When the used space is less than the size of the HDD, you can use an SSD with the same size to get better performance. Do Drives Need To Be The Same Size To Clone?Ĭan a disk drive be the same size as a clone? The answer is no. You must change boot mode from UEFI to legacy or legacy to UEFI in order to clone GPT to MBR or MBR to GPT. If you don’t need the old larger drive, the destination disk can be plugged into the source disk’s socket after you’ve shut down the computer. If you want to clone a smaller drive, you should do so with careful thought. Because of the performance of SSD, it is common to clone boot disks to SSD. In this case, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is recommended for Windows 11/10+/8/7XP/Vista users.Ĭlone a larger drive into a smaller drive with ease in Windows 10, 8, and 7.
The first step is to install Macrium Reflect on your PC. If you want to create scheduled images, whether incremental or differential, you'll have to upgrade to a paid plan. Macrium Reflect has a free version that works great for casual users who want to make a single, full image of their hard drives.
See at Acronis (opens in new tab) Download Macrium Reflect
For just the cloning and imaging software, you'll spend about $40. There are a few buying options to choose from when it comes to Acronis - there is also a 30-day free trial (opens in new tab) - including subscription options that come with 50GB or 1TB of cloud storage. See at AOMEI (opens in new tab) Acronis True Image Its UI is super simple to use, and you can even set an automatic file sync that will keep your backup up to date. Like Macrium Reflect, there is a fully-functional, free version of AOMEI that lets you create system images, back up hard drives, and clone drives. We've been using Macrium Reflect for a while and so far haven't found a reason to switch, but there are also plenty of other imaging options out there, including one built right into Windows 10.