\*username*. A package opens with the following data.

Opening the folder of the user whose desktop you want to move to another drive

User folder on drive C

Step 3. Right click click on the “Desktop” folder and thereby open the folder properties.

Call context menu folders Desktop

View of the Desktop Folder Options window

Step 4. Left-click on the “Location” tab and then click “Move” in this tab.

Folder Location tab Desktop

Step 5. Find and select the “Desktop” folder that we created in step 1 and click on the “Select folder” button.

Selecting a folder to move the desktop

Applying the changes made

Step 7. In the dialog box that opens, agree to transfer the “Desktop” folder to another local drive by clicking the “Yes” button. Next, a progress window for moving the desktop appears.

Dialog box that pops up when moving a desktop to another drive

Progress window for copying desktop to drive D

Step 8. All files and folders have been successfully copied to local drive D. For the changes to take effect, you need to completely restart the computer.

All desktop files and folders were successfully transferred to local drive D

Video tutorial on transferring a desktop to another drive

Copying the desktop in Windows 7, 8, 10 using the Registry Editor

Transferring your desktop using the Windows Registry Editor in any version of the operating system is much easier to do than through Explorer. To this end, we perform the following steps.

Step 1. To open the registry editor, press the Win+R keys on the keyboard at the same time, and in the command line that appears, enter “regedit” without quotes. Next, click “Ok”.

Calling the Registry Editor in Windows

Step 2. Go sequentially along the path HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders. You need to find the Desktop parameter in the displayed list.

Registry Editor window in Windows

Step 3. Double-click the left mouse button to open the parameter and change the path in the “Value” line, directing it to the folder in which we plan to save the desktop data. Click on the “Ok” button below.

Changing the desktop path

Step 4. Reboot your computer or laptop for the changes to take effect.

This is how you can quite easily copy your desktop along with all the files stored on it to another partition of your hard drive.

Transferring operating system memory from HDD to SSD

Copying operating system memory from a hard drive to an SSD creates an exact image of the system partition on the SSD. This action is performed to increase the performance of the operating system.

After transferring memory from HDD to SSD, loading the operating system when you turn on your computer or laptop will last only 10-15 seconds.

SSD vs HDD

Benefits of rewriting OS memory to SSD

Transferring operating system memory from a hard drive to solid-state drives has a number of advantages:

During operation, a lot of operations are performed to read information from the system partition of the hard drive against the background of a small number of operations to write information to the disk; in this case, it is the SSD that provides the fastest process of reading data from the disk;
the amount of information stored on the system disk is usually small and can rarely be changed significantly, so for ordinary computer or laptop users, a solid-state drive with a capacity of about 20 GB will be sufficient, and only in quite rare cases an SSD with a capacity of more than 30-40 GB may be needed;

Internal SSD and HDD device

Copying operating system memory from HDD to SSD with third-party programs

In order to transfer OS memory to SSD, they also use special programs. Such programs include Acronis True Image, Clonezilla Live, Paragon Migrate OS to SSD, Handy Backup Professional. They already have built-in functions for creating an image of the operating system and cloning it to another medium. It is worth remembering that the volume solid state media must be no less than the volume of the system partition on the hard drive.

Paragon Migrate OS to SSD program

Conclusion

Above, we examined in detail how to clone a hard drive using the Acronis True Image program for Windows 7, 8, 10. We found out various ways to transfer a desktop to another local drive on a computer. Learned options for transferring operating system memory from hard drive HDD to an SSD.

In addition, we looked at programs designed specifically for cloning hard drives and copying data from OS system files. Among the proposed methods, choose the best option remains with the user.

18.02.2011, 02:17

Comrades, the next question. We all know the software and how to use it when we clone dying hard drives, for example, either the same size or a larger size than the one that exists. But I have the following situation - I have 1 TB of HDD, in which 102 GB are allocated for drive C, where the system, software and others like it are located. And the hard drive began to slowly fail, well, I decided to buy a 120 GB SSD for the system, but was too lazy to rearrange the system. Attention question: How to make a clone of an old hard drive to a new one, also selecting a hidden partition, a bootloader to clone, and everything you need to start Win7 x64?

18.02.2011, 06:07

you can try to make a disk image with acronis from hirens boot cd
and then unscrew it onto the new screw

18.02.2011, 09:49

The bootloader won't transfer...
create the main partition with acronis director, and then throw the image

18.02.2011, 10:02

This will only be a disk image. The bootloader won't transfer...
I don’t know about seven, but when restoring from a system image boot disk from XP to a zero clean screw, everything is transferred, including the bootloader. Just for 7, if there is a small hidden boot partition at the beginning of the disk, then you must first create/unfold its image, and then the partition with Windows itself.

18.02.2011, 12:09

Acronis true image server boot disk will help you. you create an image and then transfer it to the ssd. You can also make an image of the IBR. You can get the image from the forum.
You can also try cloning.
choose manual and go ahead.

18.02.2011, 13:08

18.02.2011, 13:40

Yes, just create an image of these two partitions and restore it to a new one.

18.02.2011, 13:41

I'm too lazy to rearrange the system.
Installing the system takes a maximum of 30 minutes, installation of firewood, software, configuration - another 1-1.5.
You will spend less time than on all the questions, downloading and trial and error...

18.02.2011, 13:48

You will spend less time than on all the questions, downloading and trial and error...
Not less! Plus you will learn how to backup/deploy from an image...
cloning does not imply any changes from the original!
Well, yes, the term “clone” is not applicable in this case. Partition image creation/recovery only

18.02.2011, 13:51

creating an image (two partitions) max. 25 min (depending on size), recovery 10-15 min.
no need to re-adjust the system, no need to save data and then upload it again, no need to download updates, especially with low-fat Internet. and you don’t need much else.
and the hidden recovery section and editing the MBR (so that it works), also 30 minutes?

18.02.2011, 18:06

That is, 1 TB HDD, even if it is completely “empty”, cannot be cloned to 120 GB!
topstarter said:
in which 102 GB are allocated to drive C
and as far as I understand Wise Old Wol is going to put 120g for the system and leave 1TB for all sorts of crap

You won’t be able to install Windows with a new one in 20 minutes.
but returning the image may be faster
Sincerely, S.A.

18.02.2011, 18:18

topstarter said:
and why does he need the image of the second section?

That's why:
Attention question: How to make a clone of an old hard drive to a new one, also selecting a hidden partition, a bootloader to clone, and everything you need to start Win7 x64?

18.02.2011, 19:12

Secondly, please tell me about your computer model?
Asus P5QE, q9550, 4 Gb Ram (by the way, it's time to upgrade to 8 :-)), hd5870, 3xhdd - 2x1Tb 1x500Gb + SSD 120 Gb. But why do you need it?

In order not to quota previous messages, I will answer immediately and quickly... A clone of the system will be faster, because... Too much specific software installed. Some software will take more than 1 day to reactivate... And I may need any program at any time. They wrote correctly that it will take much longer to reinstall the system and configure it... Regarding Acronis Boot Director Disk. I have it. But! I'm cloning an MBR, trying to clone the boot partition - and it tells me that the 2.8 MB in front of it will be empty... I did everything else, but the system won't boot from this disk... I've never bothered with cloning disks, True Image Server Something seemed odd to me... First, make an image, then fill it up... But you need a computer, but a laptop without a computer connected to the grid turns out semi-castrated... These are the pies...

Now I'm thinking about this option. Disconnect the rest of the hard drives so as not to interfere, load the system onto the SSD - it will take about 10 minutes, 15 at most (I'm limited by the speed of the DVD), and then stupidly clone the C drive to bootable Windows... Do you think it will work?

18.02.2011, 19:28

Wise Old Wol, the easiest thing is to remove the image with Acronis and deploy it to a new disk. I don’t know how Windows transfers data and I don’t want to know, because I’m sure it’s crooked, like everything in it. This is not MacOS, where you pressed a button and everything from contacts and programs to user data was transferred.
What kind of Windows is it, by the way?
Seven needs to start its installation from under the installed Windows, then it will install and absorb the old config parameters.

No need to fool your head:

Delete from system disk anything unnecessary, so that the file size is less than 150 gigs, use the disk director to reduce the size of the system partition to 150 gigs, apply the settings, then use TrueMedge to remove the image and deploy it to a new 160 gig disk. Then you connect the new disk with the disk director and increase the partition to the size of an SSD. (there will be a couple of gigs left unoccupied at the end of the disk)

In 20 hours from the moment the question arose, the procedure could have been completed 25 times))))))

I just transferred the system from 160 to 320 gigs, everything went without a hitch.

18.02.2011, 19:32

Sharer, From 160 to 320 there is no need to transfer. Read the first post. The system partition is already smaller than the new disk. Read my last post - there is no time to experiment... It’s a complete emergency... Read the previous post again. I didn’t transfer it to Windows, but from the bootable Acronis disk of the director...

18.02.2011, 19:51

Wise Old Wol, well, bring everything into line with the “don’t do anything” situation. This is done with one movement of the disk director slider + 7 minutes of processing time + you will need a guaranteed absence of power failures. But to work with images you need a “true image”, and not a disk director.

After you reduce the system partition to a size that fits on the new disk, everything will work out according to the “do nothing” scheme.

What system (again)
In the seven, you need to remove the image from two disks (check the boxes): from the hidden one (100 megabytes approximately) and from the one where the system and programs are located + don’t forget to check the MBR box.

In XP, you can simply try to copy everything from one disk to another, then put the system with installation disk: should pick up all the settings, but if there’s an emergency, it will take significantly longer.

19.02.2011, 02:39

In the seven you need to remove the image from two disks (check the boxes): from the hidden one (100 megabytes approximately) and from the one where the system and programs are located + put a tick on the MBR and don’t forget the hidden partition Win 7
[Only registered users can see links]
Sharer! On the MBR, there is no need to check the box, since the MBR contains information about the partition sizes for a terabyte (MBR - only when cloning the entire disk)

P.S. How can I make a clone of an old hard drive onto a new one, by also selecting a hidden partition, a bootloader to be cloned, and everything you need to start Win7 x64? But why do you need it? I thought that a laptop - indicating a “hidden partition” would confuse everything.

Wise Old Wol! Forget about cloning (especially MBR) and make an image of the system partition, as tuhran described.

I’ve never bothered with cloning disks, True Image Server seemed like a bit of a waste to me... First, make an image, then upload it... But you need a computer, but a laptop without a computer connected to the network turns out to be semi-castrated... These are the pies... Maybe I should ask a computer geek friend for help!?

19.02.2011, 05:04

Sharer! On the MBR, there is no need to check the box, since the MBR contains information about the partition sizes for a terabyte (MBR - only when cloning the entire disk)

Don't confuse people, mbr and mft are different things.
mbr - master boot record, stores information about where to boot from... there are no sizes there.
mft - master file table - partition table, with sizes, etc.

Disk cloning, also known as disk imaging, is the practice of copying the entire contents of a hard drive or partition, including file structure and system files to move or restore data located on the drive. Cloned disks are often written to a single file, a disk image, that represents the entire disk. This disk image can be used for many purposes, including transferring data to a larger hard drive or restoring an unstable system with a blank disk image.
Libraries, schools and cyber cafes often restore their computers using a cloned disk image to easily manage and protect large numbers of machines. The practice of creating a disk image can create some problems, but many programs provide features to compensate for this.

When operating systems and backup copy the contents of a disk from one location to another, they often ignore some files, change the data in some way, or do not preserve all the attributes of the files on the disk. In many cases this is actually useful for the user. When backing up a folder to external hard disk, e.g. date and time last change files may reflect the time of the last backup, rather than when the original file was modified. When it is necessary to create an exact copy of a disk, many users may turn to disk cloning software.

Disk cloning software creates bit by bits to copy onto the disk, meaning every last piece of data is saved. The data can be written to a second disk or saved as a disk image file. The disk image file can be used to transfer data to one or more new hard drives, or to reinstall it onto the original drive. For example, an unstable system can be rolled back to the point where it is still functional using a cloned disk image.

Organizations with big amount computers can use disk cloning to deploy a standardized set of applications and data across different computers. They can also use this technique to apply updates and security patches to all their computers at once. For example, in libraries, schools and institutions, computers are often restored from a cloned disk image to destroy any viruses or other unwanted software that scanners might load. Disk cloning can also be used in conjunction with disk wiping, the practice of securely wiping the disk, removing any personal data, and returning the machine to its original state.

Creating exact duplicates of a hard drive can have disadvantages. Computers running Microsoft® Windows® are assigned a unique security identifier (SID) when they first install the operating system. Disk cloning will copy the computer's unique SID; if this cloned image is used on multiple computers on a network, security may be compromised. When cloning a disk, drivers for a specific set of hardware are also copied, which can cause problems when the target system has different settings. Some disk cloning applications provide features to overcome these problems, so potential customers should be sure to evaluate their own needs before purchasing such software.

And then restore them clean Windows installation. However, I'm sure there will be people who will want to move a carefully configured system from one drive to another. Initially, I did not plan this post, but having received another question by mail, I decided to highlight this simple process on the blog.

There are special programs for disk cloning (for example, Acronis or Paragon). In them, the marketing focus is often placed precisely on transferring the system from HDD to SSD, as in the title of this guide :) However, you can solve this problem with the help of free Microsoft tools, without unpleasant surprises, and my instructions apply to any disk types.

I want to emphasize that this guide describes the process of cloning a system and moving it to another drive within the same PC. Transferring the system to another PC (even with the same hardware configuration) is only supported for images generalized using the sysprep utility. Formally, Microsoft does not support cloning without sysprep at all (even with third-party software). In my proposed method, support is hampered by several technical limitations, but I do not consider them significant for home PCs.

Today on the program

You will need...

First, let's define the terminology. Where you see the phrases "installation disk", " Windows disk PE”, “recovery disk”, you can equally successfully use either an optical disk (CD/DVD) or a removable USB disk (flash drive).

So, you need:

Environment in any form. It could be:

Windows installation disk
recovery environment on the recovery disk that matches operating system(see instructions for Windows 7 or for Windows 8 and above)
Windows PE 3.1 or 4.0 disk you created

An external or internal disk with enough free space to save a compressed image of the system partition.

Ability to boot into Windows PE and determine drive letters.

Utility imagex the same bit depth as Windows environment P.E. The utility can be located anywhere except the partition you are cloning.

Why imagex and where to get the utility

With the release of Windows 8, the imagex utility has been deprecated, and Microsoft now recommends using DISM. However, imagex works and is still supported, while DISM requires you to create a bootable Windows PE disk with the .NET Framework and PowerShell, which complicates the process.

If you prefer GUI, there is Gimagex, but I try not to add extraneous factors to the OS deployment process. The imagex utility can be downloaded as part of the ADK by installing deployment tools only about 50MB (thanks, Semyon Galkin). Once installed, you will find imagex in Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits.

There is an alternative and very interesting way - you can receive a link to the utility by mail from Microsoft by requesting it from the knowledge base article KB2525084.

Capture the system partition into a WIM image

Boot into Windows PE and run all the commands in its console. To reduce image size, page and hibernation files, as well as the Recycle Bin and shadow copies are automatically excluded during capture. If you want to exclude some other folders or files, create an imagex configuration file. You will definitely need it if you are using Windows Subsystem for Linux ( WSL) in Windows 10 - you need to add the %LOCALAPPDATA%\lxss folder to the exceptions (see also KB3179598).

Command line option /compress maximum You can slightly reduce the size of the image. I don’t use it because maximum compression delays the process, and I have no problems with free space to save the file.

At the end of the procedure, turn off the PC and connect the SSD in place of the HDD. The hard drive can be connected to a different connector.

Preparing the SSD for applying the image

The task comes down to creating a new partition in Windows PE. For SSDs, proper biasing is important to avoid performance degradation and shortened drive life. The installer automatically sets the offset to 1024KB, which is easy to verify. When creating partitions on a blank disk diskpart utility the same thing happens, but in my commands the offset is set explicitly to avoid accidents.

Here is a minimum set of partitions that is suitable for all supported Windows operating systems ( Windows partition RE is not created). Consistently perform in Windows console PE the commands listed below. They imply that one main partition will be created on the SSD, occupying the entire disk.

Diskpart:: display a list of disks list disk:: select a disk (instead of N, specify the SSD letter) sel disk N:: clear the disk of partitions (erases all data) clean:: convert the disk to MBR convert mbr:: create a primary partition with an offset of 1024KB create partition primary align=1024:: make the partition active (nbh for booting from it) active:: format in NTFS, set the disk label format fs=NTFS label="Windows" quick:: assign a letter to the partition assign letter=W exit

Now you are ready to apply the saved image to the SSD.

Applying an image to an SSD

This operation is performed in Windows PE with one command:

Imagex /apply E:\migrate.wim 1 W:

E:\migrate.wim— path to the saved image
1 – the index of the single image in the WIM file you created
W– letter SSD drive in Windows PE, assigned a little earlier to diskpart

Your letters may be different, of course.

Setting up booting into a cloned system

MBR partitioning

Utility bootrec available in Windows PE when booted from the installation disk, but it may not be included in the built you Windows PE disk.

Bootrec /rebuildbcd

This team is looking for installed Windows on all disks (equivalent to the /scanos parameter) and offers to add systems that are not there to the BCD. Pressing Y adds the OS to the boot store, and N rejects the offer.

It also makes sense to immediately run two more commands:

Bootrec /fixmbr bootrec /fixboot

GPT partitioning

In the GPT partition, the files necessary to boot the system are copied to the EFI (FAT32) partition with one command:

Bcdboot W:\Windows

Here W is the drive letter to which you transferred the OS.

This completes the transfer process. After restarting your PC, you will see the system that you transferred to the SSD in the boot manager list.

What to do if both drives were connected when creating the image

I warned above that it is better not to do this. In this case, the drive letters in the cloned system are mixed up, although this can be easily corrected in the registry (thanks to reader Artem for the addition). This is the picture observed after loading into the cloned OS. The system is booted from drive D, and profiles and programs are launched from drive C.

To fix this you need rename drive letters in the registry. In fact, you need to swap the letters in the names of the registry parameters corresponding to the problem drives (you don’t need to touch the values).

In this example, you must first change \DosDevices\C: V \DosDevices\K:, after which the name will be freed for renaming drive D.

Actions after cloning

Take a Windows Performance Assessment

Running an assessment will tell the system that it is installed on an SSD. As a result, Windows will apply the appropriate settings - from sending TRIM commands to disabling SSD defragmentation (a must for Windows 8 owners).

Set up a download manager

I cannot provide all possible multiboot configurations, but in any case, at the end of the process, you will have two systems with the same names (old and new) displayed in your boot manager. I will give some examples of commands that may be useful to you.

The command displays information about the systems displayed on the boot manager screen bcdedit. In its results, the system identifier (ID) is indicated by the parameter identifier. The system you booted into this moment, always has an identifier (current).

These examples assume that the commands are executed in new system.

Renaming a New System Entry

Bcdedit /set (current) description “My New Windows”

Bcdedit /default (current)

Deleting an old system entry

Bcdedit /delete ID

If you are unable to boot into the cloned system or need help setting up the boot manager, please write here following the thread rules.

Discussion and poll

From previous surveys, I know that most readers have already acquired an SSD. This survey will show you how you approached the issue of installing the system on a brand new drive.

If you transferred the system, write in the comments what software you used for this. I know some of you have already talked about this in other posts. But then it was off-topic, but now this will help other readers looking for information on the topic!

You clearly can't clone larger partition into a smaller partition (using dd etc.) because there simply isn't enough space.

However, if the files that are on the larger partition will also fit on the smaller partition, you can use rsync to copy those files. The exact uses depend on your specific use case, but for a simple copy of all files the following should do the trick:

Rsync -av /mount/point/of/large/partition/ /mount/point/of/small/partition

Change: Again: you can't clone a large partition onto a smaller partition. (But read on, your problem may be solved yet.)

The reason is simple: your source partition is larger than your destination partition. What are you expecting? Should some blocks just be discarded? Which? And who knows? Of course, you can use dd "s bs= and count= options to copy only the first as many blocks of your source partition to match your destination partition, but you'll end up with a broken partition. That's certainly not what You want.

So since you can't clone larger partition to smaller partition, the only thing you can do is at first Shrink the source partition to a size less than or equal to the size of your destination partition, with something like gparted which knows the filesystem spec so you won't lose data. But only Then you could use dd to clone the partition. Ideally, the new size of the original partition should be equals the size of your target partition (not just less or equal), otherwise you will end up with some unallocated space on the target partition after cloning.

Please also note that you Not you should simply copy the MBR of the larger disk to the MBR of the smaller disk (or vice versa, for that matter). The MBR, which is 512 bytes in size and is the first section of your hard drive, contains information about the layout of the hard drive:

446 bytes – Bootstrap.
64 bytes – partition table.
2 bytes – Signature.

(Note that 446+64+2=512)

If you insist on cloning the MBR, then only cloning the first 446 bytes:

Dd if=/dev/source of=/tmp/mbr.bak bs=512 count=1 dd if=/tmp/mbr.bak of=/dev/target bs=446 count=1

... replacing /dev/source and /dev/target with the device names of the source and target hard drives, for example, /dev/sda and /dev/sdb , respectively. (More information is available here.)

However, the correct way to do this is to do a clean reinstall of Grub (or whatever is on your MBR) on a new hard drive.

To summarize, if you want to clone a larger drive to a smaller drive, proceed as follows:

Place the partition table on the destination disk with the same number of partitions as the source disk. There should be a one-to-one correspondence between the partitions on your source drive and the partitions on the destination drive, except that (some of) the partitions on the destination drive may be smaller than the corresponding partitions on the source drive. To do this, use a tool like fdisk or cfdisk.

For each partition on the destination disk that is smaller than the corresponding partition on the source disk, reduce the size of that corresponding partition on the source disk to match the size of the partition on the destination disk. Use a tool like gparted for this.

For each partition on the source disk, run the command

Dd if=/dev/sdaX of=/dev/sdbY

...clone the /dev/sdaX partition from the source disk to the corresponding /dev/sdbY partition on the destination disk (replace the device names, of course).

If you insist on cloning the MBR, use the two dd commands described above in this post (the ones for /tmp/mbr.bak). However, keep in mind that a clean refactoring of Grub will be better.

Exact cloning is not possible since Malte Skoruppa has already been published. However clonezilla can perform this task as long as the larger disk is not full (Malte mentioned this already).

Basically you need to enable Extra options and "ignore" the warning message about the smaller disk. See the Clonezilla docs with screenshots for details. I had the same problem when restoring a 160GB HDD backup to a 64GB SSD. It worked well for me.

Another solution that should be the result you want would be to restore to the same size drive and remake it to fit new scheme partitions onto a smaller disk. See Jsm-techblog.blogspot.de for more details.

Gparted should do the job

After resizing with gparted, boot from disk to give the OS a chance to fix any errors before rendering with Clonezilla.

Then it launches Clonezilla and creates a copy of the required hard drive partitions

Another option that I found great for me: MondoRescure

Mondo Rescue is the solution for disaster recovery GPL.

It supports tape, disk, network and CD/DVD as backup media, multiple file systems, LVM, software and hardware Raid.

A simple guide can be found here

I'll post some screenshots:

STEP 1 BACKUP (SCREENSHOT)

1.Select from a list of supported media types.

2.If you are backing up to CD/DVD-+R[W], then Mondo will ask you if your CD burner has BurnProof technology, is inside a laptop, or is eccentric. If you are backing up to a tape drive, you will not see this message

3.How much compression do you want? Not if the tape drive has built-in hardware compression. Maximum if your processor is fast. The average should be very good for most situations.

4.If you want to create backup copy entire computer (excluding /sys, /run and /proc, naturally, as well as /tmp), leave this as / by default. Otherwise, specify subsets (e.g. /usr/local|/home) that will be sure to fit between each path.

5.If you are backing up your entire computer, you may want to exclude some directories, such as /shared/MP3. Please specify them in the Exclude Directories dialog box. Please put a pipe between each path like /shared/private | /scratch | /nfs | /windows

6. Is your core normal? Users of Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, Debian and Slackware should generally say yes, because these vendors know how to build reliable kernels. If you're using Gentoo or LFS, your kernel may be non-standard, in which case say no to using Mondo's fault-tolerant kernel (provided separately).

7.If you want to check the archives after they are burned to media, say “yes” here. If you have absolute faith in your equipment and Linux distribution, say no... and a little prayer.

8.If you're sure you want to continue, say yes and find something else while Mondo supports your computer. If you say no, you will be unceremoniously dumped at the command prompt. 🙂

9. The backup process will now begin. There are some preliminary backup jobs that need to be done first, but the backup is mostly done. To make the backup process easier, you have been asked a series of questions. Next time, if you like, you can call mondoarchive with different command line switches to control its behavior rather than answering a series of questions. See the man page.

10.Mondo will create a directory of all files for backup. This may take up to five minutes. The list of files will be divided into sets, approximately 4 MB (before compression) of files per set. This usually takes one minute.

11.Mondo calls Mindy. Mindi creates image images bootable media and supporting data that are based on the existing distribution and file Linux system. So you can be sure that Mondo tools will be compatible with your existing file systems and binaries: Mondo tools are your tools. Mindy takes up to five minutes.

12. Finally, Mondo begins backing up your computer. This process could take a few minutes or a few hours, depending on how much data you're backing up, how fast your processor is, how much RAM you have, etc. It will copy your regular files and then your large files(files larger than 32 MB). If you decide to check your backups, Mondo will do that too.

STEP 2 RESTORATION (DEPARTMENT CODE)

1. Select the backup media type. The real-time restore process is very similar to what you will experience if you type mondorestore without parameters after booting from Mondo media.

2. Click "OK" when you have inserted the cassette/CD. If you created a tape backup, the tape itself should be sufficient. If you created a CD backup, the first CD should be sufficient. Otherwise, you may need bootable media.

3.Flag files and directories you want to recover. Use the More and Less buttons to open and close subdirectories.

4. Specify the location to restore files. In general, "/" is appropriate. If you don't want to overwrite newer versions of the files you restore, specify /tmp/BKP or a similar recovery path.

5.Mondorestore will receive configuration information from the environment. (The sample screen is for tape users. CD users will see something different.)

6.Data will be restored to your hard drive - regular files first, and then any large (32 MB or more) files in the recovery set.

"Pseudo-cloning" a larger hard drive onto a smaller one can be done using Clonezilla. Effectively, you can save and restore disk partitions. The following steps (designed for HDD to SSD transfer) will get you there:

The first trick is to use Gparted to resize partitions on your hard drive, shrinking each partition to reduce the amount of unused space it contains. Obviously, the partitions should be such that the total space required for all partitions is less than the capacity of the SSD.

Clonezilla then launches and creates a copy of the individual hard drive partitions (using the saveparts option), temporarily storing them on an external USB drive. Please note that you need to save the partitions (savepart) and not create an image of the entire disk (saved).

Once the SSD is installed on the target machine, the second trick is to use the partition manager again to create the required partition structure on the SSD.
Clonezilla is then used to restore the saved partitions (using restoreparts) to the SSD.

See Cloning a Hard Drive to a Smaller SSD for a more detailed discussion of the process and a number of links for reference sources.

Because most of the examples above seem to involve actually resizing your original drive. You are risking your data by changing it before making a copy if this happens.

There is another method that is less risky, although very manual, that I use. Because it leaves the original disk untouched if you want to fall back because something didn't work out.

Also, when cloning/recalibrating you can switch to a new file system by moving to a new disk when you do a disk swap. In the below procedure, you need to create a file system of your choice on the target drive.

Install the new target drive on the side of the original drive on your computer.

boot computer from ubuntu live cd.
On the target disk. use gparted create: a ext4 (or whatever new fast filesystem you decide to switch to) (volumes, swap volumes and swap filesystem
In gparted, set bootflag to the new volume

In my example, the source (source drive) is /dev/sda and the destination (new smaller drive) is /dev/sdb. It may be different in your setup

mount src as read only in /mnt/source

mkdir/mnt/source; mount -o ro /dev/sda/mnt/souce

mount the destination disk at /mnt/destination

mount /dev/sdb1/mnt/destination/

copy the src filesystem to the target filesystem with:

rsync -log /mnt/destination/rsync-copy.log –progress -avr –exclude = /mnt/source/dev/ -A -H -X –numeric-ids /mnt/source/*/mnt/destination/

ubuntu uses uuid instead of device name to find and mount the disk, since we have a new disk we want to change the fstab assignment to use the new disks uuid to mount the disk

ls -la /dev/disk/by-uuid

now change uuid to / and replace /mnt/destination/etc/fstab. don't forget to change the file system for the mount point if you decide to change it to something other than the original disk

if it is important that grub be the same version, boot the original drive again and run and run the command below to install grub on the new drive

grub-install /dev/dev/sdb

Now remove the source drive from your computer and boot into the destination drive. grub will not be able to fully boot and exit to the recovery shell in the grub recovery shell:

load some necessary grub modules - insmod ext2 - insmod linux lists your disk devices - ls

select the appropriate device (in my example it is hd0, msdos1)

set root = (hd0, msdos1)

find the exact name vmlinuz-xxx and initrd-xxx to configure grub to use

see and use your own name for vmlinuz and initrd that you got from ls above and use those instead of the example version I use here below

linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64 root = /dev/sda single

if /dev/sda is a device, the drive will be the rootfs drive the next time you reboot > a machine with only the dst drive

initrd /boot/initd.img-2.6.32-5-amd64
boot

this should have booted the machine successfully. Finally, to update grub to use the new disk uuid, you don't have to repeat this procedure manually every time:

update-larva

You can move your data to a smaller drive using Clonezilla and GParted.

Using a GParted Live CD shrinks your partitions to fit the new drive. Move the partitions so that the empty (gray) space is at the end/right of your drive. If there is empty space left before your first section, it may contain downloads or other hidden information.

Using Clonezilla does device-device cloning. Select advanced options and enable the -icds option to skip disk size checking. Continue with the clone, remove the old disk and try to boot from the new disk. If you are getting errors, try the -fsck-src-part option which will help you fix the errors on the source disk.

From the Clonezilla docs:

If you are sure that all the data from the image can match smaller disk, meaning it will not be written to the wrong disk space, you can check the "-icds" option. Warning! To select this option, you must know what you are doing!

One of the FAQs I read suggested using both the -icds and -k1 options with Clonezilla, but that didn't work for me. Others have mentioned that you can copy partitions using GParted, but you can't copy all types of partitions, and I couldn't get my machine to boot after using this method, probably due to some hidden information between sections that are not copied.

This may not be the correct answer to the question, but I come to this page trying to solve a similar problem:

I wanted to clone an old 256 MB compact flash card into a 32 MB that was busted, the flash card contains small device Linux, which produces small spring coils.

It was decided like this:

(Of course, the effective space used in 256 MB was<32 Мб, поэтому оно хорошо вписывается)

create an image of a 256 MB flash card with "dd" (i.e. assume the card is installed in /dev/sdb):

Dd if=/dev/sdb of=image256.iso

Use unetbootin to read "image256.iso" ISO (Diskimage option).

Select the USB drive that has the 32MB card installed and move the image to the 32MB card.

That's it, the 32MB card successfully booted up my machine.

You can try to do this in two steps, first make a clone of the system into a sparse image (the image gets bigger when you add more things to it). Now restore this image to a second, smaller disk.

it can be done.. Using a live cd, just shrink the filesystem (resize2fs) than the lvm (if any) of the last partition (eg /dev/sdc3) from the large drive so it can fit on the small drive.

With fdisk removed and recreated with smaller sectors of the last partition (/dev/sda3), so the last sector of the large disk has the same value as the last sector of the small disk.

Than your #dd if=big=small bs=10M until free space runs out.

Taking special care when compressing from one bad value will cause dataloss.

After compressing the file system on the larger drive using GParted, I place the two drives in a RAID array in mirrored mode, with the larger drive as the source and the smaller drive as the target. I just need to press the reset button inside the case (don't change mode, i.e. Raid 1 to Raid 0) to start cloning. Great! 🙂 I used the GW3.5AX2-SU3/MB raid case.

I'm posting my experience shrinking the boot drive from 250gb (sda) to a 120gb drive (sdc)

sda contains 2 sections:

sda1 -> /boot (ext3)
sda2 -> lvm2: / (245gb) and swap (5gb)

so I do:

dd sda mbr for sdc
fdisk sdc and write the changes, so it creates a structure in sdc
dd sda1 – sdc1

this is how my gparted does NOT work with lvm:

from the rescue disk:

first umount VG/LV00
e2fsck VG/LV00
resize2fs/VG/LV00 xxxxxxxxK (I give 1gb more than used space)
lvreduce -L xxxxxxxxxK VG / LV00 (I give 1gb more fs space)

pvresize /dev/sda2 –setphysicalvolumesize xxxxxxxxxxxxK (I'm giving 1 gb more than this LV space) (I have an ERROR here... like this:

pvs -v –segments /dev/sda2 (to see segments)
- pvmove –alloc anywhere /dev/sda2: segment_min-segment_max (from the segments I saw "on the right" on the disk)

But still the partition was large since I was only shortening FS-LV-VG, so:

I'm recreating the partition using fdisk:

Fdisk /dev/sda d --> 2 n --> p --> 2 --> default --> (new reduced size!!!) w

the system will then prompt you to use the old partition table until the next reboot. But I forgot to reboot and make the image:

dd if=/dev/sda2 of=/dev/sdc2 bs=4096 (at this point I thought something would be wrong and I wouldn't be able to boot from sdc since the partition table doesn't reflect the end of the new sda2)

BUT everything was fine after the reboot, and even the system selects sdc partition to boot(it complains about duplication of PV, LV and /boot)

I don't know if they get lucky, or if I take unnecessary steps... any comment would be appreciated.

Disclaimer: I am the original author of WereSync

This is possible using WereSync. WereSync follows the general process of Malta's answer, but requires only one command rather than several. Also, if you use your clone as a backup, it can update that backup incrementally since it uses rsync.

To install WereSync, use pip:

Pip install weresync

From there you can simply use the WereSync command

Weresync -C -g 2 -E 1 /dev/sda /dev/sdb

The above command copies data from /dev/sda to /dev/sdb. The -C flag indicates that WereSync should check if the partitions on the two drives are equivalent, and if they are not WereSync, copy the partitions from /dev/sda to /dev/sdb and resize them so that they match each other. The UUIDs of new partitions will be different. The system used to test partition validity can be quite complex, so after the first backup I recommend leaving this flag off.

The -g and -E commands can be omitted, but installing the bootloader will almost certainly fail in this case.

G refers to the "grub partition", or a grub partition must be installed. This is usually the partition mounted to /. So if you have /dev/sda2 installed, you pass -g 2 to WereSync as in the example above. If this is omitted, WereSync will try to open its own partition on its own, but this is error prone. I recommend just passing the flag.

E refers to the EFI partition. If your EFI partition is /dev/sda1, pass -E 1 to WereSync as in the command above.

If you have a separate partition for the /boot folder, you will also need to know WereSync. If you have this on /dev/sda3, pass -B 3 to WereSync.

More information about the possible flags for this command can be found in the WearSync Command Documentation.

I came to this problem because Win 10 update to 1607 broke after reboot, caused by my NVMe (Samsung 950 Pro) not being recognized, so I cloned the NVMe to another (larger) internal drive (in my case "Toshiba" "), updated Win 10 and restored the system to NVMe.

Here are the steps I need to take to achieve this (since restoreparts with -icds doesn't work).

Tools:

Windows 10 1607 DVD (bit depth and language depending on current OS)
Clonezilla Live DVD (2.4.5+)
or Clonezilla Live DVD (20160203-xenial+) as it can boot with UEFI set in BIOS
(optional) GParted Live DVD (0.27.0-1)

Preparation:

burn all instruments to CD/DVDs
run Clonezilla and clone (image drive) NVMe to image (eg external drive)

The note:

If you were using Clonzila from the stable branch, you must change to Legacy boot mode in the BIOS to be able to boot from the CD. Otherwise, if you are booting from an alternate branch, it should support UEFI boot.

Denial of responsibility:

Follow the guidelines at your own responsibility. The steps and commands here are checked and double-checked, but typos can lead to data loss or hardware failures, so know what you're doing first and use these steps as pointers in the right direction.

Procedure:

run Clonezilla and clone (disk for drive) NVMe on Toshiba (in my case another internal drive that I cleaned/backed up beforehand)
the first time I think I had some conflicts in Windows, NVMe still has Win boot information, so this time I immediately after the initial cloning in Toshiba (so before switching to UEFI boot) deleted all partitions on NVMe drive

~removal is easily done in the Clonezilla shell with:

sudo su dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/nvme0n1 bs=512 count=1

~alternatively, boot into GParted and do it visually there

(switch to UEFI boot in BIOS)
boot (Toshiba will be used)
launch Win 10 1607, install the DVD and select Install, check the Download updates box and select Keep apps and data. This should upgrade Toshiba to latest version Win 10.
(switch to Legacy boot in BIOS) just in case, Toshiba backup to image (via Clonezilla)

since copying MBR didn't do anything for me, GPT is important in this story, so enter a shell (Clonezilla) and copy GPT from Toshiba to NVMe using

sudo su sgdisk /dev/sda -R /dev/nvme0n1 sgdisk -G /dev/nvme0n1

(explanation)

since Clonezila (even using Expert switch -icds) refuses to restore partitions, goes into the shell again and does:

partprobe #forces kernel to reload partition infos fdisk -l #shows all disks info dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/nvme0n1p1 bs=64K status=progress dd if=/dev/sda2 of=/dev/nvme0n1p2 bs= 64K status=progress dd if=/dev/sda3 of=/dev/nvme0n1p3 bs=64K status=progress ...

(more details)

Toshiba MBR and GPT backup:

sgdisk --backup=sda.gpt /dev/sda

copy the backup to a safe location (so we can restore it and not the entire disk image we made in step 6)

mkdir /mnt/usb (put in usb flash or similar) mount /dev/sdb /mnt/usb cp sda.gpt /mnt/usb umount /dev/sdb

clear Toshiba partition information so it doesn't cause conflicts with Windows

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1

(switch to UEFI boot in BIOS) boot from Windows 10 (1607) DVD, select Repair > Troubleshoot > Command line" and do all of the following:

bootrec /fixboot bootrec /scanos bootrec /fixmbr bootrec /rebuildbcd exit

(more details)

reboot Windows 1607 to NVMe drive

Win!
(reinitialize Toshiba in disk management)
(optional) backing up the upgraded NVMe drive (clone to image using Clonezilla)